The Landscape

Product Information

The images carry a dramatic feel and a preference for stormy skies that reveal an intimacy with conflict and destruction. Oft sind es eher unspektakuläre, unscheinbare Motive (Landschaften in der Nähe des Wohnorts des Fotografen in der englischen Provinz), die durch die eingefangenen Lichtverhältnisse und die Wolkenformationen am Himmel atmosphärisch sehr dicht und reizvoll wirken. The photographer has spoken many times over the years about the way in which his impoverished and often violent childhood influenced his work, pushing him to gather images of human suffering. McCullin now spends his days in a Somerset village, where he photographs the landscape and arranges still lifes. This new collection mixes recent with past work, showing how no one has ever been able to accuse McCullin of wielding a frivolous camera.

A master printer, he tears up scores of prints he considers inferior, because ‘When I die I don’t want people to find prints that aren’t good enough. He has an ability to leave out what is not needed, as the modern artist tends to punch in all those digital aspects and fill us with to much detail, often not required.These images are in contrast to poignant urban landscapes from McCullin’s early career in North London and visits to Northern England between the 1960s – 70s. His ominous skies and ever-present water – ponds, rivers, saturated fields, the flooded Somerset Levels – hint at the destructive power of our climate, too. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. His experience as a traveller reinforces the sense of a man on the edge of civilisation under siege.

What they don’t understand is that what was once a great country which stole other people’s resources by colonising, [no longer has] that choice any more to steal from other countries. This driving force to connect and reflect on sacred locations and diverse communities continues further afield across to India and Indonesia, where McCullin has documented local rituals, festivals and architecture. McCullin evokes dramatic painterly representations of his home county with quiet confidence, shifting between the flooded lowlands of the Somerset levels to woodland streams, nearby monuments and historic hill forts. He inspires me, be inspired yourself and dive in if you love the landscape and the true art of photography.The finest British photojournalist of his generation, he has received many honours and awards including a CBE. The obvious assumption is that McCullin turned to landscape photography as an escape from the stresses and trauma of covering war. After a career spanning sixty years, Sir Don McCullin, once a witness to conflict across the globe, has become one of the greatest landscape photographers of our time. The book also features landscape images from throughout his career taken in Syria, Iraq, Indonesia and India. Batcombe Vale 1992-93Having been evacuated to the safety of Somerset during the blitz, McCullin has had a lifelong connection with the open farmland and hill country of the south-west, feeling at peace within the solitude of the expansive landscape.