PAGE DISPATCHED
Renowned Vietnam War photographer Tim Page has died aged 78, more than 50 years past the expiration date his own coworkers predicted. Born in England, his thirst for adventure rivaled Teddy Roosevelt and he left his household aged 17. His skill behind the camera was soon noticed, and in the mid-60s he snapped a series of photos of an attempted coup in Laos for UPI. He promptly moved on to Nam, where his output captured soldiers, helicopters, and civilians and gained acclaim for its raw and perilous perspective. These photos helped turn public opinion in America against the war and underlined his belief that any good war photo was an anti-war photo. In between that, he covered the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and was arrested alongside Jim Morrison during a concert brawl.
Key to Page’s success was his fiery and unbridled personality, always willing to chase the truth no matter how it imperiled his life. Barely surviving a motorcycle accident in 1960 shaped this no-fucks-given attitude. Page was injured four times in Vietnam, mostly from shrapnel wounds and one incident where US Air Force pilots mistook his boat for a Viet Cong ship. His final injury was his closest brush with death – a soldier stepped on a landmine and shrapnel flew into Page’s head. He was pronounced dead at a military hospital, transferred to a better hospital where his condition was upgraded to alive, and spent a year recovering. After that, he led a quiet life largely spent doing crossword puzzles.
Hah, no, Page was back at the camera for counterculture events and largely worked for music magazines, where he collaborated with Hunter S. Thompson. He gave so few shits that he wanted to return to Vietnam for a Rolling Stone assignment, which Thompson forbade because he deemed Page too crazy. He also built ties to the anti-Vietnam movement, befriended Ron Kovic, and pushed Daniel Ellsberg to release the Pentagon Papers. After the war, Page returned to Vietnam intermittently, often photographing victims of Agent Orange. His larger-than-life personality helped inspire Dennis Hopper’s crazed photographer in Apocalypse Now.
Page surviving to old age was a miracle and a half, but other colleagues weren’t as lucky. Paul Flynn (Errol’s son!), who Page befriended during his Vietnam mission, was captured by Cambodian militants in 1970 and never heard from again. Page was haunted by the loss and paid frequent trips to Cambodia in subsequent decades in hopes of finding Flynn’s remains. His book Requiem pays tribute to Flynn and the other journalists who died in Indochinese wars. If it was his reckless streak that allowed Tim Page to get the photo opportunities he did, his humanity and cognizance of the horrors of war was just as integral to his success.
A brush with liver cancer in recent months saw him on many a shortlist, but he instead has to settle for being a unique hit for Nam theme Lt. Colonel Kilgore’s Ultimate Surf Party.
Tim Page
25 May 1944 – 24 August 2022, aged 78
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