Eddie Adams

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Eddie Adams (1969)

Eddie Adams , actually Edward Thomas Adams (born June 12, 1933 in New Kensington , Pennsylvania , † September 19, 2004 in New York ) was an American photographer and war journalist .

Adams was interested in photography as a teenager. He worked as a war photographer during the Korean War.

During the Vietnam War , Adams documented the events of the war for the Associated Press news agency . He took his best-known photo on February 1, 1968. It shows the South Vietnamese police commander Nguyễn Ngọc Loan killing the arrested Viet Cong guerrilla fighter Nguyễn Văn Lém with a head shot in the street in Saigon . For this shot, Adams received the 1968 Press Photo of the Year award , and in 1969 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Photography . Adams later expressed understanding for Nguyễn Văn Lém and apologized for publishing the photo. The prisoner had murdered the family of Nguyen's confidante before he was shot.

“[…] 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. They are only half-truths. 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? ' General Loan was what you would call a real warrior, admired by his troops. 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. This picture really messed up his life. "

“[...] The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photos are the most powerful weapon in the world. You believe them, but photos lie, even if they are not manipulated. They are only half-truths. What the photo didn't show was, 'What would you have done if you had been the general, at this time and in this place, on that hot day, and you would have caught the so-called villain after having one, two or three American guys Blown away soldiers? ' General Loan was what would be called a real warrior, admired by his troops. I'm not saying what he did was right, but you have to put yourself in his shoes. The photo also fails to mention that the general devoted much of his time to trying to build hospitals for war casualties in Vietnam. This picture completely threw his life upside down. "

In 1980 Adams became a freelance photographer and reported, among other things, from the Gulf Wars . Adams photographed a total of 13 war zones.

Adams suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , an incurable disease of the nervous system . He died on September 19, 2004 at the age of 71 in his New York apartment.

Web links

literature

  • Stephan Schwingeler, Dorothée Weber: The real face of the war. The execution in Saigon of Eddie Adams. The emergence of an icon against the background of its publication history in the print media. In: Critical Reports . 33/2005. Jonas, Marburg 2005, pp. 36-50, ISSN  0340-7403

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Justin Corfield: Historical Dictionary of Ho Chi Minh City . Anthem Press, London and New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-85728-235-4 , pp. 3-4 .
  2. ↑ Eddie Adams: Eulogy: GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN . July 27, 1998 on time.com
personal data
SURNAME Adams, Eddie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American photojournalist
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH New Kensington , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH September 19, 2004
Place of death New York City