This photo was taken in 1972 during a Vietnamese napalm attack by Nick Ut, a Vietnamese photographer. The naked girl in the photo is named Kim Phuc. Phuc was severely burned on her back by a napalm attack (“Vietnam Napalm Attack”[1]). The boy in front of her is her brother and little girl looking back at the smoke is another family member. The soldiers behind the kids are Southern Vietnamese soldiers. They are fleeing their village after a napalm attack. Two Southern Vietnamese airplanes dropped napalm bombs onto the village, Trang Bang, which was being attacked by Northern Vietnamese soldiers (“Vietnam Napalm Attack”[2]). Kim ran to Nick and asked for help. Nick told her that he would help her so he took her to the Cu Chi Hospital where the doctors helped her. North Vietnam declared war against South Vietnam because South Vietnam refused to hold unification elections (“Learn about Vietnam War”[3]).
This photo shows the chaos after the occurrence of a disaster. The kids crying and running away from the smoke in the background portrays danger and fear. The smoke in the background represents the affects of the napalm attack. The girl with no clothes is very thin which shows that she did not come from a wealthy family. The way her hands are in the air and are not relaxed shows that she is in pain. The color choice of this photo makes the setting look gloomier and dramatic. In the picture, there are no adults present which demonstrates that the kids were independent. The young girl was able to save herself without the help of her mother or father. The naked girl is the main focus of the picture. She is in the center of the photo which emphasizes her pain compared to the other villagers who survived the napalm attack.
This photograph connects with the theme, loss of dignity, because it demonstrates loss of worthiness and respect. The young girl demonstrates loss of dignity due to the bombings by Southern Vietnam by mistake. She is running as far as away from the village as possible with no clothes on. The loss of her home, family and happiness represents loss of dignity. The young girl has nothing to be worthy of anymore due to the destruction caused by the napalm attack. This photo depicts loss of dignity caused by a disaster similar to the painting “Speechless”. Both the people in these paintings were affected by the loss of their home. The woman in the picture, “Speechless”, was impacted by the change in society and the young girl in this photo was affected by the destruction of her home. The loss of her poise is brought upon her by her surroundings which caused her great pain.
[2] Ibid.
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