Viet Cong Captain

A Lego recreation of Eddie Adams famous Vietnam war photograph from 1968. Original here ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nguyen.jpg

The original is somewhat more distressing than the Lego version. It's the smiley faces that do it.

Lego firearm from www.brickarms.com

Setup shot here .. www.flickr.com/photos/8258165@N07/2120067891/

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Comments

MFinChina says:

You know, that incident was also filmed as it happened! You can see the footage in the documentary The Weather Underground. I never knew it existed before.

(Too bad there aren't little Lego spurting brains for your photo! :) )
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

DieterThePhotographer says:

LOL! Stick it mate :-)
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

eribe says:

me encantan esos juguetitos.
nice
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

rmcarrier1 says:

Yeah, I've seen the footage. Gnarly stuff, that's for sure.
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

spiky247 says:

do you have lego figures with frowns? the happy faces just don't look right some how.... but still big fan of your series!
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Dunechaser says:

Belatedly seeing this, but definitely worth leaving a comment.

Mike, I think what makes your LEGO versions of these classic photos so great is that you mostly stick to the classic smiley face. The juxtaposition of that retro, childhood favorite with the intensity of the subject matter here is actually rather moving.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

ChurchHatesTucker says:

"It's the smiley faces that do it."

Indeed. I'm not sure if seeing smiley faces in inappropriate situations is more or less weird that seeing frowns on Lego figures. I'm thinking it's a push.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

fabienbarral says:

i like the other ones but not this one at all, due to the smiley face and on the original the guy is dead... this does not work...
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

michaeljameslewis says:

wow. that's great.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Zenith Phuong says:

teh guy looks very vietnamese... ;p
--
Seen in your Classics in Lego set. (?)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

friskypics says:

this one's quite surreal and disturbing.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

modulor says:

...yes indeed, the smiley faces are disturbing, yet the whole set is a great piece of work.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Matt Delbridge says:

really eiry!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

pass_lake says:

brilliant
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

sponge888 says:

The original is burned into my memory so well that the smiles on the faces of the legos are over the top creepy for me. Well done.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

PieVendor says:

I will agree with some of the others and say that I would've done the face a bit differently.

But that's just how I'd do it. It works fine this way, too.

Massive lols that you decided to do this picture. Now try something by Joel-Peter Witkin. :P
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Mark Crowley says:

I think the smiley faces make it more creepy! Nice work.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

nhu.t says:

the shooter was the chief of police of South Vietnam and the guy being shot killed the shooter's whole family (he was a Viet Cong)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Lucas Verheij says:

I like the smile on his face :)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jbc16 says:

I agree with some of the others - the smiles make it all happy at first glance...if you know the original though it makes it really, really creepy.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

phil1983 says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Ultimate Tribute Photography, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Jerry Law says:

i wish i could fav this pic for 100000000 times...
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

jgreader@verizon.net says:

You should have used the little lego revolver instead of an automatic
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Tiago S Costa says:

This is genius! :)
Great, great work. Emotive and keeping a sense of humour.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Jeff Ramos says:

the smiles on this make it kind of fucked up! great set though!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Anitza V says:

The smiley faces are so disturbing. I wouldn't say that I don't like it, it just makes it so creepy. The original itself is so disturbing, you managed to make it even more so, in a weird way.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

fuzzirella says:

I love the smiles!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

iggytheobscure says:

it's like he knows its a lego gun, but hasn't let on yet
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Dyna Moe says:

The hair is spot-on
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

creat3 says:

I actually prefer with the smiley face... it makes the whole experience more disturbing.

Really.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Kip W says:

nhu.t - He could have killed a whole family, but I thought it was the chief's brother, and that it wasn't 100% certain he'd done it. Nonetheless, he was one of the ones who had just been there, and the chief had just gotten the news. The picture is usually presented without any context at all, and knowing the circumstances make it a little bit different.

War's kind of crazy, eh?
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

awellthoughtoutname says:

i would take the guys hands off so it looks more like his hands are tied behind his back
Posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )

Tommy...is back from Svalbard says:

these lego buddies keep smiling all the time;)

Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

StevenMphoto says:

noice minus the smiles on the lego guys' faces
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

Adam ☆ Rowney says:

Hes smiling, what a happy occasion.
Didn't lego do sad faces too, im sure they did.
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

Michael Slade says:

I knew Eddie, and I think that he would have liked this.

Bravo for the entire body of work. I will be ordering a print...now to decide which one!
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

André Tuffy says:

You are genius man !!!!!
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

malkoviched says:

Very disturbing. I'm surprised that some people have commented "LOL".

Is there any particular reason why you chose Eddie Adams' photo? It doesn't seem to fit along the other, more satirical recreations.
Overall though, a clever and provocative series.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

melodyzz says:

whoaa ya it's the smiley faces that throw people off XDD
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

imFonk says:

Dang, I hate this fucking smiling face, and also fucking comments of YeNam retarded bastards on this
war is over, people are still hating

Danm, I confess, I love these smiling faces, they know it is a game and they cant kill or be killed.
Yeah, I am another VN retarded bastard [sigh]
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

Aidan. says:

This is so cool.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

polywen says:

You've been swiped by Flickr user everaldomatias:

Courtesy of Brick~Busters!
www.flickr.com/photos/artpoly/4092091729/
Posted 3 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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Taken with a Nikon D200.
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Taken on December 18, 2007
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