Having undertaken National Service during WWII, Richard Larter experienced the hypocrisy of war first hand. The experience informed his work, including this painting which was created at the time of worldwide political upheaval during the 1960's and 70's.

Larter responded to the atrocities of the Vietnam War by creating work which highlighted the fact that while society is willing to tolerate graphic images of violence, people react with indignation to images of the human body.

First Hand Panorama Way was directly informed by media images coming out of Vietnam and portrays a dead child from the My Lai massacres along with a handwritten letter to the victim.