THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF WAR
DUE DATE: For in-class discussion and presentation THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10
THE PURPOSE: To research the history of Vietnam War photography and to analyze how visual images did influence and indeed continue to shape our understanding of that war.
THE PROCEDURE: Complete the following three steps:
1)
THE ICONIC IMAGE. Learn as much as possible about Kim Phuc and the war's
most famous image by browsing in the Kim Phuc web-sites listed below (you can,
of course, complement this with your own research). No written response is
required but we'll focus on this photograph and its legacy during class
discussion.
2) Browse in the Digital Photographer feature
REQUIEM -- BY THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO DIED IN VIETNAM AND INDOCHINA.
This part of the assignment is designed to introduce you to some famous
journalists who paid the ultimate price for their documenting of the war.
The companion volume is in McPherson Library.
3) Pick a Vietnam War photography topic from the list below or of your own design. Research your topic (you may want to consider comparing two photographers if you choose the photojournalist focus). Design a poster board for a five-to-ten-minute small-group presentation. Your poster should include a minimum of five interesting photos with analytical captions and a central written section of at least a paragraph in length that adds information, context, commentary or reflection. We will leave your posters up in the classroom for a few weeks. The assignment will not be graded separately but you will be asked to hand in the poster board as a journal entry. The links and topics below are by no means comprehensive but are offered as possible starting places.
KIM PHUC WEB-SITES
THE SURVIVOR: PHAN THI KIM PHUC AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER NICK UT:
A Digital Journalist article by Horst Faas and Marianne Fulton.
Anne Bayin, "KIM PHUC: THE POWER OF AN IMAGE," CBC News Online.
"'GIRL IN PICTURE' TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE FROM YORK U.," York University Media Relations (October 19, 2004).
Kim Phuc, "'NAPALMED GIRL' ON AN AID MISSION TO PROTECT CIVILIANS FROM WAR," Los Angeles Times (December 24, 2003).
"KIM PHUC PHAN THI," UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors.
Michael Taylor, "MILITARY SAYS GOODBYE TO NAPALM," San Francisco Chronicle (April 4, 2001).
Ronald Timberlake, "THE MYTH OF THE GIRL IN THE PHOTO HAS BECOME THE FRAUD BEHIND THE GIRL IN THE PHOTO: HIJACKING THE HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM VETERAN" (January 1999).
Barry Romo, "KIM PHUC VISITS WITH VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR," Veteran (Spring 1997).
"HAUNTED FORMER SOLDIER IS FORGIVEN," United Methodist News (February 4, 1997).
POSSIBLE TOPICS
A. INDIVIDUAL PHOTOJOURNALIST FOCUS
EDDIE ADAMS:
Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his 1968 shot of the Saigon street execution of
a Viet Cong suspect. See the October 2004 feature from Digital
Journalist at
TRIBUTE TO EDDIE ADAMS.
DAVID BURNETT: A photographer who went to Vietnam in 1970 as a
freelancer and was hired by Life. See the photographs at
.
LARRY BURROWS:
Born in Britain, he covered the Vietnam War for nine years before being shot
down over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 1971. For a Digital Journalist
website, see
.
ROBERT CAPA: Legendary American journalist famed for his Spanish Civil War and World War II photos. He helped to found Magnum Photos and was killed in 1954 when he stepped on a land mine in Vietnam.
GILLES CARON: A French veteran of the Algerian War, he covered
not only Vietnam but also conflicts in Nigeria and Israel before disappearing
in a Khmer-Rouge controlled region of Cambodia. See the photographs at
.
DICKEY CHAPELLE: Commemorated in the song "Pearl's Eye View," she covered World War II before and Vietnam as a combat photographer.
SEAN FLYNN: The son of the actor Erroll Flynn, he would be killed in Indochina.
PHILIP JONES GRIFFITHS:
See
for a feature on this Welsh Magnum photographer.
RONALD HAEBERLE: Vietnam-era American photographer most famous for his Life My Lai Massacre images.
DIRCK HALSTEAD: A veteran UPI and Time reporter who
remains active professionally. See the photographs at
.
HENRI HUET: Born of a French father and a Vietnamese mother, he would cover both the French and American wars before being shot down over Laos in 1971.
DON MCCULLIN:
A British photographer. See the photographs at
.
HUYNH THANH MY: Vietnamese and the brother of Nick Ut, he was killed in 1965.
TIM PAGE: See the photographs at
. See also
"A PHOTOGRAPHER'S WAR: AN INTERVIEW WITH TIM PAGE,"
ABC ASIA PACIFIC (01/06/03).
MARC RIBOUD: A French photographer who was one of the few westerners to photograph the North Vietnamese.
KYOICHI SAWADA: This Japanese photographer was one of the most important chroniclers of the Vietnam War.
DANA STONE: The photographer who went missing with Sean Flynn in Cambodia.
DICK SWANSON: A photographer for Life Magazine who worked
in Vietnam for five years. See his personal web-site at
. See also the photographs at
.
B. THEMATIC FOCUS (Do not hesitate to come up with your own theme).
AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND THE WAR
AGENT ORANGE
AMERICAN WOMEN IN VIETNAM
ANIMALS OF WAR
BODIES
CHILDREN OF WAR
COLLISION OF CULTURES
FACES OF WAR
FALL OF SAIGON:
See the Digital Journalist feature
at
.
HANDS OF WAR
HO CHI MINH IN LIFE AND LEGEND
LIFE IN SAIGON
LYNDON JOHNSON
MEMORIES OF WAR
PATRIOTS
POWER
SEASONS OF WAR
SHADOWS OF WAR
SIGNS OF WAR
SMELLS OF WAR
SMILES OF WAR
THE THINGS THEY CARRIED
TREATING THE WOUNDED
VIETNAM AND FIRE
THE VIEW FROM THE AIR
THE VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE:
See
ANOTHER VIETNAM .
THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
WAR COMES TO THE VILLAGE
WAR PROTEST
C. THE ICONIC PHOTOGRAPH FOCUS
Find out everything you can about one of the following three images. Do not limit your research to the moment of exposure but also assess the picture's "afterlife."
GENERAL RESOURCES
An extensive collection of images dedicated to the 135
photographers from 10 nations who died Indochina between 1954 and 1975.
WAR PHOTOGRAPHY SINCE 1946: An About.com
feature on Vietnam War photography. See the selection of About.com images
at
.