Associated Press Wire Photograph – Refugees Fleeing South from Huế with Water Buffalo, Vietnam – March 1975

Description

An original Associated Press wire photograph dating from March 1975, documenting civilian flight during the final collapse of South Vietnam.

The image shows peasant boys herding water buffalo along a crowded road near the Hải Vân Pass as refugees on foot and in vehicles flee southward from the northern city of Huế. The printed Associated Press caption records that the road was heavily crowded with refugees escaping the fighting, placing the photograph within the immense civilian movement that followed the North Vietnamese advance in March 1975.

The photograph is especially effective as a documentary image of displacement. Rather than showing formal combat, it records the practical realities of evacuation: people travelling with livestock, possessions and improvised transport as established routes became overwhelmed. The presence of the water buffalo gives the image strong rural and social-history interest, while the road setting connects it directly to the wider refugee crisis preceding the fall of Saigon.

An authentic Associated Press wire photograph from the photographic archive of the Shields Gazette, with period archive markings to the reverse.

Condition

Very good condition. Minor edge wear and creasing consistent with newspaper archive handling. Archive stamp and date markings present to the reverse.

Agency: Associated Press
Date: March 1975
Size: 18.4 x 27.9 cm
Medium: Original wire photograph
Photographer: Not named
Provenance: Shields Gazette photographic archive
Subject: Vietnam War, Huế, Hải Vân Pass, refugees, civilian evacuation, water buffalo, South Vietnam

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