McCullin is a little seen documentary about the life of famed
photojournalist Donald McCullin. Nominated for two BAFTA awards, the film
charts the career of its subject from his humble beginnings in poverty ridden Finsbury Park,
London in the
late 1950s, through his many and varied warzone assignments and towards his
later, peaceful retirement. The documentary is narrated by and features
extended interviews with the man himself and gives great insight into the reasons
behind his adventures as well as descriptions of often horrific events and how
he composed some of his most famous photographs.
For several years Don McCullin
has been my favourite photographer having stumbled upon an exhibition of his
war photography at the National Media Museum
in Bradford. I’ve since been to another of his
exhibitions in Manchester
and one of his many photographic books became my most expensive book purchase
ever at the second exhibition. I’d been looking forward to seeing the film
since its original release and was thrilled to find it on television late last
night as part of The BBC’s Insight series.
