Making of ‘Fall of Saigon’ (by Hubert van Es, 1975), 2015

The story behind the photograph…

The Vietnam War began in 1955, and was fought between North Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union, China and other Communist allies) and South Vietnam (supported by the US and other anti-Communist members of the South East Asia Treaty Organization). It ended on 30 April 1975, when Saigon, capital of South Vietnam, was captured by the North Vietnamese. Prior to the capture, nearly all American civilian and military personnel were evacuated, as were thousands of South Vietnamese deemed ‘at risk’. This culminated in ‘Operation Frequent Wind’, a final-phase helicopter evacuation organized by US forces. On being alerted to the arrival of a helicopter above a CIA building at 22 Gia Long Street, Dutch photojournalist Hubert van Es (1941–2009) grabbed the longest lens he could find in the United Press International’s office – a 300mm – and photographed the desperate line of people scrambling up a ladder in an attempt to board the Air America Huey. The helicopter took off with a dozen or so on board, which was more than recommended. ‘After shooting about 10 frames,’ van Es recalled, ‘I went back to the darkroom to process the film and get a print ready for the regular 5 pm transmission to Tokyo from Saigon’s telegraph office.’ The next day, Saigon fell.