Don McCullin
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Don McCullin, FRPS CBE (born London 9 October 1935), is an internationally-regarded photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His photojournalism career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the underside of society, and his photographs have reported the unemployed, downtrodden and the impoverished.
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[edit] Career
McCullin's period of National Service in the RAF saw him posted to the Canal Zone during the 1956 Suez Crisis, where he worked as a photographer's assistant. He failed to pass the written theory paper necessary to become a photographer in the RAF, and so spent his service in the darkroom.[1][2]
Between 1966 and 1984, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the Sunday Times Magazine, recording ecological and man-made catastrophes such as war-zones and victims of the African AIDS epidemic.[2] His hard-hitting coverage of the Vietnam War and the Northern Ireland conflict is particularly highly regarded.
McCullin's work was considered so powerful and evocative that in 1982 the British Government refused to grant him a press pass to cover the Falklands War.[3][4]
In 1968, his Nikon camera stopped a bullet intended for him.
He is the author of a number of books, including The Palestinians (with Jonathan Dimbleby) (1980), Beirut: A City in Crisis (1983) and Don McCullin in Africa (2005).
[edit] Selected awards
McCullin received the World Press Photo Award in 1964 for his coverage of the war in Cyprus. In the same year he was awarded the Warsaw Gold Medal. In 1977, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, placing the letters 'FRPS' after his name. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford in 1993 and an honorary degree by the Open University in 1994.
He was granted the CBE in 1993, the first photojournalist to receive the honour.[5]
McCullin was awarded the Cornell Capa Award in 2006.[6]
[edit] Family life
In later years, McCullin has turned to landscape and still-life works and taking commissioned portraits. Currently living in Somerset, he is married and has five children from this and earlier marriages.
[edit] Selected works
- (1971) The Destruction Business. Open Gate Books. ISBN 033313027.
- (1973) Is Anyone Taking Any Notice?. MIT Press.
- Anton Wallich-Clifford & Don McCullin (1974). No Fixed Abode. Macmillan.
- (1979) Homecoming. Macmillan.
- Jonathan Dimbleby & Don McCullin (1980). The Palestinians. Quartet Books. ISBN 0-7043-3322-8.
- (1980) Hearts of Darkness: Photographs by Don McCullin. Secker and Warburg.
- (1983) Beirut: A City in Crisis. New English Library. ISBN 0450060373.
- (1987) Perspectives. Harrap. ISBN 0245543686.
- (1989) Open Skies. Cape. ISBN 0224025392.
- Norman Lewis & Don McCullin (1993). An Empire of the East: Travels in Indonesia. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0224032305.
- (1994) Sleeping with Ghosts: A Life's Work in Photography. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0224032410.
- (1999) India. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0224050893.
- (2001) Cold Heaven. Christian Aid. ISBN 0904379477.
- (2002) Unreasonable Behaviour: An Autobiography. Vintage. ISBN 0-09-943776-7.
- (2003) Don McCullin. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-07118-1.
- (2004) Life Interrupted. Christian Aid. ISBN 0904379647.
- (2005) Don McCullin in Africa. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-07514-4.
[edit] References
- ^ Leo Benedictus, "Don McCullin's best shot", Guardian (London), 29 March 2007. A shortened version of this interview, omitting this material, appears here.
- ^ a b Edemariam, Aida (2005-08-25), "The human factor (interview)", The Observer
- ^ Morris, Roderick (1997-10-30), "Don McCullin's Harrowing Images of War", International Herald Tribune
- ^ Don McCullin, Victoria and Albert Museum
- ^ Don McCullin biography. Under Fire: Images from Vietnam. Piece Unique Gallery. Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
- ^ Cornell Capa Award. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
