British photographer Don McCullin is most famously known for his war photography and urban strife photos. His career started in 1959 and he mostly likes to photograph the unemployed and unhappy. Some of his photographs, especially the ones showing paths and roads, link in with the theme of journey. I chose McCullin as one of my photographers because I love the way he uses techniques, angles and lack of colour to portray what it was like during the time of photographing. Even though his work wasn't purposefully photographed to show a journey, the elements of it can be seen within his work and is something that can inspire me within my own photography work.
At first look this image shows a dirt path or road surrounded by muddy fields on a dark and cloudy day. This links in with journey through the use of the path because its something that is used for travelling, to get from one place to another. McCullin has captured this image and used black and white, this is because in his images he likes to show downtrodden sights that can link to depression. The path has been illuminated and is the brightest part of the photo, this draws the attention of a viewer making them see this first. I can see that he has included a lot of texture within this photograph from the uneven mud either side of the path and throughout the tire tracks embedded within the path itself. This gives the photo a realistic feel rather than if everything was flat.
Again he has decided to photograph a path/road, which is something that he has sone a lot throughout his landscape photographs. This photo is slightly different to the other considering the setting, also because this photo is a lot brighter within the sky. The path is completely white and is surrounded by the dark grass, which makes the path stand out that little bit more within the photo. I can see a definite separation in the photo between the sky and the path/grass, this is nice as it allows the path to travel further into the photo until it gets so far it disappears, without taking the entire shot up.
The path within this photo isn't directly placed within the centre of the image, its placed to the right hand side of the photo and leads round and disappears off the right side of the photo. The black and white is again used to portray the emotion he wants the photo to show. Reflection is used within this photo from the lake, it doesn't make the theme of journey anymore apparent but is a nice technique to include. I like this photo however feel that it is extremely similar to every other landscape photo that he has photographed, I would like to see more controversial images of his that inhabit my theme.
This photo isn't from McCullins landscape series however it again shows my theme in a very strong and even more so interesting fashion. It shows a downtrodden location with factories producing smoke and steam in the background, in the foreground and to the left side of the photo he has captures a man walking down a street. From this we get the idea that the man is travelling to work in the factory or cole mine. This was very popular within the time of McCullins photography. The unemployment aspect does however apply to this image also, throughout the rest of the photo no other person can be seen. This shows the decrease within work at this point in time. I like this photo because it has connections to showing a journey and also because the message is so powerful, it has the opportunity to make the viewer think about the scenario behind the photo.
Influence-
The use of paths and roads within his photography is something that I would like to influence my work because they are such strong indicators for a journey. Also he has used various techniques within his photos such as reflection, texture and black and white which I feel could be included within my own work also to add dimension to my photos. I would however like to very my photos more than what McCullin has as some of his photography are so similar that they all start looking alike.
Summery-
Overall I like McCullins photography and feel that journey can be seen within them. I feel that there are many different techniques and aspects of his work that I could apply within my own work, however also that I would want to add my own touch with the diversity of the images and the settings they are inhabiting.
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