I love this audio slideshow on Don McCullin produced by the BBC. McCullin is an acclaimed war photographer who covered both Vietnam and Cambodia. An audio slideshow is the perfect way to profile him - his riveting images scroll by as he speaks about his experiences and the backstory behind specific photos. I love the part about 1:15 where McCullin says he believes the "accusing face" of an elderly Vietnamese man tells more about the Vietnam War than "any war picture of a man throwing a hand grenade." As he speaks, the camera fades into a closeup of McCullin's photo of the Vietnamese man, and at just the right moment shifts to his shot of a man throwing a grenade. His point is illustrated perfectly in a way that wouldn't be possible in a straight print piece.
Interspersed with McCullin's commentary is ambient sound of gunfire and archival broadcast announcements about military developments in Vietnam and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The timing throughout the slideshow is impeccable, lingering on the most powerful images and sparingly using the ambient sound to provide context but still keep the focus on McCullin. This man was present at momentous turning points of history, and the slideshow really brings that home.
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