In 1964 McCullin was sent by The Observer newspaper to cover the civil war in Cyprus. It was his first international assignment and the photographs he took were to become his first war pictures. This photograph shows how McCullin sought to position himself at the centre of the conflict, documenting distressing scenes as a means of revealing the human impact and suffering inflicted by war. He captures the acute grief these people are experiencing upon learning of the death of a loved one. McCullin subsequently received the World Press Photo of the Year award in 1964 for this photograph.