This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/galleries-and-exhibitions/the-photograph-don-mccullin-never-showed-britain-his-only-self-portrait-hidden-among-roman-statues
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
When Don McCullin stepped into Crowthers Reclamation Yard in Isleworth in 1963, surrounded by damaged Roman busts and weathered statuary, he was already establishing his repute as a photographer documenting battle and concrete decay. What he captured that day – his solely self-portrait – has by no means been exhibited within the UK. Until now.
The picture appears oddly prophetic. This was McCullin on the peak of his warfare images years. Yet right here he’s, immersed within the classical antiquities that might turn into a big preoccupation a long time later.
The self-portrait might be unveiled as a part of an exhibition titled Don McCullin. 90, at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton, UK. For images fanatics, this gives a uncommon alternative to hint all the arc of McCullin’s seven-decade profession.
What makes the 1963 self-portrait particularly compelling is its prescience. McCullin was then best known for visceral images of gang culture, poverty, and war zones. Yet this photograph, taken at a salvage yard filled with Roman sculpture, hints at an aesthetic sensibility that wouldn’t fully emerge until decades later.
Fast forward to his Southern Frontiers series, a 25-year survey of Roman Empire remains, and the connection becomes clear. The 90-year-old photographer has spent recent years documenting broken classical sculptures in museums worldwide, work that forms the centrepiece of a concurrent exhibition, Broken Beauty, at The Holburne Museum, Bath. Those historic, fragmented faces echo the statuary crowd that witnessed his 1963 self-portrait.
McCullin himself has articulated why these sculptures matter to him: “These are the best antidote to the grim realities of the front line,” he stated. “I hold in awe the mouldering stone, the fragments of dreams and the mysteries of the vanquished past.” Looking at that 1963 self-portrait, it is as if he instinctively understood this therapeutic relationship with antiquities, a long time earlier than he might title it.
Conflict to contemplation
The twin exhibitions showcase McCullin’s exceptional vary. The Holburne Museum present presents his most up-to-date Roman sculpture research (not beforehand proven within the UK), made utilizing ink-jet printing that provides the pictures extraordinary bodily presence. This technical alternative is critical: bridging modern digital output with historic topics.
“Over the years going to various wars, this corner of Somerset has saved and restored my sanity,” McCullin has stated. His black-and-white Somerset landscapes reveal a photographer who understands place’s redemptive energy. His still lifes, composed in his garden shed, draw inspiration from Flemish and Dutch masters; a different philosophy of photography entirely.
The Roman sculptures at The Holburne Museum, broken survivors from the ancient world, offer their own commentary. These fragmented statues possess a dignity that perhaps only someone who has witnessed human suffering could truly recognise and honour.
And ultimately that 1963 self-portrait, finally getting its UK debut, serves as the connecting thread. McCullin surrounded by ancient faces, at once present and timeless, documenting and documented. It’s an image that photographers of any genre might study; not just for its formal qualities, but for what it reveals about creative evolution.
Sometimes, it seems, a photograph knows more about the photographer’s future than the photographer does themselves.
Don McCullin. 90 runs February 14 -April 12 at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton.
Don McCullin: Broken Beauty runs till May 4 at The Holburne Museum, Bath.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/galleries-and-exhibitions/the-photograph-don-mccullin-never-showed-britain-his-only-self-portrait-hidden-among-roman-statues
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
