This photograph has value as it documents an event in the Vietnam War and is an accessible medium for all people. It shows the period and we are able to gain information and an understanding about the people and time through visual clues. The photograph does depict an act of violence and is an example of the terrible acts of the Vietnam War. This photograph is also extremely limited as, like all historical photographs, it shows one moment and often does not provide context of the situation. Adams’ photograph made the official pulling the trigger – General Nguyen Ngoc Loan – look like a villain; however the situation was not as black-and-white as it appears to be in the picture. The man being shot - Nguyen Van Lem - was the captain of a Vietcong “revenge squad” which was targeting South Vietnamese National Police officers and their families had executed dozens of unarmed civilians earlier the same day. He was captured at the site of a mass grave that included the bodies of at least seven police family members. In fact the photographer, Eddie Adams felt that the photograph was misunderstood and said, ”Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without
This photograph has value as it documents an event in the Vietnam War and is an accessible medium for all people. It shows the period and we are able to gain information and an understanding about the people and time through visual clues. The photograph does depict an act of violence and is an example of the terrible acts of the Vietnam War. This photograph is also extremely limited as, like all historical photographs, it shows one moment and often does not provide context of the situation. Adams’ photograph made the official pulling the trigger – General Nguyen Ngoc Loan – look like a villain; however the situation was not as black-and-white as it appears to be in the picture. The man being shot - Nguyen Van Lem - was the captain of a Vietcong “revenge squad” which was targeting South Vietnamese National Police officers and their families had executed dozens of unarmed civilians earlier the same day. He was captured at the site of a mass grave that included the bodies of at least seven police family members. In fact the photographer, Eddie Adams felt that the photograph was misunderstood and said, ”Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without