Don McCullin

"I'm Don McCullin and I've actually spent the last 30 years going to war." - Don McCullin, Shaped By War

Don McCullin is probably one of the most influential people in the world of photo journalism and war photography. Having worked for The Sunday Times and The Observer, McCullin has photographed war zones throughout the world including Cyprus, Vietnam, Biafra, Northern Ireland and Lebanon. His ability to capture distress and suffering in a way which reaches out to the viewer is incredible, he manages to make you feel emotions you thought you could never feel about a photograph filled with people you've never met before, in situations you may never be in.

Don McCullin, speaking in an interview for his latest exhibition, Shaped By War.

A shell shocked soldier in Hue, Vietnam in 1968.

His photographs were exhibited in The Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, in 2010. I took the opportunity to go and see the exhibition, having only seen a select few images of McCullin's before, and from the first to the last image I was completely stunned. As well as a vast array of photographs taken in various war zones, the exhibition also displayed some of his cameras, contact prints, travel documents, letters from the newspapers he had worked for, the camera which saved him from being hit by a bullet, and the image pictured above with post-it notes stuck to various parts of the photograph telling him which areas needed to be burnt or dodged, as well as any other details which needed editing in the dark room which was amazing to see. It was set up in a sort of time-line, with his earliest work first and leading to his work from the present day, which is mostly of landscapes taken Somerset where he now lives.

The exhibition is running in the Imperial War Museum in London from October 7th 2011 - January 30th 2012 and I would highly recommend it to anyone, whether you are interested in photography or not. These are truly thought provoking images which should definitely not be missed.

"There is no doubt that my photographs have a very strong religious overtone, they are like twentieth century icons. When human beings are suffering, they tend to look up, as if hoping for salvation. And that’s when I press the button."- Don McCullin

Don McCullin being interviewed by Paul Herrmann, director of Manchester's Redeye gallery at McCullin's latest exhibition, Shaped By War at The Imperial War Museum, Manchester.

 

This image is particularly beautiful, you can see where he has dodged around the silhouette of the man in to make him stand out a little more, giving him a kind of halo effect. I've tried this technique myself in the dark room and it is quite challenging to get right! This is excellent.

You can purchase Don McCullin's books here - Shaped By War is an exceptional book full of life changing photographs and is definitely worth £15. His books are also on sale at his exhibition, as well as in many bookshops including Waterstones.

Favourites

Below are a few of my favourite photographs which I have taken over the past few years, and the story behind them.

"Masculine and Feminine"

Images on Flikr

These are some images from a set I did for my foundation degree course. The title of the assignment was Masculine and Feminine, and we had to chose a subject which wasn't obviously masculine or feminine (i.e body parts), so I chose to study tattoos. Tattoos have always been of interest to me and I've always been surrounded by art from a young age (as my mum was an art teacher and my dad was a graphic designer). I chose to photograph my friend Leon Perkins. Leon is an extremely good bmxer from Liverpool, and has been sponsored by Nike, GT Bikes and Rampworx to name a few. I photographed him with his bike in the studio using a Bronica ETRS, and concentrating on his BMX inspired tattoo on the upper inside of his right arm. I shot these images on transparency rather than negative, as transparency is great for capturing vibrant colours. My final images were produced in the darkroom and hand mounted.

This was the first time I'd used my Bronica in the studio and I absolutely loved the results, the colours are amazing and I love the depth of field, and these will always be some of my favourite images.

Skinheads

colour image on Flikr

I took this as part of my Final Major Project which was concentrated on the Skinhead subculture. I met Azzy, pictured above, through a friend of mine. I'd seen him before and naturally I was a little apprehensive as he looked very intimidating, but he was absolutely lovely to me and very interested in what I was doing. He took me to an alleyway at the back of his house where he thought I could get some good shots, and this has to be my favourite. Although I may have benefited from being a little further away from the subject so I could have got a full body shot, there is something about this photograph that I absolutely love. It was taken with my Olyumpus OM10, and originally shot on 35mm colour transparency, but I felt that it looked more intense and added to the feel of the image as a whole in black and white.

This subculture is something which I am somewhat fascinated with, mostly because I love discovering why people with what could be seen as extremely radical views and opinions originated, and why they are so passionate about what they believe in. Skinheads are by far one of the most passionate groups of people I have ever met, and although I do not believe in or condone some of their ideas and the behaviour of certain groups of people within the subculture, I admire them for being able to express their opinions so actively.

My Best Friend

Image on Flikr

This photograph is of my best friend Jessica, and was taken in a cafe in King's Cross, London, after a pretty rough night! We were trying to kill some time before our six hour coach journey home, so we sat in a cafe for a while trying to take care of our hangovers. It was shot on my Olympus OM10 on 35mm negative film. There must have been a light leak somewhere a long the development process because there's a yellow streak down the middle of the image and it is a little overexposed, but I love imperfections and especially in film photography so I absolutely love it! I'd love to be able to have the use of a dark room again so I could print from negatives like this one, hopefully one day I will!

Fish Eye

I took this photograph in Sefton Park, Liverpool in the summer of 2010. It was taken using my Canon 450D, with a standard 18-55mm kit lens and a fish eye adaptor. I love the way the light leaks in to the lens (as it's not an amazing quality fish eye!) and the colours, as well as the location! I grew up in this park as I live about 3 minutes walk away and I have very fond memories, so it will always be one of my favourite places.

Liverpool

Today me and my friend Will went to the top of a car park in Liverpool City Centre to take some pictures. Unfortunately my camera battery died about 15 minutes after we got there so I didn't get a chance to take as many as I'd have liked, but I got some decent shots! Here are a few:

f/5, 1/8th Second, ISO 400. Canon 50mm lens, Model: Canon 450D

f/4.5, 1/4th Second, ISO 400, Canon 18mm (standard kit lens), Model: Canon 450D

The last image is a little out of focus as it was quite windy so there was some shake on the camera. The views from this car park were amazing and I'll definitely be going back soon with a fully charged camera!

Rolleicord Results

I got the film back today which I shot on my Rolleicord a few weeks ago and I am very pleased with the results! They were all shot in Sefton Park in Liverpool when it was very frosty (minus 5!) and it was definitely worth braving the cold! I used a black and white Ilford HP5 expired film (2008), it didn't make much difference to the results though as far as I can tell! I'd like to use colour next time and maybe some transparency, I'll be taking it with me when I go to Australia in just under 8 weeks and I can't wait to use it there!

Anyway, here are some of the photographs!

I added a boarder and changed them to black and white as they were a little grey and had some sepia tones in them. For some more of the images taken with my Rolleicord, see my Flikr set.

Hopefully I'll get a little better at using this camera with practice but for a first time I don't think they are too bad!