Jenny Tran- Iconic Photos

JENNY TRAN

PHRENE HOEKSEMA

PHO 238

February 12, 2018

Research Project #1

Journalist Malcolm Browne took this iconic photo of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in Saigon in 1963. The monk committed suicide to protest what he called government persecution of Buddhists. Browne, who worked for the AP and later The New York Times, died Monday at age 81.

This photo of a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burn himself in Saigon was taken by the photographer Malcolm Browne in in June, 1963. Malcolm Browne was American photographer and journalist. In 1963, Browne won the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo of the Year by the image of self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc.  Browne had been in Vietnam for couple years and he realized things turned pretty ugly in the central Vietnam. Around that time, the South Vietnamese government Ngo Dinh Diem held a public ceremony proclaiming the new policies of banning Buddhism and dedicating Vietnam to Catholic church. His policies disappointed and angered a lot of Buddhist monks and Vietnamese people. Browne was really interested in Buddhist issues so he came to be friendly with a lot of monks and learned more about the problems with them. Around the springtime of 1963, Browne noticed there was something off between the monks. They began to hint that there would be something big happen. Finally, that horrific morning had come. All the monks and the nuns started to walk toward the central of Saigon. When they reached there, the older monk, Thich Quang Duc, sat at the center of the intersection of two main streets in Saigon. The other monks quickly formed a circle around him. The two young monks poured the gasoline all over Thich Quang Duc and then they started to lighten the matchbook and dropped it into his lap. Malcolm Browne was right there and quickly took his camera and capture this horrific scene. The photo became an iconic image because it captured the significant protest to Buddhist monks against the discrimination laws of the South Vietnam Government. Everyone that witnessed this event would not able to forget this terrified scene. Browne said that he could not believe in his eyes. He did not even exactly when the monk died because the monk sitting calmly and never yelled out of pain.

A one-year-old victim of the Oklahoma City bombing is cradled by a local fireman.

(Charles H. Porter IV)

This iconic photo was taken by the photographer Charles Porter in April 19, 1995. Before, Porter was an aspiring journalist at the time and he was working as a credit officer at Liberty Bank in Oklahoma City. Then he became a freelance photographer. Charles Porter won Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of a firefighter holding a dying infant which became a symbol of Oklahoma City bombing. He also credited 1982 winner John White of Chicago.

In April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh blew up about 4,800 pounds of fertilizer and fuel oil and it destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal government building and killed 168 people. It was a huge explosion. While rescuing the victims, the firefighter Chris Fields shouted when he found out there was a 1-year old infant in the building, “I have a critical infant! I have a critical infant!" He held the wounded baby into his arms and checked the baby’s signs of life but unfortunately the infant was dead. At that time, Charles Porter was standing about three feet apart and he was raising his camera to capture the moment. The photo was considered an iconic image because it captured one of the most dramatic tragedies in America which remarked the largest act of domestic terrorism. It was the heartbreaking scene of a firefighter holding a dying infant in 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.

In this April 22, 2000, photo by AP photojournalist Alan Diaz, Elian Gonzalez is held in a closet by Donato Dalrymple, right, as government officials search for the boy in his relative's home in Miami.

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

This iconic image was taken by AP photojournalist Alan Diaz in April 22, 2000. Alan Diaz was born in New York in 1947. He began his photography career in 1978 and later on he joined the Associated Press as a freelance photographer and became a staff photographer there. Alan Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his breaking photograph of an armed U.S. immigration agent pulled the gunpoint at a terrified boy, Elian Gonzalez. In November 1999, a 5-year old Elian Gonzalez with his mothers attempted to escape from the communist Cuba by fleeing across the Florida Strait. However, their boat sank but Elian was rescued by a fisherman. Then, he was taken to live with his relatives in Little Havana, Miami. Elian’s father and the Cuban leader Fidel Castro wanted him back in Cuba so in April 1999, Clinton administration demanded that Elian be turned over. However, Miami's anti-communist Cuban-American leaders refused. In the April 2000, the United States Border Patrol’s team was breaking into the house and confronting Elian to take him back in Cuba. Then, there were a lot of protests to try to stop the federal agents. They ripped and burnt the American flag. The photo was considered as an iconic image because by the Elian Gonzalez drama, people paid more attention to Cuban-American voices. We can understand more about the Cuban exiles’ struggles and the heated relationship between the U.S. government and the Cuban leader Fidel Castro.