One war. One image.

Posted at 8:59 AM on May 16, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, War

Hugh Van Es has died. You may not recognize the name. Perhaps you recognize the picture he took:

The image -- the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War -- is also one of the most misunderstood. It's often described as the scene atop the U.S. embassy. But it actually was an apartment building that housed CIA operatives. No matter, really. It captured the drama perfectly.

A local newspaper rejiggered the wire-service-supplied obituary today to say the photo was the most famous photograph of the war. Was it?

Just off the top of my head, here are a couple of competitors in the category.

I can't pick just one.

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Comments (4)

All were pictures that I remember not wanting to look at, but staring at over and over again. The beginning of news coverage that becomes more and more graphic. But photography, frozen for all time with no need for words, remains the most thought provoking way to tell a story quickly with the greatest impact. No one did it better than Hugh Von Es

Posted by Minnwhaler | May 16, 2009 9:45 AM

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"I can't pick just one."

Which is why they now censor what we can see.

Having it boil down to "Mission Accomplished" or some "rogues" posing with a pile of bad guys in a prison doesn't carry the same weight as the truth.

Posted by David | May 16, 2009 9:49 AM

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Pictures have impact that is immediate and visceral. This is why censors fear photos. No spin is possible when dreadful images grab the attention. Ask Obama why he witholds images of prison abuse.

Posted by mnguy | May 16, 2009 11:45 AM

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Perhaps this will become the most famous picture from the war in Afghanistan.

Posted by Jim | May 16, 2009 5:59 PM

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