Two Lives Changed

Grant Tabler
Kate Schneider
MDST 1070 Photography and Digital Imaging 

October 22, 2009                  

Two Lives Changed

Photography is a very powerful and persuasive medium. Photographs have the ability to show an idea, and to change our perspectives. War photographs are often the most vivid examples of this. When someone is looking to change a person’s mind about an issue like war, photography is often the answer. War photojournalists changed public perceptions of the wars, especially Vietnam. The image I am going to talk about was taken by war photographer, Eddie Adams. Eddie Adams was a photojournalist who covered 13 wars. He also took many pictures of celebrities and political figures, pictures that were published worldwide in various publications. (Pyle) However arguably his most famous picture is one he took in Vietnam February 1^st, 1968. In Vietnam, Adams had a specific goal in mind. “He was after the perfect, meaningful photograph expressing the frustrations, the bravery, the suffering of the war - all expressed in one image.” (Faas) Though he did not realize it the day he took this famous “Saigon Execution” (Faas) photo, that picture would represent the changing of two lives forever.

The photo won Adams a Pulitzer Prize, and the image became one of the most famous pictures of the Vietnam War. This photo has made Adams a far better known photographer even to this day. However Adams later came to regret taking the photo, because of the lack of context in the image, and the subsequent damage it did to the life of the man holding the gun. The man was the chief of police, Lt. Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Loan. “The photograph made front pages all over the world but you could never find a print of it on the walls of Eddie's various studios. He even shrugged off the prize.” (Hamill)

Adams later wrote about Nguyen Ngoc Loan in Time magazine.

The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation ... What the photograph didn't say was, ‘What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?’ (Adams)

This image is so controversial because of the ethics involved. The man being executed seems to know that the chief of police is about to kill him. At the very least the man seems to know that death is a strong possibility. The man, was killed while handcuffed. It is hard to define whether or not this action was a breach of the Geneva conventions. The man was killed after being taken prisoner, however he may have voided his prisoner of war protection by acts committed earlier. (Provost ,148)  If not a violation of the Geneva Conventions, this is at least a major ethical issue.

The major issue is whether or not the man deserved to be executed as he was. “Mr. Loan insisted that his action was justified because the prisoner had been the captain of a terrorist squad that had killed the family of one of his deputy commanders.” (Thomas).  When recounting the event Adams said that General Loan, “...walked up to him and said, ‘They killed many of my people, and yours, too’”. (Faas)

I’ve found this photograph compelling because it is so often taken out of context. This is a famous image, but probably less than fifteen per cent of the people who have seen it know anything about it. Our society is one that usually adopts to judge rather than question, and this photo is no exception. Loan’s life was not ruined because he killed a murderer or Viet cong in wartime. His life was ruined because he was seen to have killed a man wearing civilian clothes who looks like he is afraid to die in the picture. With a lack of context, drawing one’s own conclusions is often the first response.

Adams recounted, “I'm not saying what he did was right, but you have to put yourself in his position. The photograph also doesn't say that the general devoted much of his time trying to get hospitals built in Vietnam for war casualties.” (Adams) Loan’s actions were based on his own moral sense of right and wrong. Loan had fellow officers, and friends, killed by a wartime enemy.

When I first saw this image I saw it as “the way Viet Cong POWs were dealt with”. I saw this as a symbol of brutality and I saw the man being executed as the victim. Since then, my opinion of the picture has reversed. I see the man with the gun as the victim, the victim of this negative portrayal. I know he killed that handcuffed POW, but it does not make him a symbol of brutality. Neither man is innocent. Loan was well liked and seemed to be a good person. To me it seems more like a brash decision, made in the heat of the moment. Loan killed this man out of anger and revenge. I do not see Loan as a perfectly moral person, but I can’t condemn him. As the earlier quote about his character shows, he was not necessarily a malicious and uncaring person, just one with a temper. (Thomas)

I chose to write about this photo because it was an iconic photo that I knew of, but knew nothing about. I am glad that I was able to research this photo because I have a new understanding of the controversy behind it. Additionally, I have learned who Eddie Adams is and why he is such a notable photojournalist. Now that I have learned about the photo I am glad chose it. I have had the chance to express my thoughts on it and think about the real issues of the photo and what it means to me.

To me this image now seems like a symbol of misinterpretation, or of the power images wield. This man will continue to be seen, in the same way that he has been seen, for years to come. It’s the distance from the issue that leads to the opinions we have about it. Imagine if this were a picture taken recently, a picture of an American marine with his pistol to the head of a handcuffed terrorist who had just killed a group of Americans in a roadside attack. Would there be the same public outcry at the soldier? Would this marine be ridiculed by the public for the rest of his life for killing a terrorist in wartime? If this image were to hit closer to home, if this person was in a North American army, the public perception might be quite different.

However, this essay is not about the pitfalls of a hypocritical society. Eddie Adams really captured something with this photo. Whether there is proper context or not, this image is still representative of war. The emotions and characterizations captured in this picture really do reflect those of the Vietnam war. On one side you have the aggressor with the military backing, and the force to do what they believe is right. Whereas on the other side you have an enemy who, although unarmed by comparison, has still caused tremendous hardship and made his death much less effectual in the long run. I see this picture to show a bit of how the Vietnam War went. You have the military power, against the ragtag guerrillas. But although it seemed like an easy victory, the reality was quite different. There was a lot of damage done to the far more powerful American army, and the War in Vietnam turned into anything but decisive. Though many lives were claimed it was not really a win for either side. Like the men in the photo, one country was devastated by the war, and the other lost its reputation. Two ‘lives’ were changed forever.

-30-

Work Cited

Adams, Eddie. “Eulogy: GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN”. Time inc. Time inc. 27 Jul.                   1998. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

Faas, Horst. “The Saigon Execution”. The Digital Journalist. The Digital Journalist. Oct. 2004.                  Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

Hamill, Pete. “Remembering Eddie Adams”. The Digital Journalist. The Digital Journalist. Oct.    2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

Provost, René. “International human rights and humanitarian law”. Cambridge: Cambridge           University Press, 2002. Google Books. Google. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.

Pyle, Richard. “Obituary: Eddie Adams / New Kensington native who won Pulitzer for photo of             execution”. Post-Gazzete. PG Publishing Co, 20 Sept. 2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

Thomas, Robert. “Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 67, Dies; Executed Viet Cong Prisoner”. The New York   Times Company. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.. 16 July 1998. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.