Don

McCullin

Shaped By
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 War Don McCullin
Shaped By War

Don McCullin seems like the kind of photographer who I would describe
as someone who thrives off of the emotions of other people. All of the
images which I had a chance to look at from his many different sets of war
photographs all felt like the kind of photographs which really did matter to
him, and which captured the emotion and atmosphere of the event perfectly,
and passions about the subject which you are photographing is something
which is a key part of documentary photography; especially so with such
graphic and moving images.
One of the sets of war photographs by McCullin which I looked at in
particular was that documenting the Cypriot Civil War from 1963 – 1964. I
think that this set of images in particular shows McCullin’s skill in capturing
the emotions and atmosphere of an event, and even more so how much pain
and suffering war can cause to those around it, even if it is a relatively small
scale conflict such as a civil war within a country. The image of his which I
think best portrays the feelings and atmosphere of this event is a
photograph of a grieving woman which was taken towards the latter half of
the war in 1964. The focus of the photograph is the one woman in particular
who can be seen staring off into the distance and the pain which can be seen
on her face. The photograph looks like it has captured the woman on the
verge of breaking down completely into tears and in a way I think that this is
far more effective, and shows the exact moment when she is on the verge of
giving up, the split second before she finally accepts whatever terrible news
it is that has been brought upon her by the war going on all around her. I
think the strength of the emotion shown in this image is enhanced even
further by those closest to her in the shot, and it portrays how much more
terrible her pain is in contrast to the expressions captured on the other
people in the photograph at the same moment. First of all is the older
woman to her left, who looks as if she has been preparing for this moment
and has already readied herself for the worst, and as a result has an almost
calm and accepting look on her face, which to me tells me that this woman is
not alone in her suffering, that it has happened before and this goes to show
how the war is affecting everyone and not just the woman in the focus here.
The old woman is also clutching onto the arm of the grieving woman, almost
as if she is trying to support her and help to comfort her, and again goes to
show just how strongly this has affected the woman in the image, who
seems completely oblivious to everything around her. Then there is the child
in front of the woman who also looks as if he is feeling the same pain and
suffering; the same emotions as the grieving woman before him, which
suggests that his pain is a reflection of hers and has been caused by her
pain. However the way that he is staring towards her and clutching onto her

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hands whereas she is clutching her hands to her chest and staring off over
his head, as if she doesn’t even know that he is there; goes to show how
much the war even manages to affect those who are not directly involved.
On a more technical note McCullin also shows a good use of focal length to
help create the desired effect here as the woman in the foreground is neither
central to the image, nor the only person in the photograph whose
expression depicts what effect the war is having on the community, but by
focusing on this one woman in particular and blurring out all the figures in
the background he manages to show that it is this woman whose emotions
he wishes to present.
Another series of photographs of his which I have looked at are those
which he took in Biafra whilst working for The Sunday Times towards the end
of the 1960’s. These photographs of his are some of the most graphic
images which he has published of all of his photographs and they really do
get the message across about the pain and suffering that is going on in the
most remote and poorest areas of Africa. The majority of the photographs
which I saw all showed inhabitants who were suffering from malnutrition and
severe hunger which was caused by blockades put up during the Nigerian
Civil War which McCullin was documenting at the time.
One of the most controversial and powerful images that he took at the
time of this terrible hunger that was around is a photograph of a middle-
aged Biafran woman attempting to breast-feed a child. It is clear that both
the mother and the child are suffering severely and are weak from
malnutrition but despite this the woman is still doing the best she possibly
can to provide for her young child. This complete devotion to her family even
when she herself is on the verge of death is a very strong and moving
connection that the majority of people who would have seen this photograph
back in countries such as Britain would not even have begun to understand
or be able to empathise with this woman. This image was however extremely
controversial at the time back in other countries, and I strongly doubt that it
would have been publicly published such as in a newspaper. The thing which
I think scared people most about this image is just how very different, and
difficult, the life of someone else can be without our knowledge when people
in modern countries complain endlessly about things which in comparison
are completely insignificant. I also doubt that the graphic nature of the
photograph would have been acceptable in society during the sixties, as
McCullin has not tried to hide anything at all about this image, and you can
see every single detail of the image, everything from the mothers naked,
shrivelled breasts and ribcage showing through, to the child’s stick like limbs
and ribcage which is also prominently showing. The photograph has also
been taken to enhance the impact of these details and the lighting and
shadows present here show just how thin and malnourished both of the
figures are.
Another one of McCullin’s images from his time in Biafra which I found
particularly interesting was a photograph which showed a traditional African
tribeswoman with six large heavy duty gun shells attached to her head. One
of the things that African tribeswomen have been well known for is the way
that they carry food and water strapped to their head with such apparent
ease and nonchalance, as this is something that would be completely out of
place in a country such as England. This photograph then, takes this

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traditional calm relaxed image and replaces the food with ammunition,
showing just what a terrible affect the war is having on the lives of the local
people, to such an extent that they are no longer even able to eat due to the
fighting that is going on which takes precedence over all other aspects of
their lives.
I also decided to take the time to look at some of the other
photographs which Don McCullin has taken over the course of his career as a
photographer documenting conflict. The first of the images which caught my
attention was one which he took whilst in Beirut in 1982 of an old Palestinian
woman. The image portrays the old woman standing among the rubble of a
ruined house that has been destroyed by fighting going on around her. The
reason I chose this particular image is because the first thing that came into
my head when I saw this photograph was the sense of how much war is
something which affects those around, people who are not actually directly
involved in it, and I don’t think that I could have found a better image to
portray this if I had tried. In a way I found this image very similar to the
photograph of the Cypriot woman which I previously looked at in the way in
which McCullin has managed to perfectly capture the facial expression of the
woman. Both the images gave of a feeling of complete hopelessness and
despair and with this image you can almost hear the woman as she stand
with her hands raised to the sky as if to say, “Why me?”. I also think that the
way in which she is holding her hands up to the sky could possibly have a
religious significance as it could show her turning to the sky and to her god
as a last cry for help as everything else has been taken from her. Another
not quite so obvious association which I have also noticed within this image
is how the black clothing and expression of despair and sadness on the face
of the woman are extremely similar to those of a person who is in mourning
or at a funeral service, and to me another way in which you could interpret
this image is that it is meant to show a woman who is at the funeral service
of wither her house or her life, and would show the way in which humans are
so emotionally attached to inanimate objects, often even more than other
people or living creatures.
The final image then which I have chosen is another one which stood
out straight away to me and which I feel conveyed the greatest feelings and
emotions with it, something which I personally find to be one of the most
important aspects of all photography, but documentary photography in
particular. The scene which is portrayed in this photo is that of a peaceful
protester who has sat down in the middle of a road holding a sign board in
front of a larger group of police officers. To me this image shows that if you
believe strongly about anything you will stand up to overwhelming odds just
to be able to prove a point, for one shot at a chance of being able to make a
difference. I also like how this image portrays conflict in the most peaceful
and nonviolent way imaginable and it’s almost hard to believe that such a
vast amount of officers could possibly be needed here. I also think that it
shows how much those in power and the government often overreact or
overestimate how bad something is going to go as the amount of police
shows that they are clearly preparing for something much more spectacular
than the defiance of one single man.

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