Tank Man
Photographer: Jeff Widener (Associated Press) — one of several photographers
Date: June 5, 1989
Location: Chang'an Avenue, Beijing, China
Jeff Widener of the Associated Press photographed an unidentified man standing alone before a column of approaching Type 59 tanks on Chang'an Avenue near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5, 1989, the morning after the Chinese military crackdown that killed hundreds (some estimates put the death toll in the thousands). Widener, battling a concussion and a high fever, shot the image from his hotel room balcony at the Beijing Hotel using a 400mm telephoto lens. The man, who was never identified, reportedly held two shopping bags. He climbed up on the lead tank and spoke briefly with the driver before being pulled away by bystanders. The photograph — along with similar images taken the same morning by photographers Stuart Franklin (Magnum), Charlie Cole (Newsweek), and Manuel Balce Ceneta (AP) — became one of the most iconic images of the 20th century and a symbol of peaceful resistance. Cole's version, which he hid from Chinese officials in a toilet cistern, won the World Press Photo of the Year in 1989. The photograph is censored in mainland China.
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