Renditions: Saigon Execution – Eddie Adams, Vietnam, 1968
Eddie Adams – Saigon Execution – photograph – 1968 – Vietnam
Henry VIII’s Wives – Iconic Moments of the 20th Century – photograph – 2007 – UK
Mark Daughhetee – Hosed – photograph – 2004 – USA
Borf Brigade – The Consolation of Ruin – 2007 – USA
Mike Stimpson – photograph – 2007 – UK
Xiang Jing – Bang! – sculpture – 2002 – China
Amnesty International – print – 2005 – New Zealand
Dolk Lundgren – Weed Killer – graffiti – 2008 – Norway
Franck Réthoré – painting – 2007 – France
Kenyon Bajus – Execution – print – 2004 – USA
Krista Wortendyke – Iconic Recall – print – USA
Notes:
- The original photo received the Pulitzer Prize for ‘Spot News Photography’ in 1969 under the name ‘Saigon Execution’. Nowadays it is often captioned as ‘General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon’.
- For such an iconic photo and a well documented event, it is surprising that so many people cannot eloquently explain the context of this image, summarizing it to ‘a bad guy killing a good guy’. Please take a moment to learn more about the incident by clicking here and here.
- If you are aware of additional artworks derived from the original photo, please send details and links by leaving a comment or sending an email.
- If you enjoyed this post, please make sure you check back in a month or so, as additional artworks will be added.
The following was added after this post was first published.
minipliman – print – 2009 – Germany
Liu Jin – News – Wangfujing – photograph – 2001 – China
Olivier Blanckart – The Remix Saigon (After Eddie Adams) – sculpture – 1997 – France
Locust – Mural For Clarion Alley – mural – 2011 – USA
Yasumasa Morimura – A Requiem: Vietnam War, 1968-1991 – photograph – 1991 – Japan
Manit Sriwanichpoom – This Bloodless War No. 2 – photograph – 1997 – Thailand
Kevin Hagedorn and Amro Jayousi – Obama’s War is a Crime – performance art – 2010 – USA
Vik Muniz – Memory Rendering of Saigon Execution – photograph – 1990 – USA
Mark Young – Dave Stewart’s Vietnam Execution Tribute – photograph – USA
Johnny de Brest – Vladracul – photograph – 1995 – Germany
Carlos Latuff – The Coca-Cola Series – photograph – 2003 – Brazil
Dinh Q. Lê – Untitled (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) from ‘From Vietnam to Hollywood’ – tapestry – 2003 – USA
Karen Ostrom – The Execution from The Gun Series – photograph – 2005 – USA
Pavel Maria Smejkal – from the Fatescapes series – print – 2009 – Slovakia
Sanna Dullaway – Past in Colour – print – 2011 – Sweden
The following work precedes Adams’ photo:
Esther Bubley – Small Boys Watching the Woodrow Wilson High School Cadets – photograph – 1943 – USA
26 June 2009 at 9:55 am Permalink
I had the pleasure of listening to Eddie Adams speak in Chicago once. He presented the entire series of photos, leading up to and following this execution. What the MSM did NOT tell was that the man being executed was a VC Lieutenant who had just murdered a Saigon police officer. Considering the politics of the time, the execution was not inappropriate. But the MSM went after the policeman with a vengeance, attempting to impose THEIR version of morality on the situation, and ignoring the horrendous crime the person being executed had committed. Worse, the MSM followed the Saigon police officer when he arrived in America after the war, and made it virtually impossible for him to find work – or peace! When you learn the FULL story behind this one picture, it changes the perception of who is the criminal and who is the victim. It also shows just how vindictive and vengeful the MSM can be.
20 August 2009 at 11:15 am Permalink
In response to the over-publicized ‘squirrel’ incident:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36712951@N06/3838471431/
25 November 2009 at 7:00 am Permalink
Funny how detached your comments are, I was born during this period, not too far from this event, in this country and lost my entire family to this war. Try empathizing with the subjects of the “art” you so much love criticing. I do agree however with DaveD’s opinion on the circumstances behind this photo.
28 December 2009 at 10:28 pm Permalink
Eddie’s image has become a meme… retaining remarkable viral power.
http://www.robertlpeters.com/news/?p=3375
Warm greetings from Canada…
Rob
19 April 2010 at 2:19 am Permalink
thanks a lit for the pictures !
28 April 2010 at 10:43 pm Permalink
not funny AT ALL – he died -
02 May 2010 at 5:36 pm Permalink
Killing is always ugly. People who live nice little quiet lives will never understand warfare and the essence of the politics of violence. The rounding up of policemen, politicians and teachers and mass graves discovered in the days following TET outside of Hue, Saigon and across the areas breifly occupied by the V.C. and NVA units tell us all we need to know about why this summary execution took place. The critics are the same idiots the say things like “why didn’t the cops at Ft Hood shoot him in the leg” and had the passengers of a WTC jet killed a hijacker would have screamed about the hijackers rights.These people put us all in danger
12 March 2011 at 4:47 am Permalink
This Site and Art here is disgusting.. no value for the soul that was murdered and pathetic portrayal of such a sad event.. i hope Karma kicked all your asses.. if not it will..
23 September 2011 at 8:16 am Permalink
Yesterday I googled “Saigon” to brush up on my knowledge of the place before meeting up with an old friend who had just traveled there. Eddie Adams’s image came up and, recognizing it, I started reading more about it. I soon found myself on your blog and this page of renditions. A couple hours later I was walking down Clarion Alley in San Francisco showing my friend this street of murals and, lo and behold, came across a painting of that iconic image. Thought it was too coincidental not to follow your instructions to send you any renditions us readers find out here. So here you are! All the best, Meghan in San Francisco
25 September 2011 at 10:05 am Permalink
thanks v much for the link and this compilation – fascinating