Amy Davies: When did you start
planning this exhibition?
Aïcha Mehrez: I co-curated the
exhibition with Simon Baker who
had been photography curator at
the Tate for 10 years. He left and
now works in Paris, but he had a
long-standing relationship with
Don, and has curated exhibitions
of his before. He has previously
worked on acquisitions of Don’s
work into the Tate collection, of
which we have about 85.
Simon and Don had been
working on this for a while before it
actually came to fruition, but
Simon and I have been working on
it for about two and a half, or three
years. It’s a big show, in terms ofHistor y
lessons
A major retrospective of
Don McCullin’s unparalleled
60-year career is currently
on display at Tate Britain.
Amy Davies discovers more
T
hroughout history, few photographers have
boasted the kind of longevity and impact of British
photographer Don McCullin. Many will naturally
think of him as a war and conflict photographer – a
title which he hates. Nevertheless, his shocking, but always
empathetic, conflict work is embedded in the country’s
national consciousness.
Currently on show at the Tate Britain in London, a huge
retrospective charts the past six decades of Britain’s greatest
living photographer. It depicts not just his war imagery, but
also many years of documentary and landscape work. Each and
every image was printed by McCullin himself in his Somerset
darkroom, with the 83-year-old photographer working closely
with the curators.
Some of you may have already had the chance to visit the
exhibition, which according to curator Aïcha Mehrez is
boasting record numbers that has far exceeded expectations.
If not, there’s still time – the exhibition doesn’t end until May.
To celebrate the retrospective, I spent some time chatting
with Mehrez about the show. Also over the next few pages,
three conflict photographers choose an image from the show to
discuss, and tell us about Don’s influence on them and the
wider photography world.
Don MCCullin
all pictures © don mccullin