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Average Customer Rating:

dark and reflective masterpieces

Customer Rating:

Don McCullin's latest collection of photos is a dark mirror. The prints are beautifully rendered-- uniformly dark but perfectly toned in their range of light and shadow. The subject matter is dark too -- there is little to indicate any social progress to lessen the gap between the privileged and the have-nots over the nearly fifty years the collection represents at its maximum span. McCullin's pictures show bleakly how little has changed over that period. But perhaps what is most striking is how the English at play still look grotesque regardless of class. You expect shots of your parents generation to look odd; it is startling to see your own generation repeat the same inanities of dress and expression. Take away the captions and you'd be hard pressed to say whether it's 1966 or 2006 on some of the shots. Regardless of grotesquerie or social commentary, this collection underlines McCullin's mastery of both capturing the moment and then bringing out the maximum impact through careful and thoughtful printing. Its a visually stunning book.

Sublime Collection of Pictures

Customer Rating:

A superb collection of pictures which need a careful study as they are thought provoking especially after you read the introduction (which you must)by Don Mccullin and his reasons for submitting this collection of his work. Perhaps his study of people back in his homeland became more fascinating to him after his overseas war experiences mainly with the Sunday Times, seeing England as tragic and at times vain and often no better, who knows?.At any rate Don says it is about preserving his memories and how powerful they are. These pictures will instantly be loved and the more you know about McCullin as a person and his work I think this book will be even more meaningful as you see England in a new light. In some ways it acts as a mirror of us all. It's humorous without mocking, showing in places almost tragic irony and rather contrasting situations.It's sobering to see the state of the nation through the decades. Finally I would say that you can't help returning to it because it is like a family of album of post war Britain-warts and all!

An inspiring and utterly engaging photography book

Customer Rating:

A wonderful coffee table tome spanning back half a century and displaying both high society and low life England and its thrilling landscapes with equal measures of pathos, drama and senstivity. Don McCullin, a master at bringing life and soul the bleak, banal and often ignored, creates pictures which demand a response. You will find yourself returning to his imposing monochromatic images again and again.