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Don McCullin: Looking for England

As said above it was a Mamiya Press 23 used with the rapid wind film back available in 6 x 7 or 6 x 9. I think he was using a 6 x 9. Bit more here: https://www.shutterbug.com/content/classic-camerasbrthe-mamiya-super-23

Excellent camera and lenses. Popular with a number of good photographers. English urban landscape photographer John Davies was another user. Bit unreliable though so it is no wonder McCullin says he wore 4 of them out. I used one of its similar and equally not totally reliable rivals, the Koni-Omega with a 6 x 7 back, for some years before swapping to the much more compact Plaubel Makina 67and W67.
 
Just booked my ticket for Sunday 24th Feb. Looking forward to it. Might drive down and arrive very early, wander around with my camera. Free street parking on Sunday’s in that London, if I can find any.
 
I’ll see the McCullin exhibition, wander around the rest of Tate Britain, then walk up to the Bomber Command memorial. That should do me nicely, then a slow trip back to deepest Suffolk.
 
Went to the exhibition at the Tate today and it is superb. If you can get there then you really should. I could’ve spent hours looking at the images but had my wife in tow and, although she loved the images, she felt it was very ‘dark’. I guess Don McCullin photos tend to be that way. The only criticism I would have is that there were too few (only 6) of his wonderful still life photos.
 
I watched the documentary last night, wonderful. I see McCullin as a documentary, war and landscape photographer, but I've never really thought of him as a 'street' photographer. Of course his 'street' photography is very much documentary, and shows one to be almost completely distinct from the other, something I've never really thought about before. Most street photography you see on forums and so on seems to be completely mindless, his work is full of commentary and narrative.

He photographed in contexts quite familiar to me, but I would never have thought to do so. I absolutely love his way with the people he photographs, he takes a genuine interest in them.

I saw his retrospective at Hauser & Worth in Bruton two or three years ago, mainly his early and war work, only a few landscapes. The prints are mind blowing. You feel pretty wrung out afterwards.
 
I'll hve a look for this shortly
eternumviti said:
I saw his retrospective at Hauser & Worth in Bruton two or three years ago, mainly his early and war work, only a few landscapes. The prints are mind blowing. You feel pretty wrung out afterwards.
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Completely agree; I saw another exhibition maybe 7-8yrs ago - I've a pic somewhere taken of Don MCullin's Nikon F hit by a bullet ( an AK47 in Cambodia iirc): the remains were an arresting sight, and spoke volumes. Love his work.
 
The Nikon was in a glass case at Hauser & Worth, along with other momentos, magazines and so on.
 
A question for those who have visited this exhibition. How long would you reasonably expect someone to spend in the Tate if they took in the whole place? I’ve never been before, and I’m trying to plan my day, also taking in a walk up to the Bomber Command memorial. And lunch :)
 
You could take a very long time to get round all of the Tate. I spent an hour in the DM exhibition, but I was a bit pushed for time. £20 entry, unless you are a “concession”; you’ll probably want the book/catalogue - £25 paperback, £50 hardback. Nearest tube station is Pimlico.

There’s a Burne-Jones exhibition as well if you’re into Pre-Raphaelites - I think that’ll be next month’s foray along with the Diane Arbus. You can also take a surreptitious photo of James Bond’s place of work across the river from outside the Tate; I caught another old codger doing just that. He knew where he was pointing the telephoto, I knew where he was pointing the telephoto, and he knew that I knew. Roger Mooresque raised eyebrows and sheepish grins all round
 
Thanks.

Ok, I’ll spend as much time there as I need, eat there, then wander up to the memorial.

I paid £18 on line.
 
Yeah, I paid 18 as well, after the young chap on the ticket desk inquired as to whether “I get any concessions”, while sporting a huge “you look like an old bugger” grin.

And b*******! The Burne-Jones finishes on Sunday and I can’t get there before then.
 
We went to see the Tate exhibition yesterday. It's still very popular and quite crowded so hard to stop and take in the comments which are key in providing the context to his photographic approach, the emotional cost of years spent in extreme conflict zones but also the perfectionist approach to both image making whilst under extreme threat and the subsequent printing process

I hadn't quite realised the breadth of topics that he has covered and I really enjoyed the Indian and North African sections

Anyway, it's a photo exhibition, so an image from the day and one of my favourites from all the ones on display:

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Catch it while you can
 
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