Like Don, I have had to adapt to continue taking photos as I have grown older and it is frustrating that we cannot do what we once could in our youth . However , the wisdom we acquired to get here is something I would have loved to have had back then , but it does not trump all those youthful abilities our younger selfs could do with ease.
What a remarkable man, what a remarkable life! I have admired his work and what drives him for decades. He says he’s uneducated but I beg to differ, many, not all, so-called educated people are far less cultured than Sir Don. (And amongst those I would include Andrew Neil who, I believe, as editor of the Sunday Times was foolish enough to terminate Sir Don’s contract.) I saw an exhibition of Sir Don’s at the War Museum in Manchester about 20 years ago and two exhibits come to mind: a huge close-up portrait of an elderly white-haired man (Vietnamese? Korean?) as I went in, and the Nikon F camera that stopped a bullet. I have a snapshot of that camera, very sobering to say the least. I would add that his book, Unreasonable Behaviour, is well worth reading. The stories he tells and the insights he offers are fascinating. He is known for his war photography, but he is so much more than that, I think he hates war and he hates warmongers. He deplores violence and killing even a moth, he frees trapped spiders, this is very much the mindset of Erich Fromm, understanding the difference between having and being. A very generous empathetic mindset. As he says, as soon as one war ends, another is waiting in the wings. Doesn’t that encapsulate very concisely so much of what is wrong with this world? It is powerful insights like that that come from living the life he’s lived, not going to college.
I once had to take a PR photo at an awards dinner of an impossible thing to photograph successfully (two men in dark suits, in a dark dark space, handing over a ceremonial peppercorn of all things) while Sir Don was seated at a table behind me as a guest of honour. I wanted the ground to swallow me up. Perhaps I should have asked if he wanted to have a go.
I once saw Michael Atherton interview Shane Warne and he said that when you retired from cricket you didn't take up photography , you took up golf which is very competitive ! One suspects that Atherton has never met Don McCullin !
So inspiring god bless you and your love ones ,lots of love and respect from Istanbul
Bravo to one of my Photographic Heroes, Sir Don McCullin CBE; and may your third act be forever and a day.
What a super interview. And thank you, Sir, without your inspiration, I may never have picked up a Camera.
Thanks for the wonderful photography, Sir Don. and may you keep on clicking.
Living legend, would love to meet him
Like Don, I have had to adapt to continue taking photos as I have grown older and it is frustrating that we cannot do what we once could in our youth . However , the wisdom we acquired to get here is something I would have loved to have had back then , but it does not trump all those youthful abilities our younger selfs could do with ease.
I love Don.
What a remarkable man, what a remarkable life! I have admired his work and what drives him for decades. He says he’s uneducated but I beg to differ, many, not all, so-called educated people are far less cultured than Sir Don. (And amongst those I would include Andrew Neil who, I believe, as editor of the Sunday Times was foolish enough to terminate Sir Don’s contract.)
I saw an exhibition of Sir Don’s at the War Museum in Manchester about 20 years ago and two exhibits come to mind: a huge close-up portrait of an elderly white-haired man (Vietnamese? Korean?) as I went in, and the Nikon F camera that stopped a bullet. I have a snapshot of that camera, very sobering to say the least.
I would add that his book, Unreasonable Behaviour, is well worth reading. The stories he tells and the insights he offers are fascinating. He is known for his war photography, but he is so much more than that, I think he hates war and he hates warmongers. He deplores violence and killing even a moth, he frees trapped spiders, this is very much the mindset of Erich Fromm, understanding the difference between having and being. A very generous empathetic mindset.
As he says, as soon as one war ends, another is waiting in the wings. Doesn’t that encapsulate very concisely so much of what is wrong with this world? It is powerful insights like that that come from living the life he’s lived, not going to college.
I once had to take a PR photo at an awards dinner of an impossible thing to photograph successfully (two men in dark suits, in a dark dark space, handing over a ceremonial peppercorn of all things) while Sir Don was seated at a table behind me as a guest of honour. I wanted the ground to swallow me up. Perhaps I should have asked if he wanted to have a go.
I once saw Michael Atherton interview Shane Warne and he said that when you retired from cricket you didn't take up photography , you took up golf which is very competitive !
One suspects that Atherton has never met Don McCullin !
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