The photography of Akihiko Okamura is not well known in Europe. As well as covering Vietnam and Northern Ireland he also photographed the war in Biafra in 1969 and took one of the most impactful conflict photographs I have ever seen.

The image looks quite bland but Okamura captured the exact moment before the collapse of a Biafran soldier who had just been shot the chest by Nigerian machine-gun fire. It illustrates how close he was to the fighting and is a poignant reminder of the reality of war.

Speaking of the photo Okamura said “the photo certainly chronicles a real segment of the war in Biafra, but I felt depressed as I thought I was profiting from this man’s death.” His feelings were similar to those expressed by McCullin when discussing his war photography.