Eddie Adams

 Born June 12 th, 1933  Started photography in high school  Combat photography for 40 years  Died September 18 th, 2004 of a neurological disease  Has earned more than 500 awards for his work

“ Boat of No Smiles, Vietnamese Refugees, Gulf of Siam, Thanksgiving Day, 1977.” The Boat of No Smiles refers to a boat of Vietnamese refuges fleeing the warzone. It is called this because one might expect young children to smile whilst on a boat ride, but under these circumstances, there were no smiles. Immediately, the eye is drawn towards the woman in the center of the shot and the look of exhaustion, suffering and loss in her face. After that, the eye travels down to the small child in her lap. It is unclear in this image whether or not the child is alive or not. In the left corner of the shot, is another child who looks equally pained- for his age, he has seen too much.

Kek Galabru, Cambodia 1999 Kek Galabru, the woman photographed, was born in Cambodia, but traveled to France to become a doctor. She worked in the field for a while, but then became an active member in the peace movement during the Cambodian Civil War. She played a key role negotiating relations between Hun Sen, president of the Cambodian Council of Ministers, and Prince Sihanouk of the opposition. To the left, she is photographed in front of a wall of skulls. The eye is mostly drawn to the skulls overlapping one another in such a hassled manner, but then you see the shocking comparison of a human skull next to a live person.

Marine Crossfire, Vietnam 1965 The image to the right is called Marine Crossfire, Vietnam Not much is known about the specific people within the image, but their story is told pretty clearly within the image. The first thing that the eye sees is the woman in the foreground clutching an infant in her arms as she flees. You can see she is either screaming or crying- perhaps both. Behind her, is a man guarding underneath him another child who looks into the lens pleadingly. Behind them, are two soldiers ( their uniforms suggest American) paying little attention to the people in the foreground as they storm past with guns in hand.

The images above are perhaps Adams’ most famous shots. They tell the story of Nguyen Van Lem ( the man in plaid), an assassin who was shot by Vietnamese officer Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The three images show him being escorted to the shooting, the actual moment when the bullet was passing through his head, and when he crumpled to the ground dead while the officer holstered his gun. The first two images place the victim in the center foreground, making him the first thing that the looker sees. You instantly see a young man who looks barely 20 being handcuffed, and eventually shot, which instantly sparked outrage among Americans starting the pacifist movement. The last image places the shooter in the near center, which shows the transition and change of events. However, what the images don’t teach is the complicated backstory of the victim who was not so innocent himself. It is said that pictures tell a thousand words, but there are so many words that are left unsaid in many photos, especially this one.

Adams was not restricted only to war shots; he was also responsible for the shooting of countless celebrities and important figures. Stars such as Bill Cosby, Clint Eastwood, Ronald Reagan, Bette Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He created what have been normal headshots or portraits and added a pop of color and brightness, such as the pictures below of Cosby and Schwarzenegger. It adds interest and variety to the images, which may have ordinarily been decent pictures, but not very appealing or thought provoking. Bill Cosby, NYC, 2003 flower Arnold Schwarzenegger, Los Angeles, 2003 Ray Charles, 2002

Source: gallery.com/photogr aphers/display/id/66