By Joe Berk
The Stringer is a recently released show on Netflix. It tells the story behind a photo most folks my age remember well: The 1972 Vietnam War photograph of a little girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, who was severely burned by a napalm bomb dropped by a South Vietnamese aircraft.
The story goes like this: Nguyễn Thành Nghệ is the photographer who actually took the photo. Nghệ was a stringer (a freelance photographer). When he sold the photo to Carl Robinson at the Associated Press, the guy in charge (Horst Faas, who died in 2012) decided to attribute it to Nick Ut, an AP staff photographer. Robinson felt uncomfortable about doing so, but did as he was told. Ut was present at the scene when the photo was taken and willingly accepted credit for the photo, although he had to know he had not taken it.
The photo went on to win the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, the World Press Photo award for Photo of the Year, and the George Polk News Photography award. It made Nick Ut’s career.
Carl Robinson went public with what he had been told to do 50 years later (which would be 2022). The Netflix show (The Stringer) presents compelling arguments that Nghệ , not Ut, was the actual photographer. The Associated Press rejects these claims and still attributes the photo to Ut; World Press Photo accepted Nghệ’s authorship and stripped Ut of its award.
Not included in the movie are the details of Phan Thị Kim Phúc’s life after the 1972 napalm bombing. She endured multiple surgeries and great pain in the years after. Ms. Phúc grew up in what become communist Vietnam and subsequently moved to Cuba, where she became a pharmacist and married. While living in Cuba, she was on a flight to Moscow when she left the plane during a stop in Newfoundland and requested political asylum in Canada (which was granted). Today, Ms. Phúc is a Canadian citizen. She leads several international foundations focused on helping children who are war victims.
The Stringer is one of the better shows I’ve seen recently. If you are a Netflix subscriber, it’s one I recommend you not miss.
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Sounds like an interesting show with a story I had never heard of, and wouldn’t have if not made aware before this
I think you will like it, Stephen.
Thanks for commenting.