Group Pulls Credit for Famous War Image

UPDATE May 17, 2025 1:35 PM CDT

After conducting its own investigation, World Press Photo has suspended attribution for a Vietnam War image it once honored as its photo of the year. Nick Ut has been credited with the photo of a girl running from a napalm attack first published in 1972, but a documentary has questioned that. World Press Photo announced Friday that its analysis, which began in January, found, "based on analysis of location, distance, and the camera used on that day," that "Nguyen Thành Nghe or Huynh Cong Phuc may have been better positioned to take the photograph than Nick Ut." The organization said that Ut, who was working for the AP, will retain its 1973 honor, but that it will list the photographer as unknown, the Guardian reports. "The photograph itself remains undisputed," the group said, "and the World Press Photo award for this significant photo of a major moment in 20th century history remains a fact."

May 6, 2025 5:09 PM CDT

Months after the release of a film that questions who took an iconic Vietnam War image of a naked girl running from a napalm attack, the AP said Tuesday it had found "no definitive evidence" to warrant changing a nearly 52-year-old photo credit. The AP released a 96-page report—its second examination in less than four months—about who actually took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo credited to Nick Ut that became one of the defining images of the 20th century. More:

• The film: The Stringer, a documentary shown at Sundance in January, asserts that it was actually shot by another man, Nguyen Thanh Nghe, but that credit was given to Ut, an AP staff photographer.
• The AP's conclusion: The AP determined it was "possible" Ut took the photo, but it was unable to be proven conclusively due to the passage of time, absence of key evidence, limitations of technology, and the deaths of several key people involved. At the same time, AP found no proof that Nguyen took the photo, the report said.

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• Standout quote: "We left nothing uncovered that we're aware of and we've done it with a great deal of respect to everybody involved," said Derl McCrudden, an AP vice president who heads global news production. "It makes no difference to us if we changed the credit, but it has to be based on facts and evidence. And there is no definitive evidence proving that Nick Ut did not take this picture."
• Key elements of the study: The AP's latest study involved further interviews, examination of cameras, building a 3D model of the scene, and studying photo negatives that survive from June 8, 1972, the date of the photo.
• Inconsistencies on both sides: Per the report, the prize-winning photo was apparently taken on a Pentax camera, not a Leica as Ut had long claimed. Nguyen told AP he was not working for NBC that day, as was earlier asserted. Of 10 people on the scene that day that the AP reached, Nguyen is the only one who believes that Ut didn't take the picture, the report said.
• Nguyen's story: The report said that believing Nguyen's story would require several leaps of faith, including believing that the only time he ever sold a photo to a Western news agency it turned out to be one of the most famous images of the century. Ut has strongly maintained that the photo is his.

(More Vietnam War stories.)