Pictures of the Week: June 2-8

Paris Hilton is in tears as she is driven from her home back to court by the L.A. County Sheriff's department June 8. She later was returned to jail.

I know ... I'm as sick of hearing about Paris Hilton as you are. But there's an interesting story to be told here. The rollercoster series of Paris events that transpired this week took on an O.J. Simpson-esque quality, don't you think? Since coverage of Paris consumed so much of the media's attention this week, she deserved a spot in our Pictures of the Week photo gallery. 

The photograph certainly has all the elements necessary for a picture of the week. A key event from this week, the image contains emotion and provides a sense of the media frenzy, which was as much a part of this story as Paris was.  

The byline on this photograph is particularly interesting. Nick Ut of the Associated Press is the photographer who captured this image of Paris Hilton. Ut has had a long career in photojournalism. Most readers of this blog likely will remember a photo he is most known for from his coverage of the Vietnam War. It's still a tough photo to look at. And it was shot exactly 35 years ago to this day: June 8, 1972.

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South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places on June 8, 1972. A SouthVietnamese plane accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. The terrified girl had ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing.

 

The photograph by Nick Ut was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

 

An interesting story, indeed. Please take some time to check out all the Pictures of the Week, and don't forget to vote for the photo you think is the best of the bunch.

 

- Lee Van Grack