David Hurn

Last updated

David Hurn
David Hurn (Martin Parr Foundation, 2018).jpg
Hurn in 2018
Born1934 (age 8990)
Occupation Documentary photographer

David Hurn (born 1934) [1] is a British documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos, who lives in South Wales.

Contents

Early life and education

Hurn was born in 1934 in Redhill, Surrey, England. He is of Welsh descent [1] and was raised in Cardiff, Wales. [2] Because of his dyslexia he joined the school camera club. [2]

Life and work

After leaving school, Hurn moved to London, hoping to become a photographer. [2] Self-taught, he began his career in 1955 when he worked for Reflex Agency. He gained his reputation as a photojournalist for his documentation of the Hungarian revolution of 1956, and is featured in two of Ken Russell's films for the Monitor television arts' series, A House in Bayswater (1960), [3] and Watch the Birdie (1963). [4] In 1965 he became associated with Magnum Photos and became a full member in 1967.

In 1963, Hurn was commissioned by the producers of the James Bond films to shoot a series of stills with Sean Connery and the actresses of From Russia with Love . When the theatrical property Walther PPK pistol didn't arrive, Hurn volunteered the use of his own Walther LP-53 air pistol. [5] The pistol became a symbol of James Bond on many film posters of the series.

In 1967 Dino de Laurentiis asked Hurn to travel to Rome to shoot photos of Jane Fonda in Barbarella . [6]

Hurn discussing Democracy in Action in Wales; 2012 David Hurn, Democracy in Action in Wales launch - Democratiaeth ar Waith 15-5-2012 (7202176188).jpg
Hurn discussing Democracy in Action in Wales; 2012

Hurn returned to Wales in the late 1960s, initially living in a van for a year photographing the country. [2] In 1973 he set up the School of Documentary Photography in Newport, Wales. Eventually, he turned away from documentary and photojournalism, bringing a more personal approach to his image making. He says, "There are many forms of photography. I consider myself simply a recorder of that which I find of interest around me. I personally have no desire to create or stage direct ideas." [7] His book, Wales: Land of My Father (2000), illustrates the traditional and the modern aspects of Wales. He continues to live and work in Wales. [8]

Hurn has been an avid collector of photography. He built his private collection of other peoples' work by swapping prints with them. In 2017, he donated 1500 of his photographs, and 700 of other peoples' photographs—including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, and Bill Brandt—to Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. National Museum Cardiff held an exhibition of this collection of other peoples' photographs in 2017/2018, entitled Swaps: Photographs from the David Hurn Collection. [9] [10] [11]

Personal life

Hurn was married from 1964 to 1971 to American actress Alita Naughton (1942–2019), best known for her role in Ken Russell's French Dressing (1964).[ citation needed ]

In 2001 he was diagnosed with colon cancer but made a full recovery. [12]

He lives in Tintern, Monmouthshire. [13]

Publications

Hurn in 2012 David Hurn, Democracy in Action in Wales launch Democratiaeth ar Waith.jpg
Hurn in 2012

Publications by Hurn

Zines by Hurn

Publications with others

Awards

Exhibitions

TV programs about Hurn

Collections

Hurn's work is held in the following permanent collections:

Notes

  1. Café Royal's page about California is here.
  2. Café Royal's page about Wales 1970s is here.
  3. Café Royal's page about Wales 1990s is here.
  4. Café Royal's page about Wales 2010s is here.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Parr</span> British photographer

Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnum Photos</span> International photographic cooperative

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eisner, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, William Vandivert, and Rita Vandivert. Its photographers retain all copyrights to their own work.

Christopher David Killip was a Manx photographer who worked at Harvard University from 1991 to 2017, as a Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies. Killip is known for his black and white images of people and places especially of Tyneside during the 1980s.

Roger Tiley is a Welsh documentary photographer. His work on documenting the coal mines of Wales and America has been used extensively in publications. Specifically during the UK miners' strike (1984–1985).

Christopher Horace Steele-Perkins is a British photographer and member of Magnum Photos, best known for his depictions of Africa, Afghanistan, England, Northern Ireland, and Japan.

Trent Parke is an Australian photographer. He is the husband of Narelle Autio, with whom he often collaborates. He has created a number of photography books; won numerous national and international awards including four World Press Photo awards; and his photographs are held in numerous public and private collections. He is a member of Magnum Photos.

Homer Warwick Sykes is a Canadian-born British documentary photographer whose career has included personal projects and landscape photography.

David Solomons is a British street photographer. He is known for his photographs in London, where he has made a trilogy of self-published books: Underground (2009), Up West (2015) and Kippers and Curtains (2018). He was a member of the In-Public street photography collective.

