Photos on the radio

One of the most powerful photos ever taken is undoubtably the Vietnam War image of the little girl burned by napalm running along a road. Thankfully the girl (Kim Phuc) survived and the photograph (by Nick Ut) did much to galvanise the opposition to the war. There’s a Radio 4 programme on at 4pm today called ‘It’s My Story: The Girl in the Picture’ which will probably be worth a listen. The BBC website carries this article on the photograph. I saw the footage on the news when it happened, but it is the still photograph that I remember. Similarly, there is movie footage of that other Vietnam War image of the police chief shooting the prisoner in the head, but the power of the still image is what is remembered.