‘Nick Ut: Double Negative’

 

General Photography

This article has an interesting - and quite uncomfortable - comparison to make: “If there’s an irony here, it’s that the photographers who lie in wait for the latest celebrity smash-up probably aren’t that different to the young photographers who headed off to Vietnam almost 40 years ago. Whereas once South-east Asia was the Wild West for ambitious thrill-seekers eager to make their names, now it’s the streets of Beverly Hills. But it’s not just the location that’s changed; attitudes have, too. When he saw Kim Phuc running towards him out of a cloud of smoke 35 years ago, Ut’s first instinct - after he’d taken her photograph - was to save her life.”