EXECUTION

             A Pulitzer Prize, causing astonishment, shifting the views of a whole country, evoking outrage, conjuring sympathy for the “bad guy”, inducing disgust; a single moment in time is rarely this powerful. The only question left is how did Eddie Adams manage to snap a photo of such a climatic point in a situation that only lasted a milli-second? This of course is the photo: General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong. It is simple title that says it all, nothing elaborate nor something to ponder upon, contrary to the effect the photo has on it’s spectators.
               Adams won a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography because of the influence it had at the time. The photo sparked outrage and fueled the anti-Vietnam war protests going on at the time. Strangely enough Adams regretted the impact the photo had saying:

               “Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths ... What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?”

                 So what distinguishes a sterling photo from an icon? One is contingent upon quality, the other its effect on audiences. However, what makes a photo a masterpiece is an integration of both aspects. Qualities that this work does possess. Whether the photo was well focused or Eddy Adam was skillful at dodging and burning, the contrast is laudable. At first glance the main focal point is the gun and victim due to it’s sharp contrasts.
                 Already up there with such photos as In the Heights and Flag Raising on Mount Suribachi, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong is also comparable to works such as Edvard Munch’sThe Scream and Michelangelo’s David in the partnership it holds between quality, recognition, stimulation and representation of the times. The photo might only represent two decades in American history but its concept of the brutality of war are timeless and universal. Although this piece should be put into context, intense sensations are conjured without background knowledge. All from a single frozen piece of time.