As a Fleet Street photographer, Llanelli-born John Downing frequently found himself far from home, having been fished out of a local drinking den and dispatched on yet another dangerous foreign assignment. His posthumously published memoir plunges the reader into the cut and thrust of life – and near-death – on the front line.
Downing’s itinerary reads like a tour of post-1970s “Wish You Weren’t Here” tinderbox situations: Sudan, Vietnam, the Falklands, Bosnia, Afghanistan. His pictures hammered home the horrors of war, especially the impact on children – those who had no comprehension of the conflict and bore no responsibility for it. That concern for the innocent extended to peacetime tragedies too, notably the Chernobyl disaster.
With a cavalier attitude to personal safety as well as alcohol consumption, Downing survived as much through luck as through judgement. He paints a picture of a man’s world in which camaraderie with fellow newshounds was critical but romantic and familial relationships were neglected and often strained to breaking point.
Written with the assistance of author and former Telegraph journalist Wendy Holden, Aperture took shape as Downing faced up to a diagnosis of terminal cancer. His legacy includes the Press Photographers’ Association (which he founded), a remarkable body of work – and now this eye-opening portrait of a perilous profession.
Aperture: Life Through A Fleet Street Lens, John Downing (Seren)
Price: £19.99. Info: here
words BEN WOOLHEAD