Pulitzer Prize Winning German Photographer Horst Fass Dies

Horst Fass, a German war photographer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 79.

The Berlin-born Fass became famous for his Vietnam War photos. He died in Munich after a long hopital stay with a severe infection acquired during a correspondents' reunion in Hanoi in 2005, Fass's long-time employer, the Associated Press news agency, said.

Fass was a photojournalist in Vietnam from 1962 until 1974 and served as AP's photo chief in Saigon. He received numerous awards for his work. He won his first Pulitzer in 1965 for his Vietnam photos. His second came in 1972, together with Michel Laurent, for pictures from Bangladesh.

"Horst was one of the biggest talents of our time," AP's editor in chief Kathleen Carroll said. He was "a fearless photographer and a courageous journalist."

Fass Behind World Famous Napalm Attack Photo

Fass was responsible for the publishing in June of 1972 of the famous photo of the severely burned, nine-year-old Kim Phuc fleeing a US napalm bomb attack. The shot was taken by his AP colleague Nick Ut.

Some AP photographers had reservations about making the photo public, since it showed the severely injured Phuc running naked after she tore off her burning clothes from her body. The picture went around the world and earned Ut a Pulitzer.

"Horst Fass was a giant in the world of photo journalism. His exceptional dedication to tell difficult stories was remarkable and unique," AP Vice President Santiago Lyon said.

Following the Vietnam War, Fass made a name for himself at numerous photography symposiums as a lecturer and teacher. The German Photography Society honored his work with a 2005 exhibition "Visible War" that was presented in Frankfurt and in Nuremberg.

Fass was severely injured in Vietnam in 1967. The infection he contracted in Hanoi in 2005 that would eventually result in his death made him paralyzed from the hip down. At the end of 2008, his condition worsened and he had been hospitalized since February.