Don McCullin, the internationally renowned photojournalist, was presented with an honorary degree by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Sammells at a graduation ceremony last week.
He has been recognised for an award based on his outstanding contribution to journalism.
The ceremony took place at the magnificent Bath Abbey in Bath where hundreds of Bath Spa University graduates received their degrees over a three day period.
Don is recognised as one of history’s greatest war photographers. He was born in London in 1935 and spent his childhood in the derelict area of Finsbury Park.
He left school at 14 and soon after was called up for two years of national service in the Royal Air Force, as an assistant for aerial photography that took him to Africa and the Middle-East.
His first reportage, on the “Guvnors” — a youth gang in his childhood neighbourhood — was published in The Observer in 1959.
In 1961, he visited Berlin at the time of the construction by East Germany of the wall to separate it from the “capitalist” West.
He produced his first war assignment for The Observer in 1964, covering the civil war in Cyprus and 1966 began an 18 year collaboration with The Sunday Times Magazine, witnessing numerous conflicts and battlefields in the Congo, Biafra (Nigeria), Israel, Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Bangladesh, Lebanon, El Salvador, and Kurdistan.
He is the author of more than a dozen books, including his highly-acclaimed autobiography, Unreasonable Behaviour.
He is the winner of two Premier Awards from the World Press Photo Foundation and in 1992 he became the first photojournalist to be made Commander of the British Empire (CBE).
Commenting on his award, he said: “I am thrilled to be given this honour as being associated with the City of Bath is particularly moving since the time of my evacuation as a child near here and spending over thirty years living close by.
“It is privilege to be associated with this institution, a centre of learning and artistic inspiration which I appreciate all the more having left school in my early teens.”
The University also awarded honorary doctorates to:
- Iwan and Manuela Wirth, Presidents and co-Founders of Hauser & Wirth, a leading international gallery of contemporary art and modern masters.
- Juli Beattie, Founder Director of The Art Room, a national arts and education charity established in 2002.
Commenting on this year’s honorary graduates, Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University Professor Christina Slade said: “Each year it is a pleasure to award honorary doctorates to individuals whose achievements are an inspiration to our graduating students, and this year is no exception.
“I am delighted to welcome such worthy recipients to our fellowship.”
The ceremony took place on Thursday 16th July 2015.
