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Title
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Nick Ut
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Description
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Nick Ut is a Pulitzer Prize winner and Vietnamese American photographer and journalist best known for his grueling image of war and human suffering, The Terror of War, taken on June 8, 1972. Nick Ut was born in Long An, Vietnam, in 1951 (About Photography, 2023). In 1966, Ut began working for the Associated Press (AP) in Vietnam at the young age of 15, focusing on the grueling war, and following in his brother's footsteps (World Press Photo). Following the war in Vietnam, Ut then worked for the AP in Tokyo and later moved to Los Angeles in 1977 (the Associated Press, 2025). Ut's work placed him directly on the frontlines, where he was wounded three times during a singular AP coverage of an event, and tragically, his brother was killed while on the frontlines photographing for the AP (About Photography, 2023).
The Terror of War is a heartbreaking image that Nick Ut captured on the frontlines during the war in Vietnam. Its subject is a little girl, Kim Phuc, also known as “Napalm Girl,” who was captured screaming, crying, and fleeing as a napalm bomb was dropped on her homeland in the background. Research shows that not only was this little girl, as well as the other children and Southern Vietnamese soldiers around her, running not only out of fear, but also due to extreme pain as they were severely burned and wounded. Immediately following the release and publication of this image, it gained widespread attention: “...when Nick Ut took the photograph…he knew it was a newsworthy photo…he trained his camera on the bombs and then on the Vietnamese children running from them…” (Durham, 2023). This image is a gelatin silver print, highlighting the bright flashing lights from the chaos in the photo's background. In addition, the immense terror and pain on the little boy's and girl’s faces and the single vanishing point with the dark grey background help create contrast. All of this was captured by one man trying to raise awareness through strikingly harsh images worldwide. The following provides a glimpse into the mind of the man himself: “...people asked why he didn’t flee when the bombing began, and his answer has been, ‘If I running, I don’t make a good picture’…Ut’s motivation was also, in a sense, personal…‘I wanted to stop this war,” (Durham, 2023), and his powerful photographs indeed convey the imperative perspectives of victims of the terrors of war to various viewers around the world.
Bibliography
“AP Report: Investigating Claims around “the Terror of War” Photograph | the Associated Press.” The Associated Press, 15 Jan. 2025, www.ap.org/about/ap-report-terror-of-war/.
“Artist Info.” Nga.gov, 2025, www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.44453.html#main. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
Durham, Meenakshi Gigi. "'Napalm Girl' at 50: On Photojournalism and the Ethics of Care." International journal of communication [Online] 17 (2023): 3865+. Gale Literature Resource Center (accessed April 25, 2025).
https://link-gale-com.union.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A754393028/LitRC?u=nysl_ca_unionc&sid=summon&xid=701a9862.
“Nick Ut | World Press Photo.” Www.worldpressphoto.org, www.worldpressphoto.org/nick-ut.
“Nick Ut: The Man behind the Iconic “Napalm Girl” Photograph.” About Photography Blog, 22 Apr. 2023, aboutphotography.blog/photographer/nick-ut.
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Alternative Title
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The Terror of War
June 8, 1972
Gelatin Silver print
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Source
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Artist Image: “Nick Ut: The Man behind the Iconic “Napalm Girl” Photograph.” About Photography Blog, 22 Apr. 2023, aboutphotography.blog/photographer/nick-ut.
Art Image: “The Terror of War by Nick Ut, Associated Press.” 2018. National Gallery of Art. 2018. https://www.nga.gov/artworks/218539-terror-war.
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Name
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Kristina Valenti
