http://www.dunhill.com/day8/detail/137d56a8-43cd-43f4-8b35-efe3a400f20d/don-mccullin

 

This has been around for a while, but it's still worth watching. It surprises - and does somewhat sadden me - when, early on, he says 'the majority of the last 50 years of my life has been wasted...photographing wars'

 

He has long been a hero of mine. He is a very intelligent man, who obviously struggles with what he has done/what he has seen in his life. But to say it was all a waste...no, I could never agree. He has been one, of many others of course, who have given us the reference points for the events of our generation surely. It's a strong argument though...in a war zone, someone injured..."does he need you looking over at him with a camera, no you're the last person he wants to see".

 

Never before has the news media been so instant - and not just the media, anyone with a camera phone - the coverage of wars and struggles is so real-time and puts us right on the spot doesn't it...we watch from the outset as it unfolds; you almost feel a part of it...sometimes I wonder if this is such a good thing? (the news junkie part of me will always want to know more though)

 

...........

 

And this...

 

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/may/22/don-mccullin-southern-frontiers-interview

 

Maybe it shows the price that has to be paid to be a great war photographer. I'll try to remember him for his humanity, not his war photography.

 

Hi Steve, thanks for yours. I think it takes all sorts doesn't it...and there are undoubtedly those who think less deeply about it all, perhaps because they find it easier to be in those places in the mindset of an observer. Everyone has their own sense of balance (moral compass, whatever you want to call it). I would always remember him for both (not quite the right word considering he's still with us!! :) - think of him is better), someone who has always inspired me. It must often be difficult to look back and be 'proud' of work that you've done, where the subject matter is hard and shocking to see; I can understand that reticence. But then I've always felt there are stories that need to be told and thankfully there are people, like him, that are out there doing that

I cannot imagine what he has to go through every day after witnessing the scenes that he has witnessed. It is easy for me to say as an 'outsider' - wow he is my idel and I would love to be a great photographer like him, but it would be actually such a burden to live with what he has seen.

He is a fascinating character - Canon had recently a video on him learning to work with a digital camera.

 

I would love to meet him someday.

 

Thanks for sharing Eliza.

Didn't the Sth African photographer Kevin Carter commit suicide soon after taking this photo

http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/vulture-stalking-a-child/

 

Yes, a picture many will know. I think there was a big - and no doubt very interesting - debate on him and that image here some time ago, before I joined; maybe it's still in the archives.

 

Yes, I remember this long discussion. I am sure it is still in the archives. The story of Kevin Carter's life and death was a complicated one. So it looks like not only how the public took this picture, more precisely how this picture was taken, was to blame in his suicide.

I have come across many stories from war correspondents or photographers that make me think that it is often impossible to accept yourself as the pure observer in situations that are simply horrific. I came across a book recently (Figurehead by Patrick Allington) where a person (Ted Whittlemore) saved a Cambodian's life, only to see that Cambodian rise to prominence in the Khmer Rouge. Saving peoples lives is seen as a good thing, but that act has haunted him for the rest of his life.

We certainly need good war correspondents, but I don't think I would want to be one.

Eliza, :)

 

After all of that have you seen this?

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/jan/02/don-mccullin-news-photography

 

Clearly he has seen suffering most of us will never seen or experience. So it is understandable that he is questioning the whole of his life. I like how he is sharing his inner conflict.

 

I wondered was it sad that he felt that way or at he reached a point of new consciousness and realized that is not what he wanted to have done with his life? He seems to have developed a compassion from the work....and what else can we ask for. I respect his open honestly...and I feel sure that he has many thoughts on his war photography; bit just these...but media loves sound bytes.

 

Clearly, he is attached to conflict for reasons we probably will not know...but from that article above at age 77 it does not sound like he has gone home to walk the woods and drink tea. Syria is not the place you drop in on these days,.

 

Thanks for this...I like him. :)

 

Phyl

http://metro.co.uk/2013/01/02/don-mccullin-being-involved-in-a-film-about-yourself-is-a-bit-conceited-3328293/

 

Not sure this was linked...

He is a very smart guy..for sure...and introspective...

 

:)Phyl

I must try to see the film. I am always fascinated by the ways that we cope (or don't cope) with the terrible things that sometimes happen to us. It would also remind us of some of the history we have lived through.

Thanks for that link, Phyl.

Steve

Thanks for sharing this Eliza, Don was always one of my favorite photographers, and yes the price of been a war photographer is really big.

 

Gianni