"War photographers are not meant to reach 90. Fate has had my life in its hands, says Don McCullin. Over his seven-decade career covering wars, famines and disasters McCullin has been captured, and escaped snipers, mortar fire and more. How does it feel to be a survivor? Uncomfortable, he says. No wonder he finds solace in the beautiful still lifes he creates in his shed, or in the images he composes in the countryside around his Somerset home."
"McCullin is proud of escaping the extreme poverty he was born into, and the interesting and adventurous life he has lived, but he says the accolades including a knighthood in 2017 make him uneasy. I feel as if I've been over-rewarded, and I definitely feel uncomfortable about that, because it's been at the expense of other people's lives. But he has been the witness to atrocity, I point out, and that's important."
"Yes, he says, uncertainly, but, at the end of the day, it's done absolutely no good at all. Look at Ukraine. Look at Gaza. I haven't changed a solitary thing. I mean it. I feel as if I've been riding on other people's pain over the last 60 years, and their pain hasn't helped prevent this kind of tragedy. We've learned nothing. It makes him despair."
Don McCullin survived seven decades as a photojournalist covering wars, famines and disasters, enduring capture and near misses with snipers and mortar fire. He feels uncomfortable about surviving and uneasy about honours such as a 2017 knighthood, believing awards came at the expense of other people's lives. He doubts that his images have changed outcomes, citing ongoing tragedies in Ukraine and Gaza, and expresses despair at repeated human suffering. He finds solace creating still lifes in his shed and photographing the Somerset countryside. He rose from extreme poverty in north London and discovered photography during RAF national service.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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