Historic Vietnam War 'Terror of War' photo has ‘suspended attribution' amid doubts of photographers ownership
One of the most striking images taken during the Vietnam War may have been attributed to the wrong photographer.
Back in 1973, World Press Photo selected the Associated Press' Nick Ut's 'The Terror of War' shot as its 'Photo of the Year.'
But the organization is now suspending its attribution of the iconic image showing a young girl, Thi Kim Phuc, fleeing from a napalm attack on the village of Trang Bang in South Vietnam June 8, 1972, over doubts whether Ut actually took the iconic photograph.
The photo's credit has been at the center of a controversy that started earlier this year, with the release of 'The Stringer,' a documentary that challenges the picture's ownership.
The Associated Press said it has conducted two investigations into the film's claims, but found no definitive evidence to warrant stripping Ut's photo credit.
The AP said it would be impossible to fully prove ownership of the photo, given it was taken more than 50 years ago.
World Press Photo has said its own probe into the photo showed two other photographers — Nguyen Thanh Nghe, the man mentioned in 'The Stringer,' and Huynh Cong Phuc — 'may have been better positioned' to take the picture.
'We conclude that the level of doubt is too significant to maintain the existing attribution,' said Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo. 'At the same time, lacking conclusive evidence pointing definitively to another photographer, we cannot reassign authorship, either.'
World Press Photo said it will not attempt to recover the cash award Ut received.
Ut's lawyer, James Hornstein, said his client hadn't spoken to World Press Photo after some initial contact before 'The Stringer' was released.
'It seems they had already made up their mind to punish Nick Ut from the start,' Hornstein said.
The AP said Friday that its standards 'require proof and certainty to remove a credit and we have found that it is impossible to prove exactly what happened that day on the road or in the (AP) bureau more than 50 years ago.
'We understand World Press Photo has taken different action based on the same available information, and that is their prerogative,' the statement said. 'There is no question over AP's ownership of the photo.'
Ut also won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo.
With Post wires.
Originally published as Historic Vietnam War 'Terror of War' photo has 'suspended attribution' amid doubts of photographers ownership
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