Hailing from a humble background in England and Australia, at the age of 17, Tim Page had to leave home and travel to the Middle East, India, and Nepal to make a living. Carrying a Nikon 3×4 camera on his shoulder, he arrived in Laos to work for the American news agency UPI, capturing the events of the coup in Laos in 1965 before moving on to Vietnam to work as a war correspondent.
He was a renowned freelance photojournalist known for his work in Vietnam and Indochina, selling many photos to leading news agencies and publications such as UPI, AP, Time and Life magazines from the United States, and the French magazine Paris Match. He passed away on August 24, 2022 in Bellingen, Australia, at the age of 78.
In 2015, Tim Page made a return to Vietnam. Photo credit: Chu Chi Thanh.
Tim Page suffered injuries while aboard the American pleasure yacht Point Welcome when he was mistakenly fired upon by a U.S. aircraft off the coast of South Vietnam in December 1966.
Vietnam has become a sacred land for Tim Page, a photographer who was wounded four times by bombs and narrowly escaped death during the 5 years of war. He captured thousands of fiery images and authored nearly a dozen famous books on war and peace in Vietnam, the most notable being “Requiem” which he co-authored with Horst Faas. Together, they established the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation to provide photography classes for young people in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Following the war, Tim Page frequently visits Vietnam for work and is considered a respected figure by the Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnam Photography Artists Association, and the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. Although Tim Page has an extensive photography career, one noteworthy project is the collaboration with Horst Faas to compile images of fallen colleagues in a book of remembrance.
During the introduction of the book and exhibition “Requiem” at the Van Ho Exhibition House in Hanoi in 2000, Tim Page stated:
“We are anti-war photographers. The images in this book and exhibition about the Vietnam War and Indochina were captured by journalists on both sides of the conflict. They were friends and colleagues of Horst Faas and I, who fell on the battlefield…”
In 1965, a US medical helicopter emerged from the pink smoke to evacuate the wounded soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, who were ambushed in the Viet Cong stronghold known as the Iron Triangle in Combat Zone C.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted a helicopter evacuation from Combat Zone D in Vietnam in 1966.
During that day, Tim Page was dressed in a military-style khaki suit, with a scarf around his neck resembling those worn by farmers in Southern Vietnam.
It seemed that he favored this scarf, as he brought it along on his trips to Vietnam year after year. I recognized him immediately by his tall stature, bright and expressive eyes, and the retro sunglasses perched on top of his head, securing his silver hair. Several years prior, when I was in charge of the Photography Editing Department at the Vietnam News Agency, he approached me, requesting to explore photos taken by TTXVN reporters who had sacrificed their lives.
He was guided to the Photography Department by Van Bao, a photographer, who was also the head of the Military Photography Department during the war and the former Deputy Head of the Photography Editing Department at TTXVN.
It turned out that Tim Page had worked with Le Phuc, the Secretary General, and Van Bao, the Deputy Secretary General of the NSNAVN Association, as well as Lam Tan Tai, Nguyen Dang, the Secretary General, and Deputy Secretary General of the Ho Chi Minh City Photography Association.
The staff of the TTXVN Photography Archives took Tim Page through various photo albums featuring images of fallen soldiers such as Tran Binh Kuol, Dinh Thuy, Ho Ca, Luong Nghia Dung, Trinh Dinh Hy, Vo Van Quy, Pham Vu Binh, and so on.
In 1968, American soldiers wounded in a bomb trap explosion in the southern outskirts of Da Nang were airlifted by helicopter for rescue operations.
During the Tet Offensive of 1968, a family fled from the conflict in Cholon district, Saigon, as part of the overall offensive.
Years after first meeting Tim Page, it is a source of pride to see images of our work featured in books and exhibitions published by our American colleagues.
Flipping through the pages, revisiting the vivid photos of our Vietnamese and international colleagues during the war, I am overwhelmed by the intensity and horror captured within. These images, documented by foreign journalists, showcase events we were not present for, leaving us in awe. Renowned photographer Lê Phức has deemed our collection, “Hồi Niệm,” as the most valuable visual record of the Vietnam War.
Invited to Kentucky, USA for the exhibition opening, the collection will later be displayed in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The opening in Hanoi was attended by the Kentucky mayor, the late photographer Larry Burrows’ son, and various American guests.
The organizers extended a special invitation to Mrs. Lương Thị Nhiễu, wife of the fallen soldier Lương Nghĩa Dũng.
Following the events, the collection will be permanently exhibited at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.
The area of Chợ Lớn in Saigon, after the artillery bombardment and fighting during the Tet Offensive of the Lunar New Year in 1968.
The credit for this achievement must be given to Horst Faas, former Chief of the Saigon Bureau of the American news agency AP, who spent many years in South Vietnam during the war.
He was a Pulitzer Prize winner and famously “saved” Nick Ut’s photograph “Napalm Girl” when an editor wanted to discard it. While editing the book “Requiem,” Faas came across a photo by Tran Binh Khuol and immediately recognized the scene of a night battle, only to fly out from Saigon to the military zone of Dam Doi, Ca Mau the following day to capture the aftermath of the battle.
Faas humbly remarked, “I did not travel as fast as my colleagues at the frontlines. I truly admire Tran Binh Khuoi’s work.”
The protest against the Vietnam War in New York City.
