Documentary Uncovers Story of 12-Year-Old Vietnam War Photojournalist

A new BBC short documentary has uncovered the story of Lo Manh Hung, a 12-year-old photographer who covered the Vietnam War and is believed to be the world’s youngest photojournalist.

BBC Global recently released the 15-minute mini-documentary The Boy Who Shot the Vietnam War, which explores the life of Lo Manh Hung, also known as Jimmy to his family. In the film, Hung’s four younger siblings share their memories and reflect on his legacy on camera for the very first time.

Hung’s introduction to photography began not on the battlefield, but in his father Lo Vinh’s darkroom. Vinh was a freelance photographer with 44 years of experience who had fled northern Vietnam to escape communist control. By studying his father’s images, Hung learned the technical aspects of photography, including film limitations, exposure, and shooting techniques.

By the age of eleven, as the Vietnam War escalated, Hung became his father’s apprentice. Shortly before turning 12, he started working independently and became a professional war photographer. While many families fled the conflict, Hung captured images from the front lines, which he sold to international publications.

“He could photograph anything,” his family recalls in the documentary. “Nothing scared him. He captured shots that were truly exceptional.”

Hung gained particular attention during the Tet Offensive in 1968, often following Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops into Viet Cong-controlled areas of Saigon to take photos for local and international media. As the eldest son, he became the family’s main provider as a war photographer, repeatedly risking his life to support them.

His youth occasionally brought challenges and the documentary notes that Hung was sometimes jailed for breaking curfew as a child even though he was working as a press photographer. He was shot in the arm by an AK-47 while photographing, and in 1972, during the Battle of Quang Tri, an artillery shell damaged his ear. Despite these injuries, his siblings say he returned to the front lines and continued photographing until the end of the war.

Hung fled Vietnam when North Vietnamese forces took control of the South, reportedly losing many of his photo negatives during the escape. He later settled in California with his siblings but struggled to find the same opportunities as a photojournalist in the U.S.

“He loved being a photojournalist, but over here [in the U.S.], he didn’t have that,” his family says in the documentary. “He had no connections with the press in the West — no connections. In Vietnam, everyone knew him, but here, I think he felt a bit sad.

“Still, he loved his profession and stayed devoted to it until the end. Wherever he went, he always had a camera with him, ready to shoot.”

Hung eventually established a photography shop and lab in San Francisco. He returned to Vietnam in 2018, but tragically died of heart failure during the trip. Hung’s family believes his legacy extends beyond his exceptional work as one of the youngest war photographers, whose images brought the Vietnam War to global attention, to include his essential role as a key support in their family’s survival.