Veteran AP Photographer Honored at White House
AP photographer Nick Ut, who retired in 2017 after a 51-year career with The Associated Press, received the National Medal of Arts at the White House.
He is the first journalist to receive the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government.
The National Medal of Arts is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the U.S.
Ut, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, is known best for his iconic “Terror of War” picture from the Vietnam War, an image captured in 1972 that helped heighten awareness of the conflict. He was 21 years old when he took the shocking photo of terrified 9-year-old Kim Phuc running down a country road, her body burning from napalm bombs dropped on her village.
South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places on June 8, 1972. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Immediately after taking the shot, Ut put down his camera and rushed Phuc to a hospital, where doctors saved her life.
In 1989, Ut and Phuc were reunited in Havana, where Phuc was in medical school. In the years since, the two have become close friends.
Ut was hired by AP in Saigon in March 1966. He replaced his older brother, Huynh Thanh My, who had been working as a photographer with AP and was killed by the Viet Cong in 1965. My was a gifted photographer and had already taught Nick how to use a camera.
Phan Thi Kim Phuc, left, is visited by AP photographer Nick Ut in 1973. As a 9-year-old, Kim Phuc became the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo by Ut as she fled in pain from a misdirected napalm attack against her village by South Vietnamese planes in 1972. (AP Photo)
Associated Press staff photographer Nick Ut and Phan Thi Kim Phuc share a quiet moment together during a brief reunion in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 17, 1989. The two shared a not-so-quiet moment in 1972 when Ut photographed the then 9-year-old Kim Phuc running terrified from her napalmed South Vietnam village. (AP Photo/Jim Caccavo)
This minidocumentary traces the origins of one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century, Nick Ut's "Burning Girl," taken on June 8, 1972. (AP Corporate Archives)
Newsmen and family members attend the funeral for AP photographer Huynh Thanh My, killed on the job, Oct. 1965. At far left wearing head band is his 16-year-old brother Huynh Cong (Nick) Ut. Others include Ed White, Rick Merron, Huynh Thanh My's widow (wearing white hood), Peter Arnett, Dirck Halstead, Neil Sheehan (New York Press), Bill Ha Van Tran (AP), Eddie Adams (AP), Vo Huynh (NBC), Malcolm Brown and Bob Liu (AP). (AP Photo)
Associated Press Saigon staffer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut works in the darkroom of the new AP bureau in the Eden Building, ca. 1966. Ut was about 15 at the time. He went on to shoot one of the war's most iconic images, and won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. (AP Photo)
After working in Vietnam, Ut did a stint at AP’s Tokyo bureau before relocating to Los Angeles in 1977. There, he shot a wide variety of stories, from earthquakes to fires to celebrities to business to crime until his retirement from AP in 2017.
Ut has won numerous prizes for his pictures, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for Spot Photography — the youngest photographer to win the award — and the World Press Photo Award the same year, all for his photo of the young Kim Phuc. In June 2016, Ut received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Press Club, and Kim Phuc was by his side.
Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut visits Kim Phuc's house near the place where he made his famous Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of her as a terrified 9-year-old in Trang Bang, Tay Ninh province, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen)
Director Frank Capra smiles broadly as he holds his Life Achievement Award high over his head after he was honored on April 4, 1982, at the American Film Institute. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Prince addresses the audience at the American Music Awards, Jan. 27, 1986, in Los Angeles. He presented the award in the Pop-Rock Category for favorite single to Huey Lewis for song "Power of Love". (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Hugh Hefner is flanked by escorts Hope Olson, left, and Carrie Lee at the 50th anniversary re-premiere of the 1933 classic science fiction film King Kong, Thursday, May 27, 1983, Hollywood, Calif. The showing was to benefit the Motion Picture and Television Fund. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Montreal Expos Terry Francona slides safely under an errant throw to Los Angeles Dodgers' catcher Steve Yeager during sixth inning action at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, April 8, 1983. Francona scored from third after teammate Tim Raines created a rundown situation between first and second. Montreal won, 8-3. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Muhammad Ali throws a left at a sandbag during workout at a Tokyo gym on Wednesday, June 23, 1976. The world heavyweight boxing champion meets Japanese pro wrestler Antonio Inoki in the World’s Martial Arts Championship, in Tokyo on Saturday. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
President Ronald Reagan points toward the crowd as he speaks during the afternoon rally at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, on Monday, Nov. 5, 1984. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Richard Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, adjusts his sunglasses in the courtroom during a special hearing in Los Angeles, Ca., Monday, Feb. 27, 1989. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
O.J. Simpson and defense attorney Robert Shapiro sit in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom Friday, August 26, 1994. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, Pool)
Actress Joan Collins, awaits the result of the divorce case against her former husband Peter Holm, July 1987. She won the case. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Michael Jackson waves to his fans from atop his limousine after his arraignment on child molestation charges Friday morning, Jan. 16, 2004, at the courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Smoke billows from a large fire on the back lot at Universal Studios of Universal City Studios in Universal City, Calif., north of Los Angeles, Sunday June 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Chris Burden's sculpture "Urban Light," a collection of street lights from many eras, is reflected in the rain at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Dec. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
An American flag flies half-staff at Los Angeles City Hall on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in honor of victims of terrorist attacks in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
President Obama waves before boarding Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, en route to Palm Springs, and the ASEAN summit. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
In 1972, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, right, shot the iconic image of then 9-year-old Kim Phuc, left, running naked down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on her village in Vietnam. She is shown here reunited with Mr. Ut at the Los Angeles bureau of the Associated Press, June 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Linda Deutsch)
Text from AP Press Release AP photographer Nick Ut receives National Medal of Arts
For more on Ut’s career see Napalm Girl photographer retires after 51 years