"Napalm Girl" Photographer Returns to Vietnam With an IPhone. This Is What He Found.

The 9-year-old girl in the photo — Kim Phúc — was one of the children that Nick helped. He used his press credentials to get them admitted to a hospital for aid. Kim’s burns were so severe it seemed unlikely she would survive — after a 14 month hospital stay that involved several skin transplants she was finally released and today lives in Canada.

In that era of technology, it took several hours for the photo to appear in the media, and not before a lot of debate over whether the nudity was too extreme for the front page. This is not the case today: Because of technology there’s been a large-scale democratization of media, and images are now shared within moments of being taken on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This week Nick Ut returned to the small village of Trang Bang — the location of his original photos — with an iPhone in hand to capture some of his own war memories. He used the Associated Press’s Instagram account to post some of his images.

Anguyen Thi Dam, 58, is Kim Phuc’s sister-in-law. She married Kim Phuc’s brother, Phan Thanh Tam, who was in the picture on the left. He lost one eye due to napalm, and he ran this noodle shop after the war. Her family lived in this shop. #APPhoto by @emadiganwhite #InstagramTakeover #BacktoTrangBang #NickUt #AP #Vietnam #HoChiMinhCity blog.apimages.com

A photo posted by AP Images (@ap.images) on Jun 7, 2015 at 10:07pm PDT

Pham Thi Sang is 72 years old and lived near Kim Phuc’s house. Her house was destroyed by bombs. After the war was over she opened a business nearby. #InstagramTakeover #BacktoTrangBang #HoChiMinhCity #NickUt #AP #Saigon #Vietnam

A photo posted by AP Images (@ap.images) on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:51pm PDT

This is Ho Van Bon, 54. He is Kim Phuc’s cousin and he is running in the photo next to Kim on the far right. His left arm and part of his body were burned by napalm. #InstagramTakeover #BacktoTrangBang #Saigon #NickUt #AP #HoChiMinhCity blog.apimages.com

A photo posted by AP Images (@ap.images) on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:47pm PDT

Nguyen Thi Thanh is 24 and she doesn’t know anything about war, but she works in a coconut shop near the place where I took Kim Phuc’s photo. #InstagramTakeover #BacktoTrangBang #HoChiMinhCity #AP #NickUt #Saigon

A photo posted by AP Images (@ap.images) on Jun 7, 2015 at 9:20pm PDT

Cao Dai Pagoda Kim Phuc and children play before napalm hit her house June 8, 1972 #NickUt #AP #BacktoTrangBang #Saigon #InstagramTakeover #HoChiMinhCity blog.apimages.com

A photo posted by AP Images (@ap.images) on Jun 7, 2015 at 6:14pm PDT

Sources:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/photographer-who-snapped-famous-napalm-girl-photo-returns-to-vietnam-iphone-in-hand
http://www.people.com/article/nick-ut-napalm-girl-photo-kim-phuc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Thi_Kim_Phuc