I spent three and a half hours walking around this exhibition. If I really like something I embrace it like mad. Don's Photography is second to none and I just love the fact that he stumbled upon the field entirely by accident with absolutely no sniff of formal training. He was in the forces and instructed to take photos of events in Cyprus. After returning home to Finsbury Park he happened to photograph some friends standing outside a derelict building who became wanted by Police. One event led to the other and overnight national newspapers were asking McCullin to document conflicts around Europe and notably Northen Ireland. He ended up covering the Vietnam War, Nigerian Biafra War and others alike.
His photos of the Biafran War are very personal to me, having Nigerian folks. I remember being at the the Sleeping With Ghosts exhibition and seeing shot of a boy who had been shot through the cheek. There isn't much documentation of the conflict as such in Nigeria as the Military government at the time wanted to restrict levels of panic around the country at the time of conflict.
Unfortunately for McCullin he has evidently paid the price for throwing himself and his camera into such harrowing situations of conflict. He says he can be up at night recalling thousands and thousands of photographs.
I'm not sure if everyone would be affected in the same way as McCullin has but its clear that he is a scarred man. He admits he had to take a step back from all the bloodshed and photograph still-lifes of fruit and countryside just for sanctuary from all the darkness of war and conflict.
Inevitably maybe, McCullin has returned to war zones such as Bosnia almost through as sense of duty.
Don mate hope you sleep easy! You deserve a good kip.
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