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The Photos

The photograph of the raising of the flag at Mt. Suribachi was a Pulitzer Prize winning image, and the base of the film 'The Flag of our Fathers'. We will explore the use of the still and the motion picture to influence our opinion.

This course is a short taster on the topic of the use of Images, Film, and their use in historical interpretation in the 20th century. It is primarily provided for those who have a general interest in history that draws on photojournalism as primary evidence, and films based on historical events. Once you have completed this course we hope you will be equipped to: Appreciate the significance of photographs as historical evidence in the twentieth century. Understand the limitations of the medium, and how we can attribute meaning to these individual records of 'one moment in time' while taking into account the circumstances in which any particular image was taken. Understand how individuals and institutions have looked to manipulate images to their own ends – through alteration and/or censorship – and what that meant to contemporary interpretation, as well as subsequent historical interpretation. Put individual images into a wider context, and in particular with reference to history written, or portrayed, beyond academia: public history. Do be aware that part of the contents of this course regard images and depiction of war. Real wars and real images.

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Enseigné par

Dr Emmett Sullivan
Senior Tutor

Transcription

Having given a, a very broad background about the events around the

flag raising, let me talk more about the image and the photograph itself.

Some commentators have chosen to raise a controversial note about the flag raising.

Was it a staged photograph?

Was it the first flag raising?

Was it at the completion of the battle.

Well as we're going to talk you through.

Different opinions will be put at that point in time.

We focus very much on Joe Rosenthal's image.

It was a Pulitzer Prize winning image.

And we're going to come back to that a little bit later in the course.

That is in fact the second flag raising at Mt Suribachi and the time he was working

for Associate Press, and was therefore covering this for US media at the time.

We, we actually have a number of different images of

the raising of old glory the US flag on Mt Suribachi.

Let me just very briefly talk you through this

once of which I've, I've already shown you very briefly.

Firstly we have Louis Lowry.

He was present at the first flag raising.

He was working for I think, Leatherneck Magazine, a service magazine at the time.

You have Bob Campbell, who's a, described as a combat photographer.

Who was their for both the first and the second raising.

And then finally we have Sergeant Bill Genaust who was a cine photographer.

Who also ascended Mount Suribachi.

And was taking film at the same time that Joe Rosenthal shot his famous image.

And interestingly, because of the position

of the cine camera and Rosenthal's camera it is possible to

just about get a stereoscopic view of the flag raising.

In the case of Rosenthal, it is a standard still camera.

But with the cine film being continuous at least

one researchers have tried to marry up the two images.

So, you have the slight offset, and that gives you I

think, the power perspective of a stereo image accordingly.

So, first thing off.

The world knows, the image at Mt Suribachi in 1945.

We have a series of possible images that might have

made an impact, and it's happen chance to a certain degree.

That the one that was widely used, was the one selected.

Now, this is the image it's self.

In the 21st century, iconic can be overused a super, a superlative

I think in this instance, we can genuinely describe this image as iconic.

I think there's one reference I picked up from a marine

colonel at the time who said, you know, that marines will last

a thousand years, I digress, will last 500 years

from the basis of the the momentum carried by this image in the public's mind.

Now, there are six flag raises.

I, I've listed them out here.

There are five in the foreground and there is one man

in the back, whose hand you can just see in the distance.

And from a technical point of view, this is

set the shot with an older style manual camera.

The image is one 400th of a second of exposure sorry

exposure, and has an aperture of somewhere between F8 and F11.

So, it is a frozen moment in time.

And I think it's a very important consideration, to some

of the things that we've said earlier in the course.

About where we actually find an image.

What happened was before, what happened after.

In, in this case we're trying to

deconstruct why this is an image.

Many have and I will put my paltry attempt in as well.

About why it is so important.

But I tend to think of this as a work in

progress, and we'll come back to the idea a little bit later.

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