World Press Photo, the Netherlands-based authority in independent photojournalism and documentary photography, has suspended the credit for the Vietnam War image ‘Napalm Girl’ – one of the most iconic pictures in history – after doubts over the photograph’s original authorship.
Taken during the Vietnam War in June 1972, the black-and-white photo shows a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing a napalm attack in Trảng Bàng. The photo has long been attributed to Huỳnh Công ‘Nick’ Út, a young Vietnamese staff photographer for the Associated Press (AP).
However, controversy arose when a recent documentary by The VII Foundation said Nick Út is not the author of the photograph ‘The Terror of War’ (1972), which won the World Press Photo of the Year in the 1973 Contest.
The Stringer, a documentary that premiered at Sundance in January, claims the photo was actually taken by Nguyen Thành Nghe, a driver for NBC who also freelanced photos to AP.
“Due to this current doubt, World Press Photo has suspended the attribution to Nick Út. The available visual evidence and the likely camera used on that day indicate that photographers Nguyễn Thành Nghệ or Huỳnh Công Phúc may have been better positioned to take the photograph,” World Press Photo said in a press statement on 16 May 2025.
Nguyen Thành Nghe was a driver for NBC, who also freelanced photos to AP, a media report said. The Guardian says Nghe never received credit because he wasn’t AP staff.
The organization said the photograph itself remains undisputed, and the World Press Photo award for this significant photo of a major moment in 20th-century history remains a fact. “Only the authorship is suspended and under review. This remains a contested history, and it is possible that the author of the photograph will never be fully confirmed. The suspension of the authorship attribution stands unless it is proved otherwise,” World Press Photo said in press statement on 16 May 2025.
Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, says, “We have a process when allegations arise after prizes have been awarded. Part of that process was that we conducted an investigation into the allegations and situation. Based on these findings and according to our values of accuracy, trustworthiness and diversity, we draw conclusions with regard to attribution. In full transparency, we today share the results of our analysis. It is important to state that the picture itself is undisputed and it is without question that this photograph represents a real moment in history that continues to reverberate in Vietnam, the United States, and globally.”
AP, on the other hand, says there is no definitive evidence to warrant reassigning credit and to prove that Nick Ut did not take this picture. “It makes no difference to us if we changed the credit, but it has to be based on facts and evidence,” The Guardian had quoted Derl McCrudden, AP’s vice-president of global news production as saying.
On the need to revisit the authorship of a photo taken more than 50 years ago, Khoury says, “The answer lies in our responsibility as a 70-year-old organization with a legacy of setting standards in photojournalism. In an era defined by misinformation, polarization, media manipulation, and eroding public trust, reexamining how we approach authorship, evidence, and ethical accountability is not only relevant—it is essential.”
Slight correction for grammar on 20 May 2025 9.59 am India time – Editor
