The Life of Eddie Thomas Adams

When Eddie Thomas Adams was still in high school, he began to take photos of weddings and other ceremonies.

Adams was a war correspondent in the Korean War when he served in the Navy. After that, he returned to New Kensington and worked in a local newspaper and the Philadelphia Evening News. From 65438 to 0962, Adams began to work for the Associated Press and went to Vietnam to shoot many times. Adams reached the peak of his career at the moment when he filmed "Shooting * * *" in February 1968.

During his career as a photographer, Adams participated in 13 wars from the Korean War to the Gulf War. He worked for Time magazine from 1972 to 1976. From 1976 to 1980, he returned to the Associated Press and became a special correspondent.

Eddie adams is also a man of many talents. His career covers many fields such as news, editing, fashion, entertainment and advertising photography. Adams' photographic works are usually published on the front page or cover of world-famous media, such as Time Magazine, Newsweek, Life, Fashion, Vanity Fair and so on. He is also a freelance writer for Time, Life and Borui magazines. Eddie adams may not tell you that he is the photographer who has published the most works and won the most awards in our time. Adams won more than 500 awards at home and abroad, including the Pulitzer Prize of 1969. However, he may tell you that he and bette davis were drunk and didn't shoot anything.

Eddie adams is a master of narrative. Every photo of him tells a story. Photography is his favorite thing in his life. When eddie adams was a child, he used the money saved from selling newspapers to buy a camera and a projector. He rented a copy of a movie for his partner at a price of $5 each time, so he earned $65,438+00 every day. /kloc-At the age of 0/4, eddie adams began to make a living by taking wedding photos for people, charging $5 each time. When he was in high school, he began to work for a local newspaper every night.

In the next few days, eddie adams was hired by the Associated Press and sent to Haiti. He filmed the riots there, and photos began to appear on the front pages of some media. "No one believes that I can come back alive." He recalled. Eddie adams's photographic works are never exhibited in museums. His works are familiar to readers all over the world because they often appear on the covers of various newspapers and magazines. "Some photos look more relaxed and interesting," he said. "others are serious because they are from the heart. A photographic work can change the world. It is through the photographer's lens that we remember the people and things in history. "

Eddie adams is a man with a complicated personality. He always works tirelessly, full of inspiration and enthusiasm. He doesn't want to talk about his most famous works, but prefers to talk about the consequences of those photos, which prompted President Carter to make the final decision to send thousands of Vietnamese refugees to the United States.

"This is the best thing I have ever done in my life," Adams said. "My heart was torn by some photos I took," Adams said quietly. "I took pictures everywhere and saw all kinds of things. I found that I often felt that I was caught by the camera, such as some injured people I photographed, and I found myself being photographed. I can really feel that I have become the injured person. I know many excellent photographers like the objects in their works, really. But I'm tired of crying. " Tired of what he saw and heard on the battlefield, eddie adams returned to new york and his children.

"I turned to shoot celebrities. They won't let my soul suffer and give me more money. " Celebrities he photographed include the Clintons, the Pope and so on.

Eddie adams never hides his thoughts. "Many Americans," he said, "have never been to a place of suffering and don't understand it." Life is a challenge for Adams, which he is determined to conquer. Adams set up eddie adams's studio on 1988, which was called "touring country performances". Since then, this exhibition has been held at Adams' farm from June 5th to 10 every year. During the four-day activities every year, Adams, together with many senior American photographers, gives photography guidance to young photographers. Students will look for news figures and stories that are closely related to their lives nearby-from the cowboy performance to the opening of the flower shop, nothing will escape their lens. Adams, an anti-traditional instructor, often wears jeans to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition, standing in a chair and honking his horn to announce the opening. This "ceremony" that satirizes traditional authority often makes freshmen dumbfounded, and the dazzling flash under the stage will never miss this moment.

Eddie adams's ultimate goal is to write a book. "This will be a novel, but it is not fiction. I want to dedicate it to someone I don't like. I haven't named it yet. " Adams was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in May 2004, but he insisted on photography until two months before his death. The photo "Shooting at * * *" does not show pre-war preparations or post-war trauma, but directly conveys naked violence and makes people experience the horror of war. NBC also filmed this scene. Together with this picture of Adams, the report influenced the American election that year. It supported eugene mccarthy's anti-war program, and two months later, President Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election.

Adams is taking pictures of the captured prisoners of war. When the South Vietnamese officer approached, he didn't realize what was going to happen.

His camera and the gun in the officer's hand were raised at the same time. At the moment when the bullet passed through the prisoner's head, the photo was fixed in this eternal moment. The pistol was aimed at the head at close range, and the expression of the prisoner of war was full of fear of death. The violent momentum conveyed by the fatal shot seemed to penetrate the plane world of the photo, which the viewer could not forget for a long time. Officer Lou shot and said, "They killed many Americans and our people."

This sudden execution picture conveys far more than the incident itself. Leslie caron, an expert in American military history, said: "Regardless of whether the execution was justified or not, the photo conveyed to all the audience the impression that the execution was only for the execution itself. People will ask themselves,' will we support others to do such a thing?' "

For Adams himself, the photo left an insurmountable height. For this photo, Adams has been trying to atone for the wounds of the Vietnam War, and has also been criticized by his peers. At an award ceremony, a Dutch reporter once asked him, "Why didn't you stop him from killing that man?" Adams couldn't face this photo for the next two years.

Shortly after winning the Pulitzer Prize, Adams said, "I benefited from showing one person killing another. Two people were destroyed, but I won the prize and became a hero. "

At that time, Adams followed the gunman in the photo-South Vietnamese police captain Lou for two weeks in Saigon. Lou later immigrated to the United States and opened a snack bar in the northeast. However, people only visit Lou's shop to "watch him" and see the executioner. Every time I think that this photo has changed Lou's life, Adams feels guilty. "I hate that my photos affect the subject." Adams even wanted to return the award he won at one time to ease his inner remorse.