(VOVworld)- For the first time, the Associated Press has held a photo exhibit showcasing more than 50 gripping photos featuring Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberation. The photo exhibit “Vietnam-the real war” has attracted a large number of visitors thanks to its true images of the atrocities of war and human stories behind the war.

AP's Photo exhibit: Vietnam-the Real War opens in Hanoi
“Impressive” and “haunting”, “evoking pride and sorrow” are the responses of visitors to the AP’s “Vietnam-The Real War” photo exhibit. The 50 photos on display depict tragic moments that Vietnam and its people experienced during the war.


A distraught father holding the body of his child as South Vietnamese rangers look down at him from their armored vehicle- From the portfolio by AP photographer Horst Faas that received the 1965 Pulitzer prize for photography

There are photos of anti-war protests in California, US President Johnson at a meeting to announce the reduction of bombing in north Vietnam, a US soldier wearing a hat with the hand-lettered slogan “War is hell” on it, an old woman carrying two children seeking shelters from sniper fire and a distraught father holding the body of his child as South Vietnamese rangers look down at him from their armored vehicle. All make a strong impression on visitors.


Photograph: Horst Faas/AP

Cao Xuan Nhat of Cau Giay district, Hanoi, is one of the visitors: “I can feel the atrocity and injustice of the war. That painful past reminds us to live to deserve sacrifices and losses that our predecessors made to restore peace. We respect the AP for displaying these photos and hope that this is a way for the two countries to come closer to each other and move toward greater cooperation”.

Film Director Dang Nhat Minh, who is famous for films about wars in Vietnam, says that in the lenses of AP photojournalists, the reality of the war in Vietnam was revealed. The photos remind people, especially younger Vietnamese to respect peace, independence, and freedom. Director Dang Nhat Minh said:“We have to thank the American photojournalists without whom our liberation struggle would have been seen just from one side. The photojournalists captured the sorrow, pain and atrocities of the war, the anti-war protests and what the US soldiers thought about participating in the war. They were forced to fight. The photojournalists must have been brave to come to dangerous places to capture those pictures. I hope that this exhibit will be shown at schools across the country for the younger generation”.


Napalm Girl- This photograph by Nick Ut received the 1973 Pulitzer prize for spot news photography

The 50 photos in the exhibit include Nick Ut’s famous picture of a 9-year-old girl running scorched and naked from a napalm attack. AP Photojournalist Nick Ut said:“When I took this photo, I received many comments and support from people around the world. When this photo was published, the whole world voiced their opposition against the US war in Vietnam. This photo is of great importance because it helped Americans realize their failure on the Vietnamese battlefield”.

AP photojournalist Nick Ut at the exhibit

To cover the war in Vietnam, the Associated Press gathered a group of extraordinary photojournalists in its Saigon bureau, creating one of the greatest photographic legacies of the 20th century. Forty years later, a collection of the 50 most gripping AP images are on display in Vietnam to tell the human story behind the conflict. Two years ago, AP published a photo book entitled “Vietnam-the real war”. The photos on display are from that book. Gary Pruit is the AP President and CEO: "We want to bring these photos to the people of Vietnam and donate them so the people of Vietnam will have them forever. AP’s goal is always to inform the world so wherever there is a conflict or a major story, AP sends reporters, photographers, videographers. In Vietnam, it was a very important story and a very dangerous story. And Nick Ut pointed out he lost his brother and Nick himself was wounded three times. We lost 4 staffers in the war but we wanted to capture the war accurately and portray it accurately to the world. So it’s very important for us to be here, even it was a dangerous and difficult assignment. There was a time that AP was criticized for showing photos that were too graphic and some people thought were too disturbing. But we thought it’s important for people to understand what the real war was like and not have a comfortable idea of war. War should never be comfortable”.

Most of the photos on display were published 40 years ago. But when they are placed next to each other, they create a strong impression of the objectivity and courage of American photojournalists.