Flower Power
May 17, 2013 in 1967, Am, Pictures, Protest, United States
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In late 1967 Bernie Boston was a reporter for the Washington Star a now-defunct newspaper. After he took this famous picture Star publishers didn’t see the value of the image and buried it the A section of their paper. Not deterred Bernie Boston sent the image out to various photo competitions which resulted in a number of awards, prizes, and international recognition.
Taking the photo
The end of the 60s saw a number of anti-Vietnam war protests. Covering one of the last big protests Bernie sat with his camera on a wall at the Mall Entrance to the Pentagon. While the protest neared the gates Bernie watched as a National Guardsman lieutenant marched a group of armed men into the sea of demonstrators. The squad formed a semi-circle, their guns pointed at the demonstrators.
In a 2006 interview, Bernie remembers thinking things could have got ugly when all of a sudden, “this young man appeared with flowers and proceeded . . . [to] put them down the rifle barrel,” Boston told National Public Radio. “And I was on the wall so I could see all this, and I just started shooting.”
While he knew he had a good picture the Star editors didn’t feel the same way and gave the picture minimal coverage. “The editor didn’t see the importance of the picture,” Boston said later. “We buried it … I entered it in contests, and it started winning everything and being recognized.”
Bernie Boston
A Washington, D.C. native Bernie Boston was born May 18, 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. He grew up in McLean, Virginia and found his calling early when he became a photographer for his high school newspaper and yearbook. Fast forward to university when he graduated with a degree in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He followed his education by in 1955 joining the army for three years. After his military service, he worked at Dayton Daily News in Ohio in 1963 and three years later joined the staff of the Washington Star, where he remained until the paper folded in 1981. When the Star went under he found work as a staff photographer in its Washington D.C. bureau. In 1994 Boston and his wife moved to Basye, Virgina where he published and she edited the Bryce Mountain Courier.
Not a photographer that is defined by the Flower Power image Bernie would over his career shoot a number of famous people of the era including every president from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton. In 1987 he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, in the spot news category, for his photograph of King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, at an unveiling of a bronze bust of her assassinated husband.
Bernie Boston died at his home in Basye on Tuesday, January 22, 2008. His wife released a statement that he died from complications of amyloidosis, a rare disease in which abnormal proteins build up in organs and tissues. He was 74 years old. Boston is survived by his wife, an aunt and two nieces.
George Harris
The young protester who captured the nature of the 60s protest movement turned out to be an 18 years old actor, George Edgerly Harris III, from New York on his way to California. He would later reveal that he was gay and took the stage name, Hibiscus. He co-founded a far-out, psychedelic, gay-themed cross dressing troupe called The Cockettes. His life would be captured in the 2002 film of the same name made by David Weissman. Hibiscus died an early victim of the AIDS epidemic that struck the West coast gay community.
[…] Image url/Origin: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
I was surprised you neglected Marc Ribaud’s photograph of me at 17 at that same March, holding a mum in a prayerful pose, opposite the bayoneted soldier’s rifles. It is another powerful picture from that time…
[…] photographs “An Unsafe Journey” by Amy Helene Johansson and “Flower Power” by Bernie Boston evoke strong emotions upon viewing. These images represent courage in the face of […]
[…] *The Famous Pictures Collection. (2013). Flower Power. [online] Available at: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
[…] a famous photo of a protester putting flowers in the barrel of a National Guardsman’s rifle and everything,” she also […]
[…] a famous photo of a protester putting flowers in the barrel of a National Guardsman’s rifle and everything,” she also […]
[…] a famous photo of a protester putting flowers in the barrel of a National Guardsman’s rifle and everything,” she also […]
[…] This photo was taken near the end of the 60’s during the Vietnam war. Many protests were happening in opposition of the war. The photographer, Bernie Boston, was sitting on the Pentagon wall and witnessed the National Guardsman lieutenant march a group armed men into the sea of protesters as they neared the gates. The protesters did not want to fight so they placed, what look like daisies, in the rifles. Learn more about it here. […]
[…] a semiotic level, “Jenner’s action evokes the image of a Vietnam War protestor putting a flower in the barrel of a soldier’s gun,” as […]
[…] nivel semiótico, “la acción de Jenner evoca la imagen de un manifestante de la guerra de Vietnam poniendo una flor en el cañón de un arma de un […]
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How do I buy a copy of the picture of George Harris placing a flower down the gun barrels? I would be most grateful if you could let me know how to do this and how much it is. Thank you. My email is office@co-gassafety.co.uk
Getty licenses the photo. They have many options to purchase it here
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/103159040
[…] Chàng trai 18 tuổi, George Harris cắm những đóa hoa vào họng súng các Vệ binh Quốc gia (National Guardsman). Bức ảnh do Bernie Boston chụp ngày 21 tháng 10 năm 1967. Nguồn ảnh: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
[…] Chàng trai 18 tuổi, George Harris cắm những đóa hoa vào họng súng các Vệ binh Quốc gia (National Guardsman). Bức ảnh do Bernie Boston chụp ngày 