On January 30 1972, dozens of photographers arrived in Derry, Northern Ireland, to cover a protest march against internment without trial. The day’s events turned violent when British paratroopers opened fire. The photographers ended up capturing on film one of the most significant events of the Troubles – Bloody Sunday.
In the early 1970s, war photography was burgeoning as a genre and a form of international activism. An international group of photographers made a living by travelling between the conflict hot spots of the world, including Vietnam, Biafra and Guatemala. From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland was one of the stop-offs, recorded in thousands upon thousands of images of running skirmishes between shaggy-haired men and the dark, hard shapes of British armour under a hail of bricks.
As the leaders of the January 30 demonstration reached the top of Westland Street and turned into the Bogside they were captured by Derry-born photographer Robert White. When armoured cars rolled into Rossville Street, French photographer Gilles Peress recorded the mounting tensions through thrown bricks and stones. Italian photographer Fulvio Grimaldi recorded confrontation across barbed wire, pointing guns matched by accusing fingers. As the British army started to fire, Colman Doyle recorded men and women scrambling for cover.
