{"id":200074,"date":"2025-12-24T18:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/200074\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T18:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:03:08","slug":"from-beatlemania-to-local-news-91-year-old-photographer-david-hurn-wont-give-up-his-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/200074\/","title":{"rendered":"From Beatlemania to Local News, 91-Year-Old Photographer David Hurn Won’t Give Up His Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2028Just ahead of Christmas, here\u2019s an inspiring story<\/a> about David Hurn, a 91-year-old photographer who has captured some of the most iconic images of the past century, including the instantly recognizable portrait of Sean Connery as James Bond. <\/p>\n

The segment was created by the British news network, ITV<\/a>. In the feature, Hurn discusses his career, which began in Hungary in 1956 when he documented the 1956 revolution. Despite his age, Hurn has never put down his camera, an inspiration to other photographers worldwide. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy main problem is I don\u2019t want to give up shooting pictures. I like shooting pictures,\u201d Hurn tells ITV. <\/p>\n

After a lifetime of capturing defining news moments, world-famous stars like Sean Connery and The Beatles, Hurn wondered what he could keep doing \u201cuntil he conked it,\u201d as he charmingly puts it. He now photographs for his local community magazine<\/a>, the Tintern News. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, I suddenly thought if I become the village photographer, and I fall over, somebody who knows me will pick up,\u201d Hurn laughs. \u201cYou know, it is as simple as that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although it may seem like a real step down from a long career of capturing famous photos seen by people around the world, Hurn has a very different view on his latest endeavor. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, The Beatles are, for me, no more interesting than the village fete that I\u2019m about to go and do, you know,\u201d Hurn says. <\/p>\n

Every month, one of Hurn\u2019s photos graces the cover of the Tintern News<\/a>, delivered every month by volunteers to around 200 homes in the small Welsh village. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t come up to [David] and ask for his autograph,\u201d says Toni Harrey, editor for Tintern News. \u201cThey probably ought to.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018As far as I\u2019m concerned, The Beatles are, for me, no more interesting than the village fete that I\u2019m about to go and do.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Hurn recalls his lengthy career with as much humility as he approaches his work today, describing photographing Beatlemania<\/a> as a terrifying experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was scared stiff most of the time,\u201d Hurn says, referring to the absolute insanity of Beatles fans at the height of their popularity. \u201cThey could have killed people. They were that fanatical.\u201d <\/p>\n

Today, in addition to photographing the community magazine, Hurn offers masterclasses to local photographers, delivering advice built on his decades of remarkable experience in exchange for help cleaning up his yard. While photographing Beatlemania may have been terrifying at times, and capturing famous portraits of celebrities was fun, Hurn is also an accomplished photojournalist who covered major news events, including tragedies. <\/p>\n

Hurn photographed the Aberfan disaster in Wales in 1966, when a colliery spoil tip, a massive pile of waste from the local coal mining operation, collapsed down a slope onto the local village. The slurry engulfed a local school and a row of homes, killing 122 children and over two dozen adults. <\/p>\n

Hurn describes the event as the most challenging assignment he has ever had. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about 122 kids, suffocated by crap sliding a mountain side,\u201d Hurn says to a trio of photographers in his home. \u201cAnd when one got there, the miners who were the parents of these children, were trying to dig their children out.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hurn says one of the more challenging parts of the job was being there when the people whose kids were killed didn\u2019t want you there, but Hurn says he knew he had to be there because events like that have to be documented. <\/p>\n

Just a decade prior, Hurn was headed to Hungary to document the Hungarian Revolution, though at the time, he admits he didn\u2019t know what he was doing. He had a camera he didn\u2019t know how to use, saying he didn\u2019t even know how to load the film. <\/p>\n

But Hurn befriended a group of Life Magazine journalists who were also there and hung around them, carefully observing and picking up the skills he needed. It set into motion an incredible career that continues to this very day. <\/p>\n

\u2018My main problem is I don\u2019t want to give up shooting pictures. I like shooting pictures.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 91, and my body is fragile. You know, I have had a blissful life. As far as I\u2019m concerned, when I die, I die,\u201d Hurn says. \u201cWhat I feel I do have which is enormous advantage is that I happen to do something which leaves something behind afterwards.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2028Image credits: ITV News, David Hurn <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2028Just ahead of Christmas, here\u2019s an inspiring story about David Hurn, a 91-year-old photographer who has captured some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,123014,4950,123015,501,48803,156,24396,5620,7386,123016,111,43,139,69,8545,1613,25898,1491,6149],"class_list":{"0":"post-200074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-beatlemania","13":"tag-beatles","14":"tag-davidhurn","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-disaster","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-inspiration","19":"tag-interview","20":"tag-itv","21":"tag-jamesbond","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-newzealand","25":"tag-nz","26":"tag-photojournalism","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-unitedkingdom","29":"tag-wales","30":"tag-war"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}