Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by Bao Nguyen, Netflix’s ‘The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo’ is a documentary exploring the controversy behind the renowned Terror of War (or Napalm Girl) photograph. This 1972 image from the Vietnam War has long been considered one of the most poignant from that dark era, as it features a nude, burned 9-year-old girl running away from a bomb strike. It was first published by the Associated Press with a credit to their in-house photographer, Nick Ut, but there have since been claims that the actual author behind the image was a freelancer.
Nick Ut’s Career Began Amidst War and Loss
It was on March 29, 1951, in the southern Mekong Delta province of Long An, Vietnam, that Nick Ut was born as Huỳnh Công Út into a proud family of farmers as one of their 11 children. He thus grew up in an air of uncertainty since the War began when he was merely 4 in 1955, driving his father to do his best to provide for the family while his mother cared for them at home. They ensured the kids’ happiness by supporting their dreams as much as they could, and that’s how one of their elder sons was able to establish himself as an actor as well as a photographer.
Huỳnh Thanh Mỹ (born March 29, 1938) was employed by the Associated Press (AP) by the time the early 1960s rolled around, resulting in him doing many on-field assignments for them. In fact, he was covering a battlefield on October 10, 1965, when he was wounded in the arm and chest before being shot again while awaiting evacuation, sadly resulting in his untimely demise. The family was obviously heartbroken upon hearing the news, yet Nick still bravely chose to pick up his brother’s camera and follow in his footsteps – he joined the Associated Press at age 15.
Nick was initially hired as a darkroom assistant, meaning his sole responsibility was to keep the place clean and mix chemicals to develop incoming images, but it wasn’t enough for him. According to records, he kept taking photographs too, which ended up impressing his higher-ups to such an extent that he was promoted to an official on-field war photographer within a year. Little did he know his work would be regularly published, he would lose a close friend to an assignment he refused in 1971, or that an image from the ensuing year would turn his life around.
Nick Ut Garnered International Fame in His Early 20s
During Nick’s time as a war photographer, he was injured at least thrice on three different occasions, including being shot multiple times and suffering shrapnel wounds in a mortar attack. Nevertheless, he always returned to combat owing to his passion and understanding of how he was one of the few who could document the dark reality of war for people across the world to see. It hence comes as no surprise that he was on site on June 8, 1972, when South Vietnamese planes mistakenly bombed the village of Trảng Bàng, instead of nearby North Vietnamese troops.
As per Nick’s account, he instinctively got his camera ready upon noticing the chaos, resulting in him capturing a group of young kids trying to rush towards safety, among other moments. Among the children was 9-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc, who was completely nude and burned across her body as she had likely torn apart her clothes in a hurry so as to save her life. Upon realizing the severity of her injuries, the photographer reportedly kept his camera down, rushed to her side, and poured water on her red skin before rushing her to a nearby hospital. Nick has long asserted he drove several of the kids alongside the young girl and ensured they were all treated immediately, prior to returning to the AP Saigon office with his film in hand.
The image now known as Terror of War or Napalm Girl was allegedly subsequently developed, and it was credited to staff photographer Nick Ut when it was published within days. What ensued as a direct result was an unexpected rise in anti-war sentiments across the US as well as Vietnam, following which he even ended up securing many major industry awards. At the age of 21, he received the World Press Photo Foundation’s Photo of the Year Award, the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, and the George Polk Award for News Photography. In other words, he became known at an international level, enabling him to move to Tokyo, Japan, after the war, and then choose to settle down in Los Angeles, California, for good in 1977.
Although Nick Ut Retired in 2017, His Legacy Lives On
Despite all of Nick’s vehement assertions and undeniable successes, there have been reports suggesting that the true author of the Terror of War image was a local stringer/freelancer. In fact, even the aforementioned documentary claims that accounts from Phan’s cousins, as well as a forensic investigation of all the available images/videos of that day, indicate the same. However, while an independent investigation by World Press in 2025 led them to announce that they would entirely suspend any attribution of authorship to the photo going forward due to continued uncertainty, AP still credits Nick, owing to their own investigation revealing an apparent lack of concrete evidence. Therefore, for all purposes, he remains the image’s documenter.
We should mention that while Nick is most known for the Napalm Girl photograph, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles, California, right until he decided to retire at age 66. He did indeed remain loyal to the organization for 51 years, so along with other members of the community, they held a big retirement party to celebrate his career at The Perfect Exposure Gallery. By this point, he had already been inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame for 5 years and earned Lifetime Achievement recognitions from Lucie Awards in 2014 and the Los Angeles Press Club in 2016. Since then, his legacy has continued to live on, thanks to his work being well-documented, even resulting in him being honored with the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 2021.
Nick Ut is Prioritizing Family and Travel Today
Moreover, it’s imperative to note that Nick’s images from the War have found a new home in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where they will be on display for the foreseeable future. As for his personal standing, it appears as if the 74-year-old continues to reside in Los Angeles, California, where he is surrounded by his wife, their two children, and possibly many grandchildren. He even maintains a close bond with the now-adult and thriving Phan Thị Kim Phúc, the subject of his most famous image, who currently serves as an advocate for child victims of war. From what we can tell, the former photographer still prefers to have a camera in hand wherever he goes, but now, he captures candid moments with family and his travels rather than the dark days of chaos.
Nick traveled to Singapore, Thailand, and Japan in July 2025, where he explored the local beauty with friends before attending an event for the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings. He then went to Washington state in August to witness the wonders of Seattle, as well as Mount Rainier, prior to capturing the opening of a VinFast car dealership in San Diego, California. He even shot the Vietnam War’s 50th Anniversary parade, went whale watching in Long Beach, California, and attended the Visa Festival in the South of France that same month of August. He followed this up with trips to Virginia, Barcelona, Spain, and Hong Kong, China, for a mix of business and pleasure before whale watching as well as enjoying the waves alongside his family in Monterey, California, in October. Most recently, he explored Alabama and the Red Rocks of California.
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