World Press Photo also pointed to ongoing questions over equipment. The AP has previously said it is “likely” the photo was taken using a Pentax camera, which Nghe is known to have used. Ut, however, had frequently said he carried cameras by Leica and Nikon. When questioned for the AP’s investigation, Ut told the agency he also used Pentax cameras. The photo agency said it subsequently found negatives in its archives, shot by Ut in Vietnam, with “the characteristics of a Pentax camera.”
World Press Photo also noted the possibility that another person altogether — Vietnamese military photographer Huynh Cong Phuc, who sometimes sold images to news agencies — took the photo. The AP’s investigation noted that he, like Ut and Nghe, “could have been in the position to have taken the shot.”
Earlier this month, Ut welcomed the findings of the AP’s latest report, saying in a statement that it “showed what has always been known, that the credit for my photo … is correct.” He added: “This whole thing has been very difficult for me and has caused great pain.”
Appearing in the world’s newspapers the day after it was taken, “The Terror of War” became a symbol of opposition to the Vietnam War. In the decades since, Ut has campaigned for peace alongside the photo’s subject, now known as Kim Phuc Phan Thi, who survived her injuries and was granted political asylum by Canada in 1992.
Speaking to CNN to mark the image’s 50th anniversary in 2022, the photographer recounted his version of events, saying: “I saw Kim running and she (screamed in Vietnamese) ‘Too hot! Too hot!’
“When I took the photo of her, I saw that her body was burned so badly, and I wanted to help her right away. I put all my camera gear down on the highway and put water on her body.”
Ut said he put the injured children in his van and drove them for 30 minutes to a nearby hospital. “When I went back to my office, the (dark room technician) and everyone who saw the picture told me right away it was very powerful, and that the photo would win a Pulitzer,” he added.