The iconic World War Two image
brings several ideas to mind. Firstly, the content of the image is a classic scene
of victory. The act of soldiers planting the American flag on foreign soil is a
tale of triumph that the photographer set out to capture. The stars and stripes
waving freely in the wind stirs the patriot in all of us.
The angle of this photo is crucial.
It gives the location as a high place by showing the hills lower in the
distance. Even more importantly it takes the other elements out of the picture.
By filling a majority of the scene with a clouded, smoky sky, it brings the
focus downward and makes the centered flag ‘pop.’ Yet the angle still allows
the bottom of the photograph to display both rugged terrain and wreckage to insinuate
the previous uphill battle. It also gives the photo a floor as a point of
reference.
Given the age of the photograph,
there wasn’t much option to take a color photograph. The photographer also used
a vantage point that put the men in front of a primarily light colored
background, again forcing them to stand out. The immensity of the differences
in shades makes them almost silhouette-like at first glance. Their faces are
not shown as if their individual identities didn’t matter. They were soldiers.
The picture can only be assumed to
have been taken in the act of raising the flag based on the man to the far
left. His hands are outstretched toward the flagpole, but not touching. Rather than
assume his aid came through telekinesis, it’s easier to imagine that he lifted
it as far as he could and had only just let go. He also serves to complete the
rough geometric shape that the soldiers’ bodies form. They make a triangle,
which in so many subliminal ways makes an arrow. It points upward, bringing the
focus back to Old Glory.
The man to the furthest right brings
attention to himself because of the variance in his stance and being physically
apart from the others. Were it not for the gap between him and the other men,
the shot would seem all too one-sided. His oddness brings an evenness from left
to right.
In my mind the greatest dynamic of
this photograph is its content, but soldiers and flags have been photographed for
as long as we’ve had the capabilities. So I have to believe that through some
use of technique this one stands out amongst all the others for a good reason.
It almost seems that the triangle created by the soldiers forms what could be the tip of an otherwise flat-topped mountain. If so, then perhaps it hints that these men should be seen as an indistinguishable part of their struggle. The flag is being planted in the mountain, to signify victory, but they are that victory, as much as winning the battle is that victory.
ReplyDeleteNate, I'm curious, again, about the lack of color in this photo. Black and white photos are (usually) drastically different when converted to color. How do you think this would change the feel of this shot, if at all?
ReplyDeleteThe shades of the soldiers isn't entirely different from the ground they stand on. A significant amount of color would make the soldiers stand out more, pulling them from the hill and from the struggle.
DeleteI also had this picture included in my bag of photos. Having it in black and white is what makes it truly iconic. You have men from a diverse ethnic group working as a team to put this flag in place. It really inspired viewers of it at the time. Interesting to know that this is actually the second time the flag was raised. The first time, there wasn't any photographer around to snap the pic, plus the flag was smaller. Somebody higher up wanted a bigger flag mounted...and that's how the pic came about. If it was enhanced today in color, I personally think it would lose all of its amazement and power.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird that you should describe the photo as 'victorious'. For me at least, all the dramatic shapes and sharp contrast give me more of a picture of hope, or courage to carry on.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, I suppose hope and courage are a sort of victory in itself.
This pictures content is its greatest strength. The soldiers fighting together for their country are raising the countries flag together. The soldiers will keep on fighting for their country and wont give up, so it gave hope to the country during that time. Being in color would take away the photos allure, the focus should only be the soldiers raising the flag, in color the eye would wander and not focus as much on the soldiers. The background, in color, would take away the viewers attention.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Kevin's comment suggests about photography and the capturing of the moment, especially for war photography. Does it matter that the picture was, in effect, staged because the original moment was lost? There is a long history of war photography being staged for effect, right back to the Matthew Brady, who pioneered war photography during the Civil War, and re-posed corpses in some cases for better effect.
DeleteAlso, it seems hard to pull this apart from propaganda, yes? War photography pulls that way sometimes (though in the case of some wars, such at the Vietnam War, the photography became instrumental in the opposition).