Photographers Research- Don McCullin

McCullin left school when he was 15 and had no qualifications and he soon signed up to the National Service in the RAF as a photographic assistant. Even though he didn't work in the RAF as a photographer for very long, he still continued his work of documentary photography. Originally his projects were based in London but it soon took him around the world where his career as a war photographer soon began- and he also took photos of other human disasters as well. During 1966 and 1984 Mcullin worked for the Sunday Times which helped him with his journalism photography with him being set different tasks as he began more and more recognised. McCullin aimed for his work to be the "realities of war". In order for this to occur, he began putting himself at great risk- in order to get the best insight of documentary photos. This included being arrested by ldi Amin's thugs whilst in Uganda and taken to a prison where they were murdering hundreds of people every day. "Sometimes it felt like I was carrying pieces of human flesh back home with me, not negatives"- this was said by McCullin.  Therefore this small bit of information on McCullin shows how every though he is not a youth aimed photographer his style of raw documentary photography can have a big influence on my work for this project.

The name of this photo is "Tormented, Homeless Irishman, Spitalfields, London 1969". This is important when looking at this photo by McCullin because it was taken during "The Troubles", a conflict which occurred within Northern Ireland. This context is useful when looking at this photo because the name date and place shows the audience how this is an Irishman but it is taken in London and he is homeless, this suggests that due to the racial conflict within Northern Ireland, this subject has fled to London, thus making him homeless- this is a story which the audience are able to form about that background of this subject. The focus, sharpness and texture of this photo displays a trouble/ struggling suggestion of this subject. Even though this photo is not of youth exactly, the style of framing and focus could be useful for me when capturing the grittiness of youth- the stereotypical rebellious youth side.

The title and date of this photo is "Christian Woman with hand grenade, holiday inn, Beirut, 1979". During the 1970s through to the 90s in Beirut was when the Lebanese Civil war occurred, with an estimated 250,000 deaths. This photograph is really intriguing because as shown through the name, it is a Christian woman. Normally, Christians are seen as pacifists- people who don't like war or fighting, yet as she is holding something with the potential of killing lots of people, it shows the extreme aspect of this Civil war. Furthermore, I find this photo intriguing which scan be influential on my work of youth because of the destruction you can see within this photo even if it is just one subject- the shattered glass on the floor combined with the body language of the subject. This photo is also similar to Henri Cariter- Bresson's work of the decisive moment because if McCullin had taken this photo even half a second later, this subject would have been in a different position and not even be holding the grenade anymore. The photo is useful in my project on youth because it shows the documentary aspect which I could use in order to gain a "raw" insight into different youth subcultures.

The name of this photo is "The Guvnors In their sunday suits, Finsbury Park London 1958". Within 1958, there was various different racial riots, for example the one which occurred within Nottinghill due to the increased number of Caribbean migrants leading to white families having to fight for housing over the migrants. Subsequently leading to "Teddy boys" standing up against them. This photo is really interesting because of the amount of detail McCullin was able to capture. With this photo being in black and white, it is quite hard to be able to see the subjects. Yet after looking closer to this photo, you can see 7 different people standing/ sitting across the middle level of this building each one in their own gap. This shows symbolism within this photo because ben though it appears posed, they are all in their own gap- they are all individual people with their own identity, however they are all on the same floor, this could suggest being on the same social status or same group. This photo can help my work when looking a the youth subculture because is shows people in a  place which doesn't look very safe/ doesn't look like somewhere they should be, therefore, it links well with Ann Gould's rebellious stereotype of youth subculture.

This photo is called and dated "Children Throwing Stones, Liverpool 1961". This photo is really interesting because the wide angle of this photo has meant McCullin has been able to capture lots of the surrounding even though focusing on two small subjects- shown in the centre of this photo. The way he has positioned this photo makes it really intriguing because it shows the audience the context- these children wouldn't be of a high class background- the area they are in appears to be low in the working class status. Therefore this links with the stereotype of class and youth- the lower the social standing of an individual, the more rebellious they are. Considering they are throwing stones as a form of entertainment shows this stereotype. Another aspect of this photograph which I find really interesting is the gritty effect which is conveyed thorough this image. Therefore, I could use this as influence in my project by including lots of the surrounding, forming the gritty feel which I would like to gain then with the small focus of subjects. Much similar to other pieces of McCullin's work, this works in the same way as the decisive moment, therefore showing me how documentary photography is really useful into gaining a raw insight into youth- If I were to stand in one place, known for many youths to be, I could try and gain as many photos as possible- in the view of the decisive moment.