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Eddie AdamsAmerican journalist and photojournalist, famous for his photography taken during the Vietnam War.
Date of Birth: 12.06.1933
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Eddie Adams
Eddie Adams, born Edward Adams on June 12, 1933, in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, was an American journalist and photojournalist who gained fame for his photograph taken during the Vietnam War. He started his career as a photojournalist while still in school, photographing weddings. After graduating, he worked for the local newspaper, the Daily Dispatch. During the Korean War, Adams served as a military photographer attached to the United States Marine Corps unit on the front lines. Throughout his career, he covered 13 armed conflicts, working for the Associated Press, Time, Newsweek, and Parade magazines. He photographed political figures and showbiz celebrities, but it was only one photograph taken during the Vietnam War that brought him worldwide recognition.
The Iconic Photograph
Adams visited Vietnam twice, in 1965-1966 and 1967-1968, both times as a correspondent for the Associated Press. He was a personal friend of General Lewis Walt, who commanded the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam, and accompanied American units on various operations, covering some of the war's most famous battles, such as Operation Starlite and Operation Utah, as well as the defense of the Play Me Special Forces Camp. Adams captured his most famous photograph a few weeks after returning to Vietnam.
On January 30-31, 1968, the first large-scale offensive of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army, known as the Tet Offensive, began in South Vietnam. One of the main targets of this offensive was the capital city of Saigon, where intense street fighting took place. On the second day of the offensive, on February 1, amidst the chaos, Adams went to the Chinese district of Saigon, Cholon, where fierce battles were taking place around a Buddhist pagoda. When he arrived, the pagoda had already been captured by South Vietnamese forces. Adams and NBC cameraman Vo Suu noticed two South Vietnamese marines escorting a man in a checkered shirt and black shorts; the captive's hands were tied behind his back. Vo Suu started filming, and Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the chief of the South Vietnamese police, motioned for the guards to step aside and approached the prisoner, who stood with his eyes fixed on the ground. Without saying a word, Loan pulled out his revolver, extended his right arm, nearly touching the prisoner's head with the barrel, and pulled the trigger. Eddie Adams also pressed the shutter button.
"The Execution in Saigon" became one of the most famous photographs of the Vietnam War. Eddie Adams received several awards for this image, including the Pulitzer Prize. The photograph was published on the front pages of many newspapers worldwide and is believed to have played a role in changing American public opinion about the war in Vietnam. It was later revealed that the executed Vietnamese man was indeed an activist of the Viet Cong, who had killed a South Vietnamese police officer and his family before being captured. The summary execution of a prisoner of war without trial or investigation, carried out by the chief of the South Vietnamese police, sparked outrage among intellectuals, and the photograph was widely used by the anti-war movement. Adams, who initially told other journalists in Saigon, "I got what I came for in Vietnam," deeply regretted his picture, refusing the Pulitzer Prize: "I received money for showing murder. Two lives were destroyed, and I was paid for it." He wanted his fame to come from another photograph taken eleven years later. Adams captured a photograph of Vietnamese refugees fleeing communist Vietnam in a boat that the Thai authorities refused to accept, and this image persuaded President Carter and Congress to allow the immigration of Vietnamese refugees to the United States. Adams wrote in Time magazine, "The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths." When Nguyen Ngoc Loan lived in the United States, Adams personally apologized to him and his family for the damage that his photograph had done to the general's reputation. After the general's death in 1998, Adams called him a hero.
Legacy and Personal Life
Adams was married twice and had two daughters and two sons. Throughout his career as a photojournalist, he received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize (1969), the Robert Capa Gold Medal (1977), and the George Polk Award (in 1968, 1977, and 1978). Adams passed away on September 19, 2004, in New York City from the incurable disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Interesting Facts
The photograph "Execution in Saigon" won the World Press Photo award for the best photograph of 1968. In July 2003, a scandal erupted in the United States related to a cartoon by Michael Ramirez. The cartoon, stylized after Adams' famous photograph, depicted the execution of George Bush. The cartoonist stated that he wanted to portray the domestic dangers awaiting the Bush administration after the end of active combat operations in Iraq.
A parody of Adams' photograph appears in the opening video of the computer game Fallout, depicting an American soldier executing a captured Canadian guerrilla in front of a television camera.
