World Press Photo stops crediting Nick Ut as author of 'Napalm Girl' photo

According to World Press Photo, the photo of Napalm Girl may have been taken by another photographer.

PHOTO: AP

World Press Photo has just released the results of its own investigation conducted from January to May 2025 into the authorship of the photo Napalm Girl (The Terror of War), officially announcing the suspension of the work attributed to Nick Ut (a photographer working for AP). The organization said the suspension will remain in place unless further evidence is provided to clearly confirm or refute the original authorship of the photo.

World Press Photo (founded in 1955) is an independent, nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands that develops one of the world’s most prestigious photo competitions, recognizing the best in photojournalism and documentary photography worldwide. The organization launched its investigation after the film The Stringer premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and argued that the photo was taken by Nguyen Thanh Nghe (a Vietnamese AP contributor). World Press Photo conducted a comprehensive review of the findings of the documentary and AP’s in-depth internal investigation.

The suspension applies to the authorship of the photo and does not revoke the 1973 Photo of the Year award that Napalm Girl was honored with. "What is important is that the value of the photograph is indisputable and there is no doubt that this photograph represents a true moment in history that continues to have an impact in Vietnam, the United States and around the world," Joumana El Zein Khoury, CEO of World Press Photo, said in a press release.

Controversy over the author of the photo 'Napalm Girl'

Photographer Nick Ut next to Ms. Kim Phuc (left) - the main character in the photo Napalm Girl, at an event in 2022

PHOTO: AP

AP and Nick Ut have long maintained that the Napalm Girl photo was taken by Ut, then 21. Meanwhile, the documentary The Stringer claims that Nguyen Thanh Nghe (a driver for NBC) sold the photo to AP as a freelancer and was denied credit by AP because he was not an official AP employee.

Earlier this month, the AP announced that it had found no solid evidence to warrant changing the attribution of the photo. The news agency released a 96-page report on the matter, its second in four months, based on an internal investigation. The AP concluded that it was likely that Nick Ut took the photo and found no evidence to prove that Nguyen Thanh Nghe was the photographer. The report said the issue could not be convincingly proven due to the long time that had passed, the lack of significant evidence, technological limitations, and the departure of several key figures involved.

"We did not disclose any information that we knew, and we did so with great respect for everyone involved," Derl McCrudden, AP's vice president of global news production, said in a statement. "We were not concerned with whether or not we changed the author's name, but we had to base it on the facts and evidence. And there is no credible evidence that Nick Ut did not take this photo."

According to World Press Photo, this is still a controversial historical detail and it is likely that the author of the photo will never be clearly identified.

Napalm Girl is one of the most famous photos of the 20th century. The photo captures the moment when a nine-year-old girl, Kim Phuc, was naked, running and crying after a napalm bomb was dropped on Tay Ninh on June 8, 1972. Since its publication in June 1972, the photo has been officially recognized as being taken by Nick Ut, a Vietnamese photographer working for AP.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/world-press-photo-ngung-ghi-nhan-nick-ut-la-tac-gia-buc-anh-em-be-napalm-185250516220035999.htm