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Forty years later, photographer reflects on missing the ‘napalm girl’ image

David Burnett — who was loading his camera when fellow photographer Nick Ut captured the famous “napalm girl” image in Vietnam in 1972 — reflects on missing that moment.

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David Burnett, then a 25-year-old photojournalist, captured this image of the aftermath of the napalm attack at Trang Bang in Vietnam in summer 1972. “It was real life, unfolding at the pace of life,” he writes.

David Burnett / Contact Press Images

Burnett was changing film in one of his Leicas — “an amazing camera with a reputation for being infamously difficult to load,” he writes — when Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took this Pulitzer Prize-winning image of children, including 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc, center, running in terror after the napalm attack on suspected North Vietnamese troop positions. The image played an important role in the evolving perceptions of the Vietnam War.

Burnett was changing film in one of his Leicas — “an amazing camera with a reputation for being infamously difficult to load,” he writes — when Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took this Pulitzer Prize-winning image of children, including 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc, center, running in terror after the napalm attack on suspected North Vietnamese troop positions. The image played an important role in the evolving perceptions of the Vietnam War.

NICK UT / Associated Press

Nick Ut and Kim Phuc in Washington in 2004. Ut is still photographing for AP in Los Angeles; Kim Phuc lives near Toronto, where she runs a foundation dedicated to helping children deal with the trauma of war.

Nick Ut and Kim Phuc in Washington in 2004. Ut is still photographing for AP in Los Angeles; Kim Phuc lives near Toronto, where she runs a foundation dedicated to helping children deal with the trauma of war.

David Burnett / Contact Press Images

Burnett in Vietnam in 1971. He writes: “As the United States began winding down its direct combat role and encouraging Vietnamese fighting units to take over the war, trying to find and tell the story presented enormous challenges.”

Burnett in Vietnam in 1971. He writes: “As the United States began winding down its direct combat role and encouraging Vietnamese fighting units to take over the war, trying to find and tell the story presented enormous challenges.”

Courtesy of David Burnett

One of Burnett’s images after the napalm attack. Burnett says his clearest memory is the sight of Ut and another reporter beginning their run toward the oncoming children. “It took another 20 or 30 seconds for me to finish loading my stubborn Leica, and I then joined them,” he writes.

One of Burnett’s images after the napalm attack. Burnett says his clearest memory is the sight of Ut and another reporter beginning their run toward the oncoming children. “It took another 20 or 30 seconds for me to finish loading my stubborn Leica, and I then joined them,” he writes.

David Burnett / Contact Press Images

Children run in the aftermath of the attack in this image by Burnett.

Children run in the aftermath of the attack in this image by Burnett.

David Burnett / Contact Press Images

A woman holds a child in this image by Burnett. “After Trang Bang, my sense of being ’photographer ready’ was more acute; the instinct has served me well in dozens of stories since,” Burnett writes.

A woman holds a child in this image by Burnett. “After Trang Bang, my sense of being ’photographer ready’ was more acute; the instinct has served me well in dozens of stories since,” Burnett writes.

David Burnett / Contact Press Images

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