Sharjah: Through his work in some of the world’s most gruesome conflicts in Africa, Vietnam, Bangladesh and other parts of the world, Sir Don McCullin captured some of the most stunning images of human strife and suffering, shining a light on what human beings are capable of doing to each other.
“War is a journey of insanity and brings out both the worst and the best among people,” said the legendary British photojournalist, taking people behind his lens that once became synonymous with the images of tragedy and conflict.
Speaking on the third evening of Xposure 2017, Sir McCullin walked an awestruck audience through his illustrious career spanning 60 years, showcasing various shades of human agony, endurance and resilience.
The second edition of the festival, organised by Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), concluded at Expo Centre Sharjah on Saturday. The festival featured works of 32 of the world’s most celebrated photographers, seeking to spark a region-wide engagement and inspiration.
“I am supposed to be talking about photography, but what I am really discussing here are humanity and compassion. I never signed up for this. I thought I’ll photograph English social situations but found myself increasingly surrounded by war,” he said, as he moved past slides after slides of pain, fear and agony.
However, he says his images are not all gloom and doom.
“Some times, covering a war you come across scenes that are hard to imagine you would see in a war. Conflicts bring out those aspects of human nature that are at the same time inspiring and intriguing. Once early in the morning during the Vietnam War, a child with a head wound walked out of nowhere and what I saw then was inexplicable compassion shown by a soldier taking care of the child,” said Sir McCullin, referring to an image that showed an American marine doting over a child wrapped in blankets.
And this legendary photographer, whose pictures told the real behind-the-scene stories of various conflicts, almost stopped photographing?
Sharing the experience of his early struggles, he said: “Just when I thought I don’t have much of a future as a photographer, photography found me, I became a photographer purely by accident.
“I spent two years in the RAF (Royal Air Force) as a young man at the age of 18, and failed to pass the written theory paper necessary to become a photographer there. I left the RAF without any accreditation as a photographer. But one picture that I took of a gang war in London which was published by The Observer, changed everything. Overnight, I became another person. I was offered every possible job in London after that,” he added, reflecting on his early days as a photographer.
As someone who grew up in one of London’s poorest neighbourhoods in the aftermath of the World War II, Sir McCullin was naturally drawn to photographing poverty and hopelessness that surrounded the country at the time.
And that quest for stories of human survival against all odds took him beyond the borders of his country and into India, Bangladesh, Tibet, Africa and Vietnam.
As he sought to tell compelling stories, he found himself increasingly surrounded by violence and war, documenting some of the worst human tragedies of the past half century and soon what began as an accident became a passion.
“I sought poverty and strife like a moth seeking a flame. It became an obsession,” said Sir McCullin, adding that one cannot cover wars, revolutions and famines and not have a dark side to their nature, agreeing he has one.
The veteran photographer was felicitated by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, following his riveting session.
