David Hurn
{{Short description|Welsh photographer (born 1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Hurn
| image = David Hurn (Martin Parr Foundation, 2018).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Hurn in 2018
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1934}}
| birth_place = Redhill, Surrey, England
| death_date =
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| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Documentary photographer
| years_active =
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| notable_works =
}}
David Hurn (born 1934){{Cite web |title=David Hurn • Photographer Profiles • Magnum Photos Magnum Photos |url=https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/david-hurn/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Magnum Photos |language=en-US}} is a Welsh documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos, who lives in South Wales.
Early life and education
Hurn was born in 1934 in Redhill, Surrey, England. He is of Welsh descent and was raised in Cardiff, Wales. Because of his dyslexia he joined the school camera club.{{cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/magnum-photographer-david-hurn-turns-1890139 |title=Magnum photographer David Hurn turns his lens on Wales |work=Wales Online |date=9 October 2010 |accessdate=2017-11-04 }}
Life and work
After leaving school, Hurn moved to London, hoping to become a photographer. 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),Michael Brooke [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/953555/index.html "House in Bayswater, A (1960)"], BFI screenonline, British Film Institute and Watch the Birdie (1963).Michael Brooke [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1037328/index.html "Watch the Birdie (1963)"], BFI screenonline, British Film Institute 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."[http://christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=1992033 Lot 250 Sale 9017 From Russia with Love, 1963]", Christie's. Accessed 2010-01-17. 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.{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article521965.ece | work=The Times | location=London | title=Fonda memories | date=2005-05-22 | accessdate=2010-05-01}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Hurn returned to Wales in the late 1960s, initially living in a van for a year photographing the country. 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."[http://www.photoquotes.com/showquotes.aspx?id=208&name=Hurn,David] Photoquotes.com 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.{{Cite news |date=2016-06-01 |title=Land of my fathers: Wales at work, rest and play – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2016/jun/01/photographer-david-hurn-wales |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
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.{{cite web|accessdate=2018-04-13|title=Swapper|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/david_hurn_photographer_swaps_magnum|website=BBC News}}{{cite news|accessdate=2018-04-13|title=Photographer gifts images to museum|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-39950869|newspaper=BBC News|date=18 May 2017}}{{cite web|accessdate=2018-04-13|title=Swaps: Photographs from the David Hurn Collection|url=https://museum.wales/cardiff/whatson/9682/Swaps-Photographs-from-the-David-Hurn-Collection/|website=National Museum Wales}}
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).{{cn|date=December 2024}}
In 2001 he was diagnosed with colon cancer but made a full recovery.[http://www.photohistories.com/interviews/56/david-hurn] Photohistories.com
He lives in Tintern, Monmouthshire.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-06 |title=Photographer David Hurn on cracking Instagram in his 80s |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89zeg04w8go |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
Publications
=Publications by Hurn=
- David Hurn: Photographs 1956-1976. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0-7287-0202-8}}.
- Wales: Land of My Father. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-500-01983-2}}.
- Living in Wales. Bridgend: Seren, 2003. {{ISBN|978-1-85411-339-9}}.
- Rebirth of a Capital. Cardiff: Cardiff County Council, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-902466-22-7}}.
- Writing the Picture. Bridgend: Seren, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1854115317}}.
- The 1960s Photographed by David Hurn. London: Reel Art Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1909526136}}.
- Arizona Trips. London: Reel Art, 2017. Photographs by Hurn. {{ISBN|978-1-909526-51-8}}. Edited by Tony Nourmand. Foreword by Christopher Frayling.
- On Instagram. London: Reel Art, 2024. {{ISBN|9781909526945}}.
- On Reading. Bristol: RRB, 2024. {{ISBN|9781738516384}}.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Megan |date=2024-12-12 |title=From beachgoers to the Beatles: David Hurn's photos of bookworms |url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/david-hurn-on-reading-photo-book/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Creative Review |language=en-UK}}
=Zines by Hurn=
- California. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edition of 200 copies.Café Royal's page about California is [https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/#/california-david-hurn-080317-600/ here].
- Wales 1970s. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edition of 200 copies.Café Royal's page about Wales 1970s is [https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/wales-1970s-david-hurn here].
- Wales 1990s. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edition of 200 copies.Café Royal's page about Wales 1990s is [https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/wales-1990s-david-hurn here].
- Wales 2010s. Southport: Café Royal, 2018. Edition of 200 copies.Café Royal's page about Wales 2010s is [https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/wales-2010s-david-hurn here].
=Publications with others=
- On Being a Photographer: a Practical Guide. Photography & the Creative Process: a Series by LensWork Publishing. Anacortes, WA: Lenswork Publishing, 1997. {{ISBN|978-1-888803-06-8}}. With Bill Jay. And subsequent editions.
- On Looking at Photographs: A Practical Guide. Anacortes, WA: Lenswork Publishing, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-888803-09-9}}. With Bill Jay.
Awards
- 1979/80: UK/USA Bicentennial Fellowship{{cite news|accessdate=2018-04-13|title=David Hurn: the social life of Arizona - in pictures|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/dec/06/david-hurn-the-social-life-of-arizona-in-pictures|newspaper=The Guardian|date=6 December 2017|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}}
- 2016: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society[http://www.rps.org/news/2016/september/rps-awards-2016 "RPS Awards 2016"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027194326/http://www.rps.org/news/2016/september/rps-awards-2016 |date=27 October 2016 }} Royal Photographic Society. Accessed 27 October 2016
- 2021: Lucie Awards, New York, Achievement in Documentary{{Cite web |date=2024-11-18 |title=Gwent photographer recognised for outstanding contribution to journalism |url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/24732874.photographer-david-hurn-recognised-contribution-journalism/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=South Wales Argus |language=en}}
Exhibitions
- 2014: Land of My Father, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, 2014.{{cite web |url = http://mamm-mdf.ru/en/exhibitions/land-of-my-father | accessdate = 23 April 2014 | publisher = Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow | title = David Hurn: Land of My Father}} Part of the Britain in Focus theme of Photobiennale 2014, the UK-Russia Year of Culture.
- 2017: 44 Mile Radius, Tilt & Shift Gallery, Llanrwst, Wales, 2017.{{cite web |url = https://www.ffoton.wales/events-north/44-mile-radius | accessdate = 23 April 2014 | publisher = Ffoton Wales | title = 44 Mile Radius}} Photographs made by Hurn within a 44-mile radius of Llanrwst.
TV programs about Hurn
- He appears in A House in Bayswater (1960). Currently on Iplayer in BBC Archive.
- David Hurn: A Life in Pictures. 40 minutes. BBC, 2017.{{cite web|accessdate=13 April 2018|title=David Hurn: A Life in Pictures - BBC Two|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0993mqr|website=BBC}}
Collections
Hurn's work is held in the following permanent collections:
Notes
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/david-hurn/ Hurn biography and portfolio] at Magnum Photos
- [https://photohistories.org/histories/david-hurn Hurn interview by Graham Harrison] at Photo Histories
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Category:People from Redhill, Surrey