Making of ‘Terror of War’ (by Huynh Cong Ut, 1972), 2019

The story behind the photograph…

"The Terror of War" commonly known as Napalm Girl, represents Nick Ut's most widely recognized photograph. It depicts a naked 9-year-old girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, fleeing toward the camera in the aftermath of a South Vietnamese napalm strike on Trảng Bàng village, erroneously targeted instead of nearby North Vietnamese troops on June 8, 1972. Following the capture of this impactful image, Ut promptly escorted Kim Phúc to the hospital. However, the photograph's publication faced a delay as the AP bureau deliberated on the ethical considerations of transmitting an image featuring a naked girl. In September 2016, a Norwegian newspaper addressed Mark Zuckerberg in an open letter after Facebook censored the photograph on the newspaper's page. Notably, numerous members of the Norwegian government, including Prime Minister Erna Solberg, shared the photograph on their Facebook pages. Despite initial deletions, Facebook eventually reversed its decision later that day, permitting the dissemination of the photograph.