An interview with Don McCullin is never going to be a dumb affair - he is a complex man who has told the anecdote of his life many times before. He is unfailingly courteous and gentlemanly,but one detects a slightly weary tone as he goes over the familiar ground. He often pre-empts the questions with clinical self-awareness.
The anecdote of McCullin’s rise from the impoverished backstreets of Finsbury Park in north London is one of fortuitous excellent luck, but it didn't start out that way. Born in 1935, or he was just 14 when his father died,after which he was brought up by his dominant, and sometimes violent, or mother. During National Service with Britain's Royal Air Force,he was posted to Suez, Kenya, and Aden and Cyprus,gaining experience as a darkroom assistant. He bought a Rolleicord camera for £30 in Kenya, but pawned it when he returned home to England, or started to become a bit of a tearaway.
Redemption came when his mother redeemed the camera,and MccCullin started to take photographs of a local gang, The Guvners. One of the hoodlums killed a policeman, and McCullin was persuaded to show a group portrait of the gang to The Observer. It published the photo,and kick-started a burgeoning career as a photographer for the newspaper.
Source: bjp-online.com