Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Exercise #3: Iconic Photos (Photojournalism)

Begin in class Week 5, complete for homework and present Week 6

An iconic photograph is a photograph that becomes well-known and recognized in popular culture, so much so that it comes to stand in for the event that it captures.  For instance, Joe Rosenthal's Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima came to stand in for American victory in WWII:
















The image became, among other things, a way to sell war bonds, a postage stamp, and a bronze memorial in Washington, DC.  It also inspired this photo by Thomas Franklin of firemen at Ground Zero, which also became an iconic image of 9/11:


 Choose one of the iconic photographs below to research (or find your own):

– Kevin Carter - Vulture Stalking a Child
-- Richard Drew – The Falling Man
-- Huynh Cong Ut – Napalm Strike
-- Dorothea Lange - Migrant Mother
--John Filo - Kent State Massacre 
-- Mike Wells - Famine in Karamoja
-- Lewis Hine - Breaker Boys
-- Photographer Unknown - 1968 Olympics Black Power salute
-- Edmund Hillary - Tenzing on Summit
-- Françoise Demulder - Palestinian Woman Pleads with Soldier
-- Alfred Eisenstaedt - V-J Day
-- Eddie Adams - Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla
-- Malcolm Browne - Burning Monk
-- Stuart Franklin -- Tank Man of Tiananmen Square
-- Photographer Unknown -- Hooded Man in Abu Ghraib

After conducting some research, post the photo, along with the photographer's name (if known), and answer the following questions:

What year was it taken?

What event was it depicting?

How did people react to its publication?

How does the photographer feel about capturing the image/ sharing it with the public?

Why do you think this image has become iconic?

List the URLs of your sources at the end of your post.

2 comments:

  1. The girl with green eyes is a iconic photo for middle eastern people nation geographic new her as the “Afghan girl, Her real name took 17 years to find out it is Alam Bibi
    The photgrapher (Steve McCurry) was at a refuge camp in pakastain and he was taken peoples photos and he came to her and asked, he took it. He had no idea what a emotional photo he took till he got back.

    after the fallow up on of the kids translated what the grandfather said the photo was.
    “Grandpa says her picture had been an inspiration to many Afghani’s that came to America and he was touched that you (me) knew about this girl.”
    FAllow up Photo 20 years later http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s.ngm.com/afghan-girl/images/afghan-girl.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/afghangirl/&h=435&w=615&sz=207&tbnid=TLLgZ66srAuvcM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=116&zoom=1&usg=__AFEOm6IcxDeRXKvu-HEzrfALaZE=&docid=puM3XcEQzQ2coM&sa=X&ei=nEQjUOelKImQiQKzy4H4DA&ved=0CGAQ9QEwAQ&dur=368

    ReplyDelete