Don McCullin's best shot
'I'm capable of far more beautiful things than photographing the ugly side of life'
Leo Benedictus
Thu 29 mar 2007
People think this country is terribly dull, but to a photographer it's manna from heaven. Sometimes the most amazing things crop up, like this shot. I had a bit of a crush on the north in the early days - I was influenced by the photographer Bill Brandt and his attempts to see how the other half lived. I was making my way up the east coast of England in 1965, just browsing, when I came across this strange place called Scarborough.
First I went to the market, where the boats were bringing fish in. I had a look and photographed a few of the local people. When I was bored with that, I saw some boys playing football on the beach, so I wandered over. They worked in fishing, and were using their lunch break as an excuse to get the old leather out. They didn't seem to mind me taking pictures. I used a Nikon F 35mm camera - the same one I used in all the wars I ever photographed - with a 28mm lens, Tri-X film and no flash.
The beach looks so heavy and depressing - not the kind you'd book your holidays on - but the image is still very romantic. It's got all the ingredients: the grand hotel in the background, that Venetian Canaletto sky, and football, a very strong part of English culture. Now, those boys would be in their 60s. I feel uncomfortable thinking about it, as I'm now rather old myself.
It's not a picture of a lost world, but there is nostalgia attached to it, because things have certainly moved on in the past 30 or 40 years. I look back at this lesser-known picture with fondness, unlike most of my work, which has too many horrendous connotations - other people's deaths, murders, children starving. I like the idea that I'm capable of far more beautiful things than just photographing the ugly side of what life throws up.
