The Landscape

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We were surrounded by McCullin’s signature black-and-white images, none of which depict starving children or shell-shocked marines. Though the woods and stream close to his house in Somerset have offered some respite, he has not sought out the quiet corners of rural England.

There is energy, the energy of history around this landscape here,’ McCullin tells me, as we look out of his living-room window, across the valley in front of his house. When I look at some of his drawings, people are looking up for salvation, just before they’re being shot.

And although the majority of the images featured are from Great Britain, it also includes stunning scenes from Syria, Iraq, France, Morocco, Sudan, India and Indonesia. Because the light is pouring in here and it’s as if I’m being invited to go out there and pick up on it.

He is adamant, however, that he is only a ‘trespasser’ in the art world, and would rather be known simply as a photographer.I’ve cleared all the crap out of there and I’ve set the dishes up to go in there on Monday morning next week. He has documented Roman ruins in North Africa and the Levant, including the recent deliberate destruction of the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria by ISIS. McCullin is a striking person to spend time with, still consumed by photography, good-humoured and reflective about the craft and ethics of his profession – but the conflict that has shaped his life is never far from the surface.

These images are in contrast to poignant urban landscapes from McCullin’s early career in North London and visits to Northern England between the 1960s – 70s. McCullin now spends his days in a Somerset village, where he photographs the landscape and arranges still lifes. That exhibition presented a huge selection of images from McCullin’s career, from his days documenting 1950s working-class life in Finsbury Park – the first photograph he sold, of a Teddy boy gang in a derelict building, was one he took in his spare time with a camera he had bought while on national service – to most of the major wars of the late 20th century (many photographed for the Sunday Times, his main employer for years), to social reportage in the north of England.The landscape once again offered him asylum, and he has now been living there for the past three decades. Realizada con la EOS 5D Mark III de Canon con un objetivo EF 24 mm f/2,8 IS USM, la exposición fue de 1/4.

And I said to my wife the other day, “Do you know something, I don’t think I’m going to go in the darkroom again. The photographs are selected from throughout McCullin’s long career, which began in the 1950s and has taken him all over the world, from devastating conflicts to key moments in British post-war popular culture – but the majority of the photos on show have been taken within a few miles of his house. Beginning in the early 2000s, McCullin began documenting physical remains of the colossal Roman Empire in North African and Levantine landscapes, including the ancient site of Palmyra.They show a less familiar side of the world’s most renowned photojournalist, known above all for his images of war and poverty. the book and photography are breathtaking, what makes it all so much more extraordinary is that this war photographer photographed most of these incredible landscapes near his home. The images carry a dramatic feel and a preference for stormy skies that reveal an intimacy with conflict and destruction. Oft sind es eher unspektakuläre, unscheinbare Motive (Landschaften in der Nähe des Wohnorts des Fotografen in der englischen Provinz), die durch die eingefangenen Lichtverhältnisse und die Wolkenformationen am Himmel atmosphärisch sehr dicht und reizvoll wirken.