An Unlikely Weapon (2009)

In 1968, in 1/500th of a second Eddie Adams photographed a Saigon Police Chief, General Nygoc Loan, shooting a Vietcong guerilla point blank. Some say that photograph ended the Vietnam War. The photo brought Eddie fame and a Pulitzer, but Eddie was haunted by the man he had vilified. He would say, “two lives were destroyed that day, the victims and the General.” Others would say that three lives were destroyed. Eddie Adams, like most artists, was tortured by his need for perfection. Nothing he did ever satisfied him. He carved out many careers shooting covers for Life, Time and even Penthouse. Yet, somehow, he was always pulled back into documenting war, 13 all together. Finally he hit the wall and couldn’t take it anymore. He began shooting celebrities because it “it doesn’t take anything from you.” Eddie was comfortable with kings and coal miners. Still haunted by General Loan, Eddie visits him 40 years later in a pizza shop in Virginia. Scribbled on the wall of a bathroom stall are the words “we know who you are, you fucker!” Eddie’s camera was his most powerful weapon, but it failed to protect him from himself.