This photograph was taken while McCullin was on assignment for ‘The Sunday Times Magazine’ and was first published as part of a photo-story entitled ‘War on the Home Front’ in December 1971. It is the third of three photographs taken within moments of each other that were originally published as a photo-sequence, providing a snapshot of the violence in Northern Ireland. McCullin has captured the decisive moments of this scene, framing it within the straight horizontal and vertical lines of the building behind the protagonists that are repeated by the rectangular form of the soldiers’ shields. The line of the windowsills set in the wall above is echoed by the plank of wood the young man has just launched at the soldiers, which is captured mid-air, mirroring the taut pose of his upper body. This compositional technique emphasises the movement and subsequent aggression in the image.