Who really took the photo of the Napalm girl, one of the most famous images in history?

After the documentary, World Press Photo (WPP) began an investigation and decided to suspend the attribution of the image to UT, which has generated a deep controversy in the community of photojournalism.

“To overthrow a hero, a legendary figure, there must be enough convincing evidence,” said other Vietnamese photoperiodist to the BBC.

In the digital age it is “rare” for a single image to have so much impact, he added. “We must be careful. We should not allow the dispute to damage the legacy of such an important photo or cause more pain.”

The authenticity of the image is not in doubt, but the controversy has acquired a great emotional burden because the name of the photographer is also part of the historical record, said Keith Greenwood, an associated professor of photojournalism at the University of Missouri.

“The Vietnam War has a complex story and can still generate strong feelings. It is logical that questioning the photo also feeds some of those feelings,” he concluded.

The iconic image was taken after the South Vietnam Air Force launched a Napalm attack that accidentally impacted the Trang Bang village on June 8, 1972. Kim Phuc, the protagonist of the photo, played with her brother and her cousins in the courtyard of a temple.

UT worked for Associated Press (AP) at that time. The photographer reported that the villagers ran along a nearby road after the explosion. After photographing a grandmother with a dying child in his arms, Ut saw Phuc running with her arms up. He ran to her to take photos until he saw that his skin was detaching. Then he threw water around his body and took the children to a hospital.

Before digital cameras, photographers, both agency employees and independent workers or freelanceThey had to leave their films in the office. The dark room editor recorded the credits and revealed the films. The chief of photography then decided which photo to send to the headquarters of AP.

“When I returned to the office I shouted: 'I have a very special photo!'

UT said only the editor of the dark room, Yuichi “Jackson” Ishizaki, was in the section at that time. And that he was next to Ishizaki standing while he revealed the film. Ishizaki labeled the film with the name of UT and took the image to the main area.

“Everyone saw the photo and someone called my boss, the chief of photography Horst Faas, to return from lunch immediately,” said Ut.

According to UT, FaAS arrived before the photography editor Carl Robinson and both discussed whether to publish the photo. Robinson, in charge of writing the photo feet, considered it inappropriate for containing a nude. His objection was dismissed.

However, Robinson gave a radically different version to the BBC.

He said he only found Ishizaki and a technician inside the dark room after lunch. According to Robinson, the movies were already revealed and prepared for review. There were two shots of the same scene – a side and one front – in different rolls sent by two photographers.

Robinson saw an unknown name in the registration book because the independent journalist did not usually work for AP. “We had a lot of Vietnamese correspondents. They could be civilians or sometimes soldiers who earned extra money,” he said.

Robinson said Faas returned later and there was no discussion about what photo send. He also insisted that UT was not present during the photo selection process.

Robinson said that while writing his foot in the photo, Faas approached and whispered in his ear to give credit to UT, an AP employee. “I didn't have the courage to challenge him because I wanted to stay in Saigon with my wife Vietnamese and my two young children,” he said.

Both Faas and Ishizaki died.

Robinson did not have a quiet conscience during the following decades. He wanted to apologize to the photographer, but he didn't remember his name. In 2015, with the help of an ancient AP colleague, he found Nghe's name, but failed to locate it.

Seven years later, UT and Kim met with Pope Francis to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the photo. “I finally decided that I had to face all this. I couldn't continue turning my back and forgetting it.”

Robinson contacted his photoperiodist colleague Gary Knight, who agreed to interview him, which marked the start of “The Stringer.”

Shortly after the documentary production team found Nghe, who had moved to the United States as a refugee after the fall of Saigon, but had returned to his country of origin in 2002.

“I was silent, without voice, anxious and with pain; deeply repressed emotions,” Nghe said. “Nothing is more important than the truth.”

After learning that the documentary was underway, AP began its own research based on the available images, interviews with living witnesses and an inspection of the UT cameras.

AP published two reports in January and May and concluded that there were no definitive evidence to remove the authorship of the photo A UT. However, the news agency acknowledged that there were “important questions.”

AP said it was likely that the photo had been taken with a pentax camera, which contradicted the UT version. He affirmed that that day he carried four cameras (two Leica and two Nikon) and that he used a Leica to capture the image. When questioned by AP, UT said he had not paid attention to the model and added that Faas explained that the image came from a roll taken with a leic.

The NGHE image day was photographed with a camera similar to a pentax in the hands.

Both the documentary and AP tried to rebuild a chronology based on satellite images, photos and images. The recorded video images shortly after the photo is taken show a blurred figure, which is believed to be ut, quite far from the children. The documentary states that UT was 60 meters from the camera that filmed the video, which means that he would have had to run after taking the photo.

AP questioned that estimate, placing the blurred figure in a range of 28.8 to 48 meters with a margin of error of 20%. The agency argued that the calculation of the distance could be affected by different variables and that the documentary also ignored other video recordings and did not have access to two sets of images that he used in his investigation.

Neither Ap nor World Press Photo claim to determine the identity of the photographer. World Press Photo even suggested that a third photographer could have captured the image.

The doubts persist: several journalists present at the scene discarded the version of the documentary by unfounded and refused to participate in the film.

And what about the printed photo? Nghe said Faas gave him one, but his wife broke her in a moment of frustration.

UT maintains that he is the legitimate photographer and plans to file a demand for defamation.

“Naturally people want to know the truth behind the photo,” said the first anonymous Vietnamese photographer cited in this note. “We need more time and tests to know what really happened,” he added.

There is no doubt about the power that “the girl from Napalm” retains decades after being taken, but the accusations around his authors have added a mystery nuance.

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