In 2015, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the South, the reunification of the country, Tim Page, a member of the international press corps who had reported on the Vietnam War, was invited by our country to participate in the commemorative ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City.
I had the opportunity to meet him. In Cu Chi, he recounted to his colleagues the times he was injured on the battlefield, pointing out the scars on his body.
Tim Page frowned, shuddering as he said, “War is cruel, death spares no one…” I quickly took note of this heartfelt moment. Little did I know, these were the last images I would capture of Tim Page in Vietnam. It was just seven years ago.
A soldier of the 173rd Airborne Brigade was assisted in Military Region D after being seriously wounded in combat in Vietnam in 1966.
Tim Page and Horst Faas have a deep connection with Vietnam through the war.
Even as peace has been restored, they remain steadfast in their remembrance of the brave friends and colleagues who fell on this distant land. With the passage of time, they find Vietnam to be increasingly familiar, intertwined, and sacred in their lives. The book and photo exhibition, “Hôi Niệm (Memories),” is a heartfelt tribute from Horst Faas and Tim Page to the righteous struggle of the Vietnamese people.
This hardcover book, with thick matte paper spanning 336 pages, measuring 23.5 x 30.5 cm, and weighing 2.2 kg, contains over 190 photographic works and 50 portraits of photographers.
The photography book “Requiem” by Tim Page captures memories from the past.
These authentic images provide journalists, politicians, the people of Vietnam, and global citizens with insight into the failures of the U.S. and Saigon military forces, shedding light on the reasons for Vietnam’s ultimate victory.
The book recounts notable “anti-insurgency” campaigns such as the atrocities committed by American and Saigon forces against civilians and guerrillas in the Mekong Delta, Binh Dinh, as well as the brutal suppression of communities in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and the Iron Triangle region.
It also captures instances of American defeat in Khe Sanh, the Central Highlands, Hue, Saigon, and Saigon’s loss in Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Thua Thien Hue. These blood-soaked images reveal the horror and tragedy of war, allowing those on “this side” to see the brutal reality of the conflict caused by the U.S. government.
Conversely, those on “the other side” see a different Vietnam – a resilient nation resisting foreign invasion. The book prompts readers to recognize that the “enemy” is defined by those holding the guns, while the duty of true photographers lies in depicting reality.
The brutal truth of war in the images evokes a profound emotional response from viewers, especially towards the works of photographers such as Luong Nghia Dung (North Vietnam), Tran Binh Kuol (National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam), Huynh Thanh My (South Vietnam working for AP News Agency, the older brother of Huynh Cong Ut – known as Nick Ut), Larry Burrows (UK), Henri Huet (France), Kyoichi Sawada, Taizo Ichinose (Japan), Sean Flynn, Stone (USA), Tea Kim Heang (Cambodia).
The collection of images from both sides forms a comprehensive and invaluable visual history of the Vietnam War in Indochina.
This book, written with the blood of photographers and the victims within the images, has left an indelible mark on the history of Vietnam and the world, embodying a yearning for peace, an oath against war, and quietly commemorating the photographers who let go of their cameras on the frontlines.
A portrait of a member of the 9th Engineer Battalion in Tan An, Vietnam, in the year 1968.
The gentleman has proposed the construction of a monument for photographers on the southern bank of the Ben Hai River in Quang Tri province to commemorate the fallen photographers on the Indochina battlefield.
Horst Faas and Tim Page believe that nowhere else have photojournalists sacrificed as much as in Vietnam, where the war was brutal and prolonged, and photographers participated so fervently, creating valuable images. Vietnamese and Indochinese photographers accounted for more than half of the casualties in this war.
In this era of war photography, where over 140 journalists, editors, and technicians died from bombs while on duty, it is an extraordinary event. Despite the incomplete number, Tim Page was deeply moved by the sacrifices made by his colleagues worldwide for Vietnam, prompting him to quietly gather their photos to give to the Vietnamese people.
This act of compassion towards the history of a small, brave nation is admirable. Horst Faas, his companion, has passed away, along with Lâm Tấn Tài, Văn Bảo, Nguyễn Đặng, and Lê Phúc, who held deep respect for him. Now, Tim Page bids farewell, but “Memories” remain. Every time one opens the book, it feels like Horst Faas and Tim Page are engaging in a dialogue.
Tim Page remains close to us, his heart still beating loudly on each photograph page. This is the wonder of a talented individual, a larger-than-life personality embodied in photography.
My blog is pleased to introduce a few more photos taken by Tim Page.
A Vietnamese child stands in a muddy puddle on a barren war-torn land in Tay Ninh, Vietnam, in 1985.
South Vietnamese forces, supported by helicopters, are moving across a long grassy field in an attack on Plains des Joncs, Vietnam, in 1965.
A South Korean mercenary soldier stands next to a Vietnamese family in northern Bong Sen, Vietnam, in 1966.
A CBS film crew interviews American troops on Tây Ninh Street, Vietnam, in 1967.
A US helicopter takes off from an empty field near the Du Co SF camp in Vietnam in 1965. Injured soldiers bow down in the dust as the helicopter departs. The military convoy en route to relieve the camp is ambushed.
A crowd of American soldiers serving in the US-backed government of Nguyen Cao Ky attend Bob Hope’s Christmas tour show in Vietnam in 1968.
Buddhist followers participate in a parade during the 10th-anniversary commemoration of the Liberation of the South on April 30, 1985.
