‘Napalm Girl’ was in the photo. But who was behind the camera?

Questions about the credit for a famous photograph from the Vietnam War have divided the photojournalism community for months

Posted Friday, May 16, 2025 11:00 am

Benjamin Mullin | The New York Times

The photo is indelible, and its importance unmistakable: a Vietnamese girl burned by napalm, naked and screaming, her arms outstretched in despair. It drove home the consequences of the Vietnam War to readers in the United States, where it won a Pulitzer Prize.

But who took the photo, widely known as Napalm Girl? That is the question dividing the photojournalism community 53 years after it was taken.

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‘Napalm Girl’ was in the photo. But who was behind the camera?

Questions about the credit for a famous photograph from the Vietnam War have divided the photojournalism community for months

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