Coinciding with his 90th birthday, McCullin’s most comprehensive US presentation to date brings together over fifty works, as well as seldom seen archival materials and historical ephemera. ‘A Desecrated Serenity’ offers a deep look at McCullin’s expansive archive.

From the gritty unfiltered images taken on the battlefield and in postwar Britain to painterly European vistas and meticulously crafted still lifes, the exhibition reveals the twin forces that course through and characterize McCullin’s oeuvre: an innate and profound compassion for humanity and exceptional mastery of composition and process.

Regarded as one of the most accomplished photographers of recent times, Don McCullin has spent the last six decades travelling to remote locations, often witnessing scenes of conflict and destruction. In contrast to his work as a war photographer he refers to the British countryside as his greatest salvation. McCullin demonstrates the full mastery of his medium with stark black and white images resonating with human emotion.

His personal survey depicts scenes from across the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia, revealing McCullin’s innermost feelings through powerful compositions of wild heavens, haunting vistas and meditative still lifes. The artist has hat a lifelong connection with the open farmland and hill country of the United Kingdom’s South West, especially Somerset, feeling at peace within the solitude of the expansive landscape.

His most important series of landscape photography explore areas within walking distance of McCullin’s home: ‘The River Alham near my house, Somerset’ (2007), ‘The Dew Pond, Somerset’ (1988) and ‘Batcombe Vale’ (1992-93). McCullin is able to evoke dramatic painterly representations of his home county with quiet confidence, shifting between the flooded lowlands of the Somerset levels to woodland streams, nearby monuments and historic hill forts.

McCullin also produced some important series of gelatin still life compositions, created in his garden shed and developed in his dark room at home. McCullin often refers to these still lifes as providing a deeper form of escapism than his landscapes, drawing inspiration from the great Flemish and Dutch renaissance masters. It is the emotional durability and intuitive presence of McCullin throughout the entire journey of image making, from capturing to developing, that allows us a rare insight into the redemption he has found from the land and place he calls home.

Later in his life, McCullin embarked on a documentation across the United Kingdom, featuring pensive rural scenes that include Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland; the River Cam, Cambridgeshire; Rannoch Moor and Glencoe, Scotland. These images mark a contrast to poignant urban landscapes from McCullin’s early career and visits to Northern England between the 1960s – 70s. McCullin’s honest and empathetic approach towards years of widespread British poverty, social concerns and hardship is most apparent in this body of work, highlighting a genuine commitment to communities often overlooked and the landscape in which they inhabit.

Blackqube Magazine is your destination for contemporary art, design and architecture. Blackqube features today’s creative practitioners offering a curated selection of innovative minds, galleries, art and design institutions around the globe. We source international exhibitions, art fairs, events and auctions to bring the best of today’s cultural highlights to our audience. Feel free to discover more news and stories in our Photography, Design & architecture, Featured and Printed Matter sections.

A Desecrated Serenity
Don McCullin
Hauser & Wirth Gallery
New York, USA
Through 08 November 2025
Hauser & Wirth gallery website