Nick Ut's "Napalm Girl"

The Pulitzer Prize winning photograph dubbed "Napalm Girl," turned 40 this month.  When it was first published in June 8, 1972, 21 year-old Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong Ut (professionally know as Nick Ut) had no clue that his photo would one day become one of the most famous images of the 20th century, and how it will have a lasting impact on his life.

Nick Ut, then and now

Nick Ut became a photojournalist at the young age of 16, just after his brother Huynh Thanh My, an Associated Press photographer, was killed on assignment.  He was mentored by the legendary photojournalist Horst Faas (who recently passed away).

Nick was with some South Vietnamese troops on patrol near Trang Bang, when he witnessed the aerial bombing of a civilian village.  A South Vietnamese Skyraider plane bombing suspected Viet Cong hiding places, accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians.  Surprised by the attack, he immediately trained his camera on the burning village.   Soon after, he heard screams from the villagers, among them children, running away from the devastation.

Another shot by Nick of the same scene

Among the panic-stricken children were Kim Phuc, her two brothers and her cousins.  Nine year-old Kim Phuc ran naked after discarding her burnt clothes wailing, "Too hot! Too Hot!"  Blobs of  napalm had incinerated her clothes and scorched her skin like jellied lava.  In her fear and confusion, her only thought was how ugly she's become and how she will never be the same again.  Screaming in panic, she ran out from the burning village into the main road, oblivious to everything else around her.

Happy 172nd Anniversary to Photography

The Fathers of Photography: Louis Daguerre and William H. Fox Talbot

Happy World Photography Day to all my fellow photographers, photo enthusiasts, and shutterbugs!

Today marks the one hundredth and seventy second year since the invention of Photography.  172 years ago, Louis Daguerre and William H. Fox Talbot gave the world the ability to capture images.  We have come a long way technically (from chemical processes, we now capture light digitally), but the basic premise of Photography has remained the same -- "fragments of life (light) captured for our contemplation."

Even though we now work with digital sensors and are far removed from the primitive Calotype and Daguerrotype, we must never forget the genius of our predecessors who formulated the original "key" to unlock the mysteries of "light" and the magic of the photographic process.  Daguerre and Talbot's legacy to mankind is truly immeasurable (specially to Art and Science) and is "Wizardry" of the highest order.

Can you imagine a world without photographs (it will have devastating consequences for Science, not to mention Art)?  So it is just fitting for us to remember the origins of our Art today, August 19 and whenever we click our cameras (and our cellphones) to capture an image... for it is a precious gift that was presented to us 172 years ago, but continues to be relevant in our lives today, and into the future.

10 Years Ago Today

Ten Years Ago...        I became a father.  It was a defining moment for me.

Today, my daughter turned 10, so I decided to give her something different.  Instead of the traditional card, I decided to give her a "Birthday Comicbook," chronicling her first ten years of life (through my eyes of course) and to celebrate a decade of fatherhood.

Charity Work for Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Last Sunday, my daughter was the Guest of Honor at the Portuguese Bend National Horse Show, held at the Rolling Hills Estates in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She awarded the Gabriel C. Duque, Jr. memorial trophy with Childrens Hospital LA Head of Radiology, Dr. Marvin Nelson.

Seeing her award that trophy brought tears to my eyes...