The story of the most important photo of the 20th century
On 8 June 1972, Nick Ut captured an image of a young girl running away from a napalm attack in Vietnam. Today it is considered one of the most famous photos in the world. James Rampton tells its story
The photographer Nick Ut and his lifelong friend Kim Phuc met the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 and, he tells me, they had a very good, in-depth conversation for a full 10 minutes.
Why were they granted such privileged access by our late monarch? Because 50 years ago Ut took a photo of Phuc that has become perhaps the most famous picture of the 20th century.
There are surely very few people on the planet who have not seen the Vietnamese-American photographer’s timeless picture entitled The Terror of War or Napalm Girl.
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