Don McCullin Lecture, Christie's

Published by The Observer in 1958, Guvnor was a portrait of a London gang: a row of suited men posing in the wreckage of a bombed out building. It was with this photograph that Don McCulllin’s career began. Taken on by the publication, he was sent to Cyprus in 1964, tasked with documenting a period of sectarian violence. Thereafter, he increasingly became known as a war photographer, travelling to Biafra, Cambodia and Vietnam among other countries.

His photographic style is unflinching, and his portrayals of war stark testament to the grief and destruction that it engenders. Rendered in black and white, his photography has dealt powerfully with the horror of violence, turning its attention to some of the most traumatic events of the twentieth century.

In 2003, McCullin retired from war photography, focusing his attention elsewhere, not least on the dramatic landscapes of Somerset which he now calls home. In 2013, however, he returned once more to a conflict zone, travelling to photograph the Syrian city of Aleppo.

On December 9, audiences have the rare opportunity to hear McCullin speak live, prior to the opening of an exhibition of his landscape photography. Hosted at Christie’s Auctioneers, the event is entitled ‘War and Peace,’ and is held in aid of the Tusk Trust, a conservation charity working in Africa. As the title suggests, this is a chance for the photographer to reflect on the full breadth of his career. His is an extraordinary life in which he has encountered human existence at its most extreme and brutal. This is not likely to be the easiest of talks, but it is certain to be insightful.