Politics, war and Picasso: David Douglas Duncan's life in pictures

From US Marines in Korean trenches to Picasso in his studio and Nixon deep in thought, the photojournalist captured the tumult of the 1950s and 1960s

  • Korean war, 1950


    The internationally renowned American photojournalist David Douglas Duncan has died at age 102 in France
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    Korean War, 1950 The internationally-renowned American photojournalist David Douglas Duncan has died at age 102 in France.

  • Con Thien, 1967


    After fighting in the second world war as a Marine, Duncan made soldiers a focus of his work while shooting for Life magazine, beginning with an assignment during the Korean war
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    Con Thien, 1967After fighting in the second world war as a marine, Duncan made soldiers a focus of his work while shooting for Life magazine, beginning with an assignment during the Korean war.

  • Picasso on the front steps of Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, 1959


    He met Pablo Picasso in 1956, and they remained close until the artist’s death in 1973
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    Picasso on the front steps of Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, 1959 He met Picasso in 1956 and they remained close until the artist’s death in 1973

  • Picasso’s face reflected for an instant, 1967


    Duncan gained rare access, capturing Picasso at work in his studio and at home
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    Picasso’s face reflected for an instant, 1967Duncan gained rare access, capturing Picasso at work in his studio and at home.

  • Pablo Picasso, La Californie, 1957


    ‘Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and knowing nothing about Picasso,’ said Duncan, ‘I had the audacity to knock on his door, became his friend and took thousands of photographs, of him, his studios, his life and his friends’
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    Pablo Picasso, La Californie, 1957”Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and knowing nothing about Picasso,” said Duncan, “I had the audacity to knock on his door, became his friend and took thousands of photographs, of him, his studios, his life and his friends.”

  • Richard Nixon, Miami Beach, 1968


    The presidential candidate responds to a question at his press conference at the Republican National Convention
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    David Douglas Duncan (American, b. 1916), Presidential candidate Richard Nixon responds to a question at his press conference, Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, 1968.

  • Richard Nixon, Miami Beach, 1968


    Alone in his hotel room, Nixon writes his acceptance speech as the Republican party’s nominee to fight the 1968 presidential election – which he went on to win and become the 37th president of the United States
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    Richard Nixon, Miami Beach, 1968Alone in his hotel room, the presidential nominee Richard Nixon writes his acceptance speech at the 1968 Republican National Convention.

  • Korean war, 1950


    Of his work as a combat photographer, Duncan said: ‘I just felt maybe the guys out there deserved being photographed just the way they are, whether they are running scared, or showing courage, or diving into a hole, or talking and laughing. And I think I did bring a sense of dignity to the battlefield’
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    Korean War, 1950Of his work as a combat photographer, Duncan said, “I just felt maybe the guys out there deserved being photographed just the way they are, whether they are running scared, or showing courage, or diving into a hole, or talking and laughing. And I think I did bring a sense of dignity to the battlefield.”

  • Korean war, 1950


    ‘My objective always is to stay as close as possible and shoot the pictures as if through the eyes of the infantryman, the Marine or the pilot,’ he said in 1951
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    Korean War, 1950Duncan’s work on Korea was published in a 1951 tome, This Is War!”, to worldwide acclaim. To photographer Edward Steichen it was “the greatest book of war photographs ever published.”

  • Pfc John L Lewis, Khe Sanh, February 1968


    He spoke of wanting to give his readers an idea of what the soldier’s experience was: ‘His apprehensions and sufferings, his tensions and releases, his behaviour in the presence of threatening death’
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    Pfc. John L. Lewis, Khe Sanh, February 1968He spoke of wanting to give his readers an idea of what the soldier’s experience was: “His apprehensions and sufferings, his tensions and releases, his behavior in the presence of threatening death.”

  • US Marines, Seoul, Korea, September 1950


    Duncan’s work from Korea was published in the 1951 tome, This Is War!, to worldwide acclaim. To photographer Edward Steichen it was “the greatest book of war photographs ever published”
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    US Marines, Seoul, Korea, September 1950Duncan’s work on Korea was published in the 1951 tome, This Is War!, to worldwide acclaim. To photographer Edward Steichen it was “the greatest book of war photographs ever published.”
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