10-30-201610-30-2016
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2950BBoston
October 30, 2016 11:00 AMCalender
419

Adams, Eddie (1933-2004) Signed Photograph, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon , 17 June 1969.

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Auction: Books & Manuscripts - 2950BLocation: BostonDate / Time: October 30, 2016 11:00AM

Description:

Adams, Eddie (1933-2004) Signed Photograph, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon, 17 June 1969. Black-and-white photograph of Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Nguyen Van Lém on February 1, 1968 signed and inscribed by Adams in felt-tip marker, top left, margins trimmed unevenly, 8 x 10 in.
Adams won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo award for this photograph, taken during the Tet Offensive. Of the photo, Adams said, "Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. [...] What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American people?' [...] This picture really messed up his life. He never blamed me. He told me if I hadn't taken the picture, someone else would have, but I've felt bad for him and his family for a long time. [...] I sent flowers when I heard that he had died and wrote, 'I'm sorry. There are tears in my eyes.'" (Time Magazine, July 27, 1998.)
Estimate $3,000-5,000


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Keywords

Nguyen Ngoc