War photographer Don McCullin CBE has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Lincoln.

Don McCullin, acknowledged as one of the greatest war photographers, covered events of global importance for the Sunday Times Magazine.

His talent was recognised at the age of 13 when he won a scholarship to the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts for painting, but two years later his father died, forcing him to leave to find work.

It was during his National Service with the Royal Air Force that he became a photographic assistant and bought his first camera.

His first professional break came when he photographed a street gang in 1958 who had been involved in a murder. This led to a commission from The Observer, and in 1964 he went to Cyprus on his first war assignment.

He subsequently worked for the Sunday Times for 18 years and photographed conflicts in Vietnam, Biafra and Lebanon. In 2002 and 2004 he toured Southern Africa on a Christian Aid mission publicising the devastation caused by Aids.

Abroad, he has covered ecological disasters and the war-torn regions of the world, documenting events normally hidden from view.

His work proved so painful and memorable that in 1982 he was forbidden to cover the Falklands war by the British government of the time.

He has twice been named Photographer of the Year and has won two gold awards and three silver awards from the Designers and Art Directors Association.

In 1993 he was made a CBE and in 1997 he won the Erich Solomon Award.

His photographs have been collected in 16 books and he now lives in Somerset.