The photo that I chose to use was of the Kent State
Shootings on May 4, 1970. University students held a protest of the United
States involvement in the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guard fired 67 rounds over
13 seconds into a group of unarmed students, killing four, and wounding nine
others. John
Paul Filo, a university student at the time, shot the photo that became the
face of the tragedy. During a CNN interview on the 40th anniversary
Filo recalls the events of that day,
“The
bullets were supposed to be blanks. When I put the camera back to my eye, I
noticed a particular guardsman pointing at me. I said, "I'll get a picture
of this," and his rifle went off. And almost simultaneously, as his rifle
went off, a halo of dust came off a sculpture next to me, and the bullet lodged
in a tree. I dropped my camera in the realization that it was live ammunition.
I don't know what gave me the combination of innocence and stupidity... I
started to flee--run down the hill and stopped myself. "Where are you going?"
I said to myself, "This is why you are here!” and I started to take
pictures again. ... I knew I was running out of film. I could see the emotion
welling up inside of her. She began to sob. And it culminated in her saying an
exclamation. I can't remember what she said exactly … something like, "Oh,
my God!"
The
girl in the photograph was 14-year-old runaway Mary Ann Vecchio; the man that
was shot was Jeffery Miller. One year after this photograph was taken, Filo was
awarded with the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography.
This
photograph was one of the many important images to come from this era in US
history. There were many photographs of the horrific events taking place in
Vietnam but this was the first of its kind that brought the conflict to US soil.
After this picture was published across the country there was a huge public
outcry. Four million students from universities, colleges and high schools
across the country participated in a student strike.
Due
to the growing technological capabilities of newspapers during this time this
photo could be shared across the country to almost every major news outlet, in
a very fast manor. Had this been taken 50 or so years earlier it would have
take a very long time for it to be seen by the nation.
In
Filo’s interview he discusses his fear of having his film confiscated in order
to “white wash” the situation.
“I
didn't know where to go .. I sort of did but ... all my roommates who were
photographers ended up stringing for various news organizations based on the
events of Friday and Saturday. Since I was out of town, I was committed to no
one, and I had been working as a photographer since high school as a vacation
and holiday replacement in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, and I elected to drive there
with the film. It was about a two hour and twenty minute drive, and I called
the paper to let them know I was coming back.
On
the technical aspect, we processed the lesser role to make sure the chemistry
was correct and then developed the Mary Vecchio role. That was the first
picture we scheduled on the AP network. The
reason I had to get the pictures out was that the initial radio reports, while
the students were camped in front of the guardsman, said that two guardsmen and
two students were killed in a shootout at Kent State. And those incorrect
reports stayed for a number of hours -- at least enough to convince me that
this was going to be whitewashed. So I had to get my pictures out.”
Reading
these excerpts from his interview really gives you a look into what was happing
during this time and how many students feared the government. It leaves you
wondering how many times something like this has happen, and what important
images have been destroyed to keep the grisly details out of the public eye.
References:
http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/2000/5/4/filo/
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