Don McCullin at Tate Britain
11Mar19
Back - ↑ - ↓

artist's statement
b: 1935 London
Wikipedia
The danger is with an exhibition this size devoted to a photographer best know for his work in war zones and other (to understate it) trouble spots is that the result becomes a relentless parade of atrocity porn and poverty porn. Despite occasional relief and the landscape and still life pieces at the end, that is what this show is about — Men's (for it is almost always men) inhumanity to men, women and children.
We should probably be grateful that these events have been documented and that McCullin took responsibility for visiting these abattoirs on our behalf: the least we can do is to attend the exhibition and see the outcome. Half way through there is a slide show of images, often in colour, from magazine covers and articles. This is watched in reverential or perhaps stunned silence by a seated audience of 50 or 100 people while others file past to the next room. All the hung exhibits are in black and white.
Now seems a good time to document some key war photographers.
London, 1960s








1. Sheep
2. Hessel Street
3.. Ban the Bomb
4. Cuban Missile Crisis
© Don McCullin
Cyprus, 1964; Biafra, 1967;








5. Cyprus civil war
6.. British soldiers
7. Ibo soldier
8. Those chosen to live
© Don McCullin
South Vietnam, 1968










9. Old Vietnamese man
10. Soldiers' confessions
11. South Vietnam
12. Shell-shocked US marine
13-14. McCullin's camera and helmet
© Don McCullin
London, 1970; Northern Ireland, 1971










15. Homeless Irishman
16. Homeless Irishman
17. Aldgate East
18. British soldiers
19. Londonderry
© Don McCullin
There is a striking symmetry between figs. 17 and 19: the insouciance of the British to their surroundings.
Northern England, 1960s-70s; Kurdistan, 1991








20-21. Consett
22. Doncaster
23. Kurdistan
© Don McCullin
Fig. 20 is my favourite image in the show.
Landscapes and Still Life












24-28. Lanscapes
29. Still Life
© Don McCullin