The Terror of War—Was Nick Ut's "Napalm Girl" photo taken with a Pentax camera?

[p.giannakis]

I haven't watched the documentary but I watched Petapixel's discussion last night. Them guys don't seem to be terribly convinced about it. In their mind, the documentary does not provide *concrete evidence* that Nguyen Thanh Nghe took the shot or even provide concrete evidence that Nick Ut didn't take it.
There are doubts and all the people who could confirm it are now dead.

I have downloaded APs report, it is 23 pages, I'll read it today out of curiosity to see what they say.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I have downloaded APs report, it is 23 pages

I'd recommend you read the AP's final report:

A P R E P O RT U P DAT E
Investigating claims around
‘The Terror of War’ photograph
May 6, 2025

https://www.ap.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/TerrorOfWarReportUpdate_May2025.pdf

It is 96 pages -including footnotes.

 

[Shac]

Additional comment here

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Neal Ulevich Makes Sharp Rebuke of 'The Stringer'

Ulevich was working in Saigon when the photo was taken.

petapixel.com

 

[Out to Lunch]

An interesting perspective:

 

[boojum]

The ratio of opinion to fact is too high in my opinion to say at this time who shot the pic.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Also worth watching:

 

[boojum]

This is becoming more and more like Rashoman.

The justifiable anger and moral rectitude are a caution to me. If there were a factual case it could be presented without argument. But there is so much explaining involved that I wonder why. I am not taking sides on this. I am just unconvinced.

 

[dseelig]

All I can say after the words of David Burnett is I will not watch that piece of propaganda.

 

[p.giannakis]

All I can say after the words of David Burnett is I will not watch that piece of propaganda.

That is how I feel too. I read the 100 pages report from AP and I don't think I will watch the documentary.

Not because the report is conclusive, far from it. But it gives a bit of background information that makes the documentary feel shady in terms of motives.

While the documentary makers stated that they first heard of the rumours in 2010 and that they couldn't locate Robinson for 10 years, AP uncovered messages between them two since 2013. People were still alive back then and could verify who took the shot. Apparently they didn't want to tarnish their reputation back then (they are ok to do it now that they died).

The other bit that is very stinky is the filmmakers trying to sign a non-disclosure agreement with AP to stop them from investigating the filmmakers evidence. That's obscene - they own the picture in question.

I highly recommend reading the the report Out To Lunch posted above. It's very engaging to read.

 

[splitimageview]

I am just unconvinced.

Unconvinced of what?

 

[joe bosak]

All I can say after the words of David Burnett is I will not watch that piece of propaganda.

+1

So many suffer from the diseases of making something up and believing it, lack of critical thinking ability, and belief that "my truth"beats reality.

 

[boojum]

Unconvinced of what?

I have not seen enough of what I would consider unimpeachable evidence to sway me one way or the other. I am familiar with historical research and bias is always a problem even amongst the most scholarly. These are not the most scholarly.

 

[Duofold RF]

Can forensic analysis of Vietnamese photographer Nguyen Thanh Nghe’s Pentax camera—which he showed in the Netflix documentary—provide some answers? Specifically, is the Pentax that Mr. Nghe displayed the actual camera he claimed to have used to take the photo? The film gate is like a gun’s barrel: its edges differ from camera to camera. By taking a test photo with it and analyzing the edge shape at high power microscope, if it matches the negative held by AP, it could help resolve the question.

I remembered Konica camera has a notch in the film gate

 

[p.giannakis]

Specifically, is the Pentax that Mr. Nghe displayed the actual camera he claimed to have used to take the photo

No, it's not. The camera was left behind when they evacuated Saigon.

 

[Duofold RF]

No, it's not. The camera was left behind when they evacuated Saigon.

If both of their Pentax cameras were left behind. Yet Mr. Ut’s recollection—two Leicas and two Nikons—did not align with the negative profile, leaving far too much to the imagination.