Legendary war photographer Sir Don McCullin on his final testament to Vietnam: 50 years of “pictures to hurt you”

Updated on: September 21, 2026 / 2:05 PM EDT / CBS News

"I want my pictures to hurt you, I don't want you having any free rides, I'm there to upset you and I'm there to make you feel uncomfortable the way I feel when I go to bed at night, otherwise there's no point in me going in the first place."

That is what legendary British war photographer Sir Don McCullin told CBS News ahead of the publication of what he says will be his final book.

For more than 50 years, McCullin covered conflicts across the world, from Cyprus, Biafra and Israel to Lebanon, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

Now the 90-year-old is preparing to publish a powerful retrospective of a conflict that defined both his career and a generation: "Vietnam."

The book draws from thousands of images McCullin captured during multiple assignments in Vietnam during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Some of McCullin's most iconic work features alongside a selection of never-before-seen photographs, documenting horrors that continue to resonate deep in the American psyche.

Unflinching and raw, the pictures capture not only the violence and pain suffered by innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, but the gnawing fear…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/