Sergio Quijano

On a Sunday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, the sun was setting on an exhibition of the work of Nick Ut, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer responsible for arguably some of the most important work in the history of photojournalism. The exhibition is Nick's first ever, and his excitement is evident as he eagerly guides each and every visitor, picture by picture, through the gallery. "I like doing interviews," Nick says, "sometimes I'm just so busy and I have students from all over the world asking me to answer some questions for them, but I like to help the students." Although Nick Ut is very aware of the impact he has made on the world with his work, he still has a very humble, approachable quality about him, especially as he is opening his portfolio of work for the first time to eager guests.

As we begin the interview Nick shows us a picture of his brother, the sadness evident in the expression on his face. "My brother was a photographer for many years." Nick says." "He got shot 3 or 4 times before he died. They came and gave me a job as a photographer." Being a photographer was a very dangerous job in the Vietnam War, Nick remembers, "We lost over 100 photographers." After Nick sent some rolls of film back, he was surprised to find out his pictures were being printed in newspapers around the world. Friends of Nick's at the AP called him in Vietnam congratulating him on having his work on the front pages of many prestigious publications. At that point in time, no one was aware of the enormous impact Nick would have on the world with his talent for photography.

June 8, 1972, Nick would take the most important photographs of his career. Journalists had been informed that the village of Trang Bang was being bombed with napalm. On his way to the village Nick remembers seeing women, children and the elderly coming down the road leaving the village burning from the napalm attacks. Kim Phuc, a 9 year old girl from Trang Bang came running down the road screaming in pain toward the photographers as her skin burned. "I saw her running and that's when I took the picture. Then, I saw her skin come off so badly I said, 'This girl will be dead.' That's why I put water on her body right away." The first aid of water on the burns saved the young girl's life. "We went 20 miles to the hospital, I was afraid she was going to die in my car." Kim Phuc is still very good friends with Nick.

The photograph of Kim running from the napalm attack influenced public opinion so much, support for the war declined to the point the United States pulled out of Vietnam. Images that could be just as important would be harder to capture in this day and age, as photographers aren't allowed close enough to the action to take those types of photographs. This alters the perspective of the public on war and allows governments more space to shape public opinion the way they want. Nick is disappointed with this situation. "You'll never see pictures like in Vietnam. The war [in Afghanistan] has been going on for months now and you don't see any action. On the Nixon tapes [President Nixon] says my picture [of Kim Phuc] was a setup." Nick doesn't understand the merit behind such an argument, "She still has the scars," he says.

Governments have become apt in restricting photographer's access to live combat situations, and other violent occurrences related to war. The elimination of photographs of action reduces the public awareness of war, and as a result, the accuracy of the media coverage of war. Nick pointed out the lack of photographs featuring fighting from the war in Afghanistan illustrating this trend. Governments that limit their citizens' access to information is a disturbing situation detrimental to democracy and journalism both. As citizens and voters in a democratic country our knowledge of important current events is at the core of our decisions in the voting booth, therefore it is important that we know the facts surrounding the conduct of an administration during a time of war.

Nick hopes his pictures will shed light on aspects of war not many of us are familiar with. "See all the pictures there? These are very sad people, they've lost everything, they're refugees." Nick says as he points at images he's captured of entire families riding and carrying all their possessions on a single motorcycle, children standing by as men are executed in the middle of their villages, a man and his children gathering around the body of his wife laying on the beach, and many other images that evoke a somber speechlessness even when recalling them much later. "Both sides lost a lot of people, nobody knows how many Vietnamese, south and north, were lost."
"In Vietnam they're happy the war is over." Nick doesn't feel that the conflict seriously damaged relations between the Vietnamese and American people. "They welcome all Americans, we're friends to them. People don't care how many people you killed because that was during the war, and that is over now. The Vietnamese are very friendly people, that's why when I got back there I see so many Americans retired there in Vietnam."

Looking at the photographs on the wall in the gallery, Nick's demeanor demonstrates an emotional attachment to the people and events he photographed 30 years ago. "I want to go back and find these people, a lot of the kids I met in Vietnam are older now. I want to go and locate them, see how they're doing." Photography isn't only a job for Nick Ut. He is a remarkable human being whose life revolves around the images he captures. It was an honor to meet him.