In October of 1967, at the age of 24, Charlie Haughey received a draft notice from the US Army notifying him that he would be spending a tour of duty in Vietnam as a rifleman. A couple of months after he arrived, his commanding officer put a camera in his hands and asked him to start taking pictures for Army and US newspapers. His only instructions: “You are not a combat photographer. This is a morale operation … ”
Haughey brought back nearly 2,000 negatives from Vietnam, shot between March 1968 and May 1969, none of which ever saw the light of day until very recently. Read more…
Earlier this month was iconic photo Napalm Girl‘s 40 year anniversary, and while most of the world was looking back on one of the most striking images ever taken, one photographer was reminiscing over a lost opportunity. In an article for the Washington Post photojournalist David Burnett, who was with Napalm Girl photographer Nick Ut when he took the photo, describes how he missed the opportunity because he was busy loading more film: Read more…
Host Faas, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning AP combat photographer, passed away in Munich, Germany on Thursday May 10th. Best known for his striking work in Vietnam, he was perhaps one of the most famous combat photographers to date. More than just a photographer, though, Horst Faas was also an avid teacher of the art, and a photo editor who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
It was this attitude that made sure two now-iconic Vietnam war photos saw the light of day, even when the AP Bureau hesitated. Both photos — “Saigon Execution” by Eddie Adams and “Napalm Girl” by Nick Ut — brought the Vitenam war into harsh perspective, and without Horst Faas’ determination they may never have made it into the public eye.
Fortunately for us, his legacy lives on in the many powerful photos he either took or taught the members of “Horst’s Army” of photographers to take. If you’d like to see some these photos, including the two that won him his Pulitzer Prizes, be sure and head over to USA Today’s gallery of his work.
National Geographic photographers get to do the coolest things. In this video, photographer Carsten Peter takes us along with him on a journey into Son Doong, the world’s largest cave located in Vietnam. The biggest chamber in the cave is over 3 miles long and more than four times taller than the Statue of Liberty.
France-based photographer Fabrice Wittner has a neat project titled “Enlightened Souls” that consists of ghostly portraits created by light-painting with stencils (which are themselves created from actual portraits). Wittner first started the project in May 2011 after the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
I first thought of it as an artistic and morale contribution to the 6.3 quake’s aftermath. I used stencils to paint enlightened characters to remember human losses and to show the spirit of a wouned city. It turned out to be an intersting way to share ideas and feelings about society and life. After all, this is what street art is made for.
Photographer Rob Whitworth created this time-lapse of the crazy traffic found in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), Vietnam.
Everyone who has visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam knows part of the magic (love it or hate it) is in the traffic. Ever since I first set foot in HCMC I have been captivated by the city’s energy. Saigon is a city on the move unlike anything I have experienced before which I wanted to capture and share.
10,000 individual photos (shot in RAW) went into making this video.
Gadgets haven’t been doing a good job of staying secret in Vietnam lately. Just a couple days ago an iPhone 4G was found, filmed, and completely disassembled there. Now, photos and details of Sony’s entry level DSLR replacement, the A290, have emerged on Vietnamese forum Tinhte. This camera replaces the A230 reportedly has a 14 megapixel sensor, 3200 max ISO, 2.7 inch LCD screen, and 2.5fps maximum shooting speed.
