Thursday, June 04, 2009

Remembering Tiananmen Square

In brief (insufficient) honor of the 20th anniversary of that event, here are the reminiscences of four photographers who took very similar versions of the now-iconic "Tank Man" photograph, and (via Andrew Sullivan) this never-before-published, on-the-ground perspective by Torril Jones, taken moments before that more-familiar moment. Jones's very different perspective has the effect of (re)supplying context that, for me, makes the man's act even more brave than it obviously was.

Go and see. And remember.

1 comment:

Nick said...

...npr just ran a small bit yesterday on how very, very few younger chinese can tell you anything about the event, if it even raises a blip with them;

not only have the authorities never released the numbers of dead and wounded, or final disposition of the 'missing', but the event itself is not taught in the school system.

another 20 years or ao and it will have never happened.