Don McCullin and Colin Ford at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, 2013 © Kate Elliott

In this recording, made at The Photographers’ Gallery on Wednesday 23 January 2013, renowned photojournalist Don McCullin speaks about his work, in conversation with curator and photography historian Colin Ford. The two speakers are introduced by Brett Rogers, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery. The talk is followed by questions from the audience.

The recording appears here with the kind permission of Don McCullin and Colin Ford.

Don McCullin (b.1935) has captured photographs of conflict, disaster and devastation in Britain and abroad for over 40 years, including extensive coverage of the Vietnam War and the conflict in Northern Ireland. He’s the recipient of a number of awards, including a CBE in 1993. In 2011, The Imperial War Museum, London, mounted the largest exhibition to date of his work in the UK, Shaped by War: Photographs by Don McCullin. His work is currently on view in War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath, at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and subsequently touring to LA, Washington and New York.

Colin Ford, CBE, was the first senior curator of photography at the National Portrait Gallery, 1972-82 and Founding Head of the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (now the National Media Museum). He was a regular BBC broadcaster for many years, and first interviewed Don McCullin for Radio 4 in 1977.  Ford’s Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the Twentieth Century (in 2011) was the first photography exhibition ever originated by the Royal Academy.

As part of a long-term project to document the Gallery’s history, we are currently in the process of digitising all our exhibitions archive and talks recordings. To date we have completed the digitisation of the documentation relating to 10 seminal exhibitions, and the archive of talks recordings.  We intend to regularly update and extend these highlights over the coming year. Should you have any archival material of relevance to any of our previous projects, events or exhibitions, or should you wish to enquire about our archive or Study Room, please do contact us by email at tpg.archive@tpg.org.uk