Eddie Adams' photograph of Saigon Execution February1, 1968:
http://failuremag.com/feature/article/saigon_execution/
http://failuremag.com/feature/article/saigon_execution/
Photos are always regarded as the strongest evidence to tell the truth and sometimes can even be icons of the history. This famous photo Saigon Execution shot during Vietnam War, which made Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography,can be seen as a proof of this.
This photo is really eye-catching because it recorded an unusual instant of gun shooting in the Vietnam War. It's easy to see that there is kind of unbalance in the picture, because the power is mismatched: a uniformed South Vietnamese officer was shooting a man who appears to be a resident. This kind of unbalance stresses the hopeless facial expression of the recipient of the bullet and hints his destined death. The two men as focus are centred and the background of the street is deliberately misted to erase unrelated details and help the audience fix on focal point and observe more carefully.
Captured from the angle of thophoria, it feels like we are the witnesses on the spot when we are looking at this photo. The feeling of reality is thus increased. The photographer chose to shot the picture in a short distance to show more details about the textures. For instance, we seem to be able to feel the mental texture of the gun, which evokes a sense of horror. The color tone was changed into black and white finally to convey a sense of solemnity. All these compositions work together to create a shocking image which evinces the cruelty and cold of the war persuasively. Hence, when this photo was published, it had a great influence on changing the public’s attitude against the Vietnam War thus was seen as an icon
However, just as Adams himself had said, “Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation.” (Eddie Adams, 1998), the selection of the photographs can easily lead to bias. When we put it in the big context, things can be completely different. The shooter who has been seen as a villain was General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, who, indeed, was executing a brutal Viet Cong assassin. The misunderstanding caused by missing the big context brought about a ridiculous tragedy. The rest of the general’s life was ruined by this small piece of work and become notorious.
Photographs could be so powerful to influence public opinions. But this kind of power must be used appropriately. Photographers must be careful enough when they decide to take or publish a picture while us like audiences must look deeper and get to know more about the context before forming our idea and expressing our opinions..
Reference: Eddie Adams (1998). "Eulogy: GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 2001-06-24. Retrieved 2013-05-11.
编辑.
This photo is really eye-catching because it recorded an unusual instant of gun shooting in the Vietnam War. It's easy to see that there is kind of unbalance in the picture, because the power is mismatched: a uniformed South Vietnamese officer was shooting a man who appears to be a resident. This kind of unbalance stresses the hopeless facial expression of the recipient of the bullet and hints his destined death. The two men as focus are centred and the background of the street is deliberately misted to erase unrelated details and help the audience fix on focal point and observe more carefully.
Captured from the angle of thophoria, it feels like we are the witnesses on the spot when we are looking at this photo. The feeling of reality is thus increased. The photographer chose to shot the picture in a short distance to show more details about the textures. For instance, we seem to be able to feel the mental texture of the gun, which evokes a sense of horror. The color tone was changed into black and white finally to convey a sense of solemnity. All these compositions work together to create a shocking image which evinces the cruelty and cold of the war persuasively. Hence, when this photo was published, it had a great influence on changing the public’s attitude against the Vietnam War thus was seen as an icon
However, just as Adams himself had said, “Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation.” (Eddie Adams, 1998), the selection of the photographs can easily lead to bias. When we put it in the big context, things can be completely different. The shooter who has been seen as a villain was General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, who, indeed, was executing a brutal Viet Cong assassin. The misunderstanding caused by missing the big context brought about a ridiculous tragedy. The rest of the general’s life was ruined by this small piece of work and become notorious.
Photographs could be so powerful to influence public opinions. But this kind of power must be used appropriately. Photographers must be careful enough when they decide to take or publish a picture while us like audiences must look deeper and get to know more about the context before forming our idea and expressing our opinions..
Reference: Eddie Adams (1998). "Eulogy: GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 2001-06-24. Retrieved 2013-05-11.
编辑.