SHELL SHOCKED
Don McCullin: War and Disobedience at Howard Greenberg
Sir Don McCullin‘s photographs of world conflict are brutal, honest, and compassionate. He is a master of capturing death defying moments and finding magnificent light. He is recognized as one of the world’s greatest photojournalists.
Following his recent successful retrospective at the Tate London, 40 photographs from McCullin’s six-decade career are on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery through November 16 in New York City. Included in the curation are photographs from war torn Syria, Northern Ireland and Vietnam that are violent and human at the same time. Images where he recorded impoverished London’s East End and the industrial North and contemplative landscapes near his home in Somerset.
We are mesmerized by his ability to capture war and revolution’s most desperate moments and vividly frame war’s effect on the human soul. The portrait of the shell shocked soldier is terribly moving. You can feel the sweat, the fear and the atrocities the soldier witnessed. McCullin was daring death as he positioned himself and his camera in harm’s way over and over.
Don McCullin told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a 2016 interview, “I didn’t consider the danger but it’s what is in my blood.” He said, “The very least I could do was try and articulate these stories with as much compassion and clarity as they deserve, with as loud a voice as I could muster.” What an incredible commitment to capture life and it’s volatility and fragility that we get to witness and experience first hand at Howard Greenberg Gallery. Don McCullin was putting himself into reckless settings yet remained incredibly clear about his determination to document the frantic and murderous behavior that is war.
