An organization that honored The Associated Press’ Nick Ut with its ” photo of the year ” in 1973 for a picture of a girl running from a napalm attack in the Vietnam War says it has “suspended its attribution” to Ut because of doubts over who actually took it.
World Press Photo’s report Friday adds to the muddle over an issue that has split the photographic community since a movie earlier this year, “The Stringer,” questioned Ut’s authorship. The photo of a naked and terrified Kim Phuc became an iconic symbol of the war’s tragedy.
After two investigations, The Associated Press said it found no definitive evidence to warrant stripping Ut’s photo credit. The AP said it was possible Ut took the picture, but the passage of time made it impossible to fully prove, and could find no evidence to prove anyone else did.
World Press Photo said its probe found that two other photographers — Nguyen Thanh Nghe, the man mentioned in “The Stringer,” and Huynh Cong Phuc — “may have been better positioned” to take the shot.
“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, an organization whose awards are considered influential in photography, won’t attempt to recover the cash award given to Ut, a spokeswoman said.
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,” he said.
Gary Knight, a producer of “The Stringer,” is a four-time judge of the World Press Photo awards and a consultant to the World Press Photo Foundation.
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 over 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.”
Meanwhile, the Pulitzer Prize that Ut won for the photo appears safe. The Pulitzers depend on news agencies who enter the awards to determine authorship, and administrator Marjorie Miller — a former AP senior editor — pointed to the AP’s study showing insufficient proof to withdraw credit. “The board does not anticipate future action at this time,” she said Friday.
Photo group says it has ‘suspended attribution’ of historic Vietnam picture because of doubts
https://arab.news/45rh4
Photo group says it has ‘suspended attribution’ of historic Vietnam picture because of doubts
- World Press Photo honored AP’s Nick Ut with its ” photo of the year ” in 1973
- Picture of girl running from a napalm attack became an iconic symbol of the war’s tragedy
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
