In the illustrated memoir “The Best We Could Do”, Bui illustrated the situation when she and her parents were discussing a photo about a Vietnamese general shooting in the head of a Viet Cong prisoner (206). Nam, Thi’s dad, talked about that was the photo made many of the Americans view the South Vietnam negatively, however, what the public omitted was the context behind the killing of the Viet Cong prisoner.
I did a little research on the photo after reading that page. The actual name of the photo on page 206 of the book is “Execution of Nguyen Van Lem”, taken by Associate Press photographer Eddie Adams.
Picture of South Vietnam general Nguyen Ngoc Loan pointing his gun towards Nguyen Van Lem, captain of Viet Cong .
The photograph won Adams the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. Showing the unnecessary use of violent by a general from the South Vietnam, Adam’s work caused outrage among the US citizens and accelerated the anti-war movement in the US.
However, what is often neglected, is the context behind the execution– earlier the day, Nguyen Van Lem murdered the whole family of a South Vietnam lieutenant colonel. Of course, knowing what Nguyen Van Lem has done before cannot completely justify the summarily execution. Yes, no killing is morally acceptable, but the blame that was borne by the general is un-proportional. The person being executed is not an innocent Vietnamese man, but a criminal who destroyed another person’s family earlier.
The blame on General Nguyen Ngoc Loan followed him. The general fled to the US after the fall of Saigon. He had tremendous pressure and he closed his pizzeria after being discovered as the man in Adam’s photo. Adams regretted taking the picture without also taking a picture of Nguyen Van Lem killing the family. He thought he “killed” the general with his camera.
Photos could be a great source for us to be informed what are happening or what happened in somewhere we are not able to go ourselves. But it could be dangerous– only by looking at the photo without proper context could lead to conclusions that are way off of the truth.
We all have our very own bad moments, if the photo used to represent us were taken in our worst moments, we would all seem like terrible human beings. That is why, when trying to judge/ interpret something through third parties like media or social platforms, it is best for us try to also understand the context behind.
Gordon, great post showing how sometimes the truth can be distorted and how a picture doesn’t show “the full picture”. This is a great example of how context matters and plays an important role in the conversation of fake news, especially in the age of the internet. Especially considering the photographer of the photo in question, Eddie Adams, didn’t even believe the photo should have won a Pulitzer Prize really says something about the context not shown in the photo initially. Ultimately, I walk away from reading this blog post questioning how photos I take, especially how I present those photos through mediums such as social media, is important and relevant in the bigger conversation of how these photos may affect people’s perception of me.
Eye opening post Gordon! Prior to reading The Best We Could Do and your blog post, I had never seen this photograph nor known any context of it. It really does show the realities and brutal aspect of war. However, now I know more about the photograph and its context thanks to your good research. You bring up some good points about the morality of killing and how no killing is morally acceptable. I like your point about photos being a source of information however photos can be interpreted in many ways and you cannot gain the full picture without the context since some interpretations can be taken out of context which I think can sometimes be problematic. Personally, I may have to reflect more and find the context when looking at photos to get a more accurate story of what a photo may tell in order to avoid judgement without deeper understanding.
Hi, Gordon! It’s quite surprising to know the fact behind this ” Saigon Execution” photo. Before I hear your story, I thought it was just the tyranny of South Vietnamese government when facing their enemy Vietcong. Since I know the little story of what the man Nguyen Van Lem have done. I didn’t felt surprised of his execution. Especially, in Asian area we got culture of an eye for an eye and a teeth for a teeth. Since what Nguyen Van Lem have done to an officer’s family, he already made innocent people paid for the responsibilities they shouldn’t pay. Thus, he got be penalized. The way to warn people about authority and power is the death penalty. South Vietnam have lost the war, therefore this photo becomes the evidence of their tyranny. The information you provided are something I really appreciate. I hope to see you post more “fun facts” in the next few blogs.