Famous Image

I have seen this picture many times over the years, and I still have mixed feelings about it.

What was the motive behind the picture? Was it a setup pic (just the right angle, etc.)? What was this picture used for?

What the viewers of this picture see is a man about to be executed in the streets of Vietnam. The man is cringing because he knows what is going to happen. The look on his face makes him appear to be more of the victim than he truly is. His hands are handcuffed/tied behind his back, so that really adds to the innocence of him. The black and white setup of the pic, just gives it more of an eerie feeling to me. I have never really paid to much attention to this before, but I notice now, that the background is almost 'white-washed' so that the focal point is the two men.

When the picture was published, people were shocked of the horror of what was being done. Yet, we live in a country that upholds the death penalty. Was the shock more of the technique being used? Or the fact that people know the death penalty is being used, and we just don't want to admit it?

The truth of this picture is a different story....

The man who is about to be executed was just arrested for being involved with a mass murder of innocent people. The officer holding the gun had family friends that were killed. The actual photographer (Eddie Adams) was there when it happened, and when he took the photo, he wanted to show what really happened. The picture was immediately used to show that the innocent unarmed civilians were being pulled out into the streets and shot for no reason. I have watched several interviews with the photographer, and he still says that if he would have known how the picture was going to be displayed, he would have never submitted it to his bosses.

I am not saying I agree with what happened, but I can see where any picture or image regardless of intent, can be taken and manipulated then shown to the public if a much different light. As viewers we need to understand that a image is worth a thousand words, and often times, those words might not even be what truly happened. Our technology allows us to use photo-shop and other media tools to alter any given photograph. We have read how 'with rhetoric comes responsiblities'...I truly agree, regardless of any format it comes in.