Peter Turnley at the Frontline Club

Tonight, I attended a truly inspiring presentation by Peter Turnley at the Frontline Club.

Peter Turnley is the twin brother of David Turnley (who is also a photojournalist) and is one of the most distinguished photojournalist in recent times.

For nearly two hours, he presented his work spanning an extraordinary career over 35 years. It seems that Peter was present and photographed almost every notable and historical event over the last four decades. Peter explained that a book by Henri Cartier Bresson brought him to photography and started his passion for photography. His main motivation to take pictures is – similar to mine, if I may say so – a pretext to enter worlds that would be closed off to him otherwise. He also believes in visual communication as a means to sharing. Peter is also a strong believer in the narrative power of the image and that images can speak for themselves.

It also pays to be there early as Peter came up to me chatting before the talk began. He told me that he was one of the photographers closest to former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and was also interested in hearing what I do. Of course, he knows Paul, our course director, and his work as well.

The last image in this blog shows a lewd act being performed by one of tonight’s attendees on a devotional object left at our table by a well-known photojournalist. I apologize profusely if any minors are reading this blog and are offended by the image :-)