400 photographers criticise World Press Photo over Nick Ut’s ‘Napalm Girl’ credit

More than 400 professional photographers have added their names to a letter expressing their dismay at the World Press Photo's decision to suspend the authorship attribution of The Terror of War, one of the most iconic images from the Vietnam War.

Recently we reported on the World Press Photo (WPP) organisations' decision to remove the authorship of The Terror of War, often known as 'Napalm Girl', from US photographer Nick Út. 

The decision came following an exhaustive investigation that was prompted by a documentary, The Stringer, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The Stringer suggests that either photographer Nguyen Thành Nghệ or Huỳnh Công Phúc may have been better positioned to capture the image than Út.

Nguyen Thành Nghệ, a freelance photographer and a stringer for NBC, had sold photos to the Associated Press (AP), who Út worked for, but was reportedly denied credit because he was not an AP staff member.

The documentary features witnesses who claim Nghệ sold the photo to AP Saigon bureau chief Horst Faas for $20 and a print.

Following the allegations, the AP investigated the claims, but could not find any definitive evidence to strip Út of the attribution. 

However the WPP thought otherwise, and after completing its own investigation announced it would strip Út of the attribution for the image that won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1973.

After it announced the decision, three former Chairs and jurors of the World Press Photo Contest wrote an open letter to WPP, expressing their dismay at the organisation’s decision.

Now, 400 professional photographers have signed onto that letter, that criticises the decision and reflects a “dangerous and flawed position”.

Many of the photographers who have signed the letter are household names who have been involved with World Press Photo over the years, both as judges and as winners.

They include Joe McNally, Jan Banning, Walter Astrada, Stephanie Sinclair, Jeff Sedlik, Don McCullin, Yunghi Kim, Steve McCurry, Samantha Appleton, and John McConnico, among others.

In addition, the photographers have asked that WPP remove their names from World Press Photos' “websites, archives, etc., as ever having participated as Chairs and jurors in your contest.” 

In their letter, its authors James Colton, Dave Burnett, and Maria Mann write “We do not claim to know definitively who took that photo. But we do know that accusing someone without irrefutable evidence, and making a decision to strip the attribution is unwarranted, unreasonable and just plain wrong.” 

For now, access to the The Stringer has been limited, with it only appearing at Sundance. This is expected to change as it begins wider distribution later this year.