Humans have been at war with one another since the dawn of civilisation, and have a long and bloody history of conflicts. The problem with ancient wars is that the victor would often retell their account of what happened, which skewed the perspective of how brutal the wars truly were.

This completely changed with the invention of the camera, and there have been many men and women that laid their life on the line to capture the worst that war has to offer with the hope that others could see just how much suffering soldiers have to deal with on the battlefield.

These are some of the world’s most famous war photographers, with some of their work so well known that they’ve become a staple of modern pop culture.

1. Tim Hetherington

Timothy Hetherington was a photojournalist from Britain. He died while he was following the wars in Libya in 2011 after shrapnel from an explosive device hit him. He decided to follow the conflict in the war-torn country after travelling through China, Tibet, and India, where he worked as a photographer at a night school before going on to study the art in Cardiff.

He’s most well known for his documentary film Restrep, which won a Grand Jury Prize at he Sundance festival.

2. Don McCullin

Sir Donald McCullin, who was knighted during his career, was a British photojournalist who became famous for his depictions of war and urban strife. He began his career as an assistant at the National Service in the Royal Air Force, and while he initially failed his test, he was forced to spent most of his time in a darkroom.

This changed after he published an image of a local gang in London, which saw his career truly start. He went on to document the wars both in Vietnam and Northern Ireland.

3. Moises Saman

Moises Saman was a Spanish-American photographer that spent much of his time in Tokyo. He was a member of Magnum Photos, and is considered as one of the pioneering photographers of his generation.

Some of his most famous works were from the conflicts in Iraq, although he also covered the Egyptian revolution. He won a number of awards throughout his career, and is considered one of the best war photographers of all time.

4. Robert Capa

Robert Capa was a war photographer and journalist born and raised in Hungary. He worked alongside Gerda Taro, documenting many of the conflicts in the early part of the 1900’s. He’s among the most famous photographers of the era, and much of his work is still in use today.

In total, Capa covered five wars: The Second Sino Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indonesian War.

5. James Nachtwey

James Nachtwey was an American photographer that captured some of the most famous images of war ever captured, and most of his work took place during the Iraq conflict in 2003.

He worked for Time for a number of years, and was famous for taking pictures of the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.