The World Press Photo has officially suspended the attribution of the authorship of photography Terror of wara celebrated snapshot of a Vietnamese girl burned by the napalm that became a symbol of the conflict, to Nick Út. “The suspension will be maintained unless further tests can clearly confirm or deny the original authorship,” reads a statement issued by the organization.
The decision comes after the documentary The StringeA, driven by War photographer Gary Knight, questioned authorship through an investigation that ended up defending that another Vietnamese photographer, Nguyễn Thành Nghê. The agency Associated Press, Owner and distributor of the snapshot, did not find evidence that allowed to rule out that Nick Út effectively took the photo, hence he decided to keep him as an author. Now the World Press Photo quotes both the film and the decision of the agency but, after its own investigation, choose another path yet: “The level of doubt is too significant to maintain the existing attribution. At the same time, in the absence of definitive evidence that points to another photographer, we cannot reallocate the authorship.”
The statement adds that, from now on, this message will be placed next to the image: “The World Press Photo has suspended the attribution to Nick Út. The available visual tests and the camera that will probably be used that day indicate that photographers It still does not be in dispute and the award that was assigned also remains.