Description of the 'Napalm Girl'

The photo ‘Napalm Girl’ was taken by Huynh Cong Ut during the Vietnamese War in 1972 in Trang Bang. The black-and-white photograph shows five children running along a road followed by five soldiers. They are hurrying along a deserted road, as though driven by shuddering fear. Behind them there is a thick cloud of black smoke. In the foreground, on the left side of the road, there is a boy who is wearing a plain white shirt and black shorts and has his mouth opened, crying in utter despair. His eyes stare in disbelief. Behind him there is an about four-year-old boy wearing nothing but a long-sleeved, white button-down shirt. He is turning his head back to the soldiers and to the huge cloud of smoke in the background that seems to be coming closer and closer. In the middle of the road is a nine-year-old naked girl, the ‘Napalm Girl’, who is screaming and running toward the camera in what seems to be agony. Her outstretched arms and her wailing face set the tone of the picture. She cries as if her heart has been wrenched out of her little body. Like the cold breath of a grave, her face seems to cut every person’s soul. On the right hand side of the road a small boy who seems to be bewildered, not knowing what is happening, and a desperate girl - possibly brother and sister - run hand in hand. They are the only fully clothed children in the picture, missing nothing but their shoes. Whereas the scared and desperate children all seem to run for their lives, the four soldiers leisurely walk behind them. They are dressed in their uniforms, helmets and carrying firearms. Their facial expressions are not really discernible, as they are situated too far back in the picture. Another person is visible in the very back of the picture, right in front of the thick, massive cloud of smoke which makes it impossible to see what could be behind it. Both sides of the road are surrounded by grass and some bushes.