Patrick Ward is a British photographer who has published collections of his own work on British and other subjects as well as working on commissions for the press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Meadows</span> British photographer, video-maker and teacher

Daniel Meadows is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media.

David Jeffrey Carol is the editor-in-chief of Peanut Press, which he co-founded with Ashly Stohl, and the author of a number of photography books. He is the former Director of Photography at Outfront Media and was a contributing editor and writer for Photo District News' Emerging Photographer series. He was also a writer at Rangefinder Magazine, authoring a column entitled "Photo Finish."

John Bulmer is a photographer, notable for his early use of colour in photojournalism, and a filmmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Grant</span> British photographer

Ken Grant is a photographer who since the 1980s has concentrated on working class life in the Liverpool area. He is a lecturer in the MFA photography course at the University of Ulster.

Café Royal Books is an independent publisher of photography photobooks or zines, run by Craig Atkinson and based in Ainsdale, Southport, England. Café Royal Books produces small-run publications predominantly documenting social and cultural change, Including themes of youth, leisure, music, protest, race, religion, industry, identity, architecture and fashion, often in Britain and Ireland, using both new work and photographs from archives. Café Royal Books has been operating since 2005 and has published over 950 books and zines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Jay</span> British photographer and writer (1940–2009)

William Jay was a photographer, writer on and advocate of photography, curator, magazine and picture editor, lecturer, public speaker and mentor. He was the first editor of "the immensely influential magazine" Creative Camera (1968–1969); and founder and editor of Album (1970–1971). He is the author of more than 20 books on the history and criticism of photography, and roughly 400 essays, lectures and articles. His own photographs have been widely published, including a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He is known for his portrait photographs of photographers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tish Murtha</span> British photographer

Patricia Anne Murtha was a British social documentary photographer best known for documenting marginalised communities, social realism and working class life in Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East of England.

Janine Wiedel is a documentary photographer and visual anthropologist. She was born in New York City, has been based in the UK since 1970, and lives in London. Since the late 1960s she has been working on projects which have become books and exhibitions. In the early 1970s she spent five years working on a project about Irish Travellers; in the late 1970s two years documenting the industrial heartland of Britain. Wiedel's work is socially minded, exploring themes such as resistance, protest, multiculturalism and counterculture movements.

Syd Shelton is a British photographer who documented the Rock Against Racism movement. His work is held in the collections of Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Shelton lives in Hove, East Sussex.

Brian David Stevens is a British photographer, based in London. He has made work on sound systems of Notting Hill Carnival, war veterans, the Grenfell Tower fire, the British coastline and the suicide spot of Beachy Head. Stevens' work is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London and National Galleries of Scotland.

Stephen McLaren is a Scottish photographer, writer, and curator, based in Los Angeles. He has edited various photography books published by Thames & Hudson—including Street Photography Now (2010)—and produced his own, The Crash (2018). He is a co-founder member of Document Scotland. McLaren's work has been shown at FACT in Liverpool as part of the Look – Liverpool International Photography Festival and in Document Scotland group exhibitions at Impressions Gallery, Bradford and at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. His work is held in the collection of the University of St Andrews.

References

  1. 1 2 "David Hurn • Photographer Profiles • Magnum Photos Magnum Photos". Magnum Photos. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Magnum photographer David Hurn turns his lens on Wales". Wales Online. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. Michael Brooke "House in Bayswater, A (1960)", BFI screenonline, British Film Institute
  4. Michael Brooke "Watch the Birdie (1963)", BFI screenonline, British Film Institute
  5. "Lot 250 Sale 9017 From Russia with Love, 1963", Christie's. Accessed 2010-01-17.
  6. "Fonda memories". The Times . London. 22 May 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2010.[ dead link ]
  7. Photoquotes.com
  8. "Land of my fathers: Wales at work, rest and play – in pictures". The Guardian. 1 June 2016. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  9. "Swapper". BBC News. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Photographer gifts images to museum". BBC News. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. "Swaps: Photographs from the David Hurn Collection". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  12. Photohistories.com
  13. 1 2 "Photographer David Hurn on cracking Instagram in his 80s". BBC News. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  14. Williams, Megan (12 December 2024). "From beachgoers to the Beatles: David Hurn's photos of bookworms". Creative Review. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  15. "David Hurn: the social life of Arizona - in pictures". The Guardian. 6 December 2017. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 April 2018 via www.theguardian.com.
  16. "RPS Awards 2016" Archived 27 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Royal Photographic Society. Accessed 27 October 2016
  17. "Gwent photographer recognised for outstanding contribution to journalism". South Wales Argus. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  18. "David Hurn: Land of My Father". Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow . Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  19. "44 Mile Radius". Ffoton Wales . Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  20. "David Hurn: A Life in Pictures - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  21. Council, British. "David Hurn". visualarts.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 13 April 2018.