Sir Don McCullin and David Burnett are two men who have seen history in the making, literally. From the Vietnam War, to the fall of the Berlin wall, changing regimes in Iran, the war in Cyprus and more, the two photojournalists have dedicated over sixty years of their lives documenting changes that have shifted the course of history and shaped society.
The third edition of Xposure International Photography Festival (Xposure 2018) brought every photography lover’s dream to life by bringing the two icons on one stage for the first time ever, and in conversation with their successor in the field, Maan Habib, at a panel titled ‘Recording Change’ on Thursday evening.
Habib got straight to the point asking the two about what made them take up photography as a profession.
“I didn’t want to be a photographer; it happened to me by accident,” said McCullin, who left school at fifteen with no qualifications and grew up in a North London neighbourhood that was at the time notorious for boy gangs disrupting the law.
“I realised I didn’t want to be a criminal and be locked up in a prison cell, and ruin my future. One night I photographed a gang clash, and I took it to The Observer. At first they didn’t believe me, but once the picture was published, the phone in my little studio in Mayfair didn’t stop ringing. I was offered every photography job in London.”
Burnett grew up in a generation when the popular American magazine, Life, was a regular feature in his home, before the big reach of television. “I was charmed and mystified by all these photographs I would see every week. I just loved the process of developing a photograph on a tray. It was magic.”
Burnett said his journey began with taking the odd photograph of the weekend basketball game, which he dropped at the paper that published it and credited about 5 dollars to his account. “That was as good as it got. The idea of getting published excited me to no end.”
Habib brought up the topic of war and the legendary photographers' daring coverage of the most important events in history and how their paths crossed in Vietnam when they were young men in their mid-20s and 30s. Speaking about the harrowing experiences of war, Sir McCullin noted: “When we became photographers and communicators, we didn’t realise the psychological impact that seeing badly burnt children, dying communities, on a daily basis would have on us.”
He continued: “When I went to Cyprus, to cover the war between the Greeks and the Turks, someone told me, by the way there’s a load of dead bodies out there, as if it were football scores. I walked into a house and could smell the warm blood underneath my feet. This was my baptism to war, to my long journey in photojournalism that would follow. I was behaving very gently – trying to be there, but not be there. I had to become an actor; show concern but from a distance.”
To this Burnett added: “Once you enter into these arenas of war and death, you have to be prepared for your own death as well.”
Their travels across Africa were discussed. Burnett covered the devastating famine in 1984 in Ethiopia. “People by the thousands were walking for days to these refugee camps to try to hang on to their lives. It is the same year Michael Jackson produced the song ‘We are the World’ to raise funds. These people were miles away. Being right there, the only thing I could do was make pictures and share their sufferings with the world.
“It is not something you do just as an exercise; there has to be a commitment to share their story with the hope it brings people the help they deserve.”
The moderator brought up Sir McCullin’s picture of the soldier in the Vietnam War, and said: “What do you have to say about this iconic picture?”, which elicited the following response from the 83-year-old veteran: “The word iconic makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want people to admire my pictures, I want them to respond.”
Towards the end of the discussion, McCullin expressed his disappointment at how, in their pursuit of the truth, photojournalists often become causalities of war. “Since 1991, over 1,200 photojournalists have lost their lives. Is it worth so many people losing their life? I don’t think it is.”
Burnett lightened up the moment, saying: “We all have a different definition for risk. I saw Don walking into a heated war scene when we were in Vietnam, and I thought to myself that something would happen to me even if I was 10 feet away from that point. But Don was charmed. He just kept walking.”
Both stressed the importance of training, especially in an era of asymmetric warfare, where one practically becomes a participant rather than a spectator or documentarian.
Their opinion about digital versus film? “Digital cameras lie. You can do whatever you want with an image after you’ve taken it. They over-process pictures these days; the final product almost looks sanitised. There is a lot more honesty in film.”
Well, no surprise there. The two stalwarts visiting Xposure 2018 encouraged young photographers to be open to discovery, and not be afraid of even surrendering to surprise or uncertainty at times, asserting it is the only way to truly master the craft and learn about who they truly are as photographers and as human beings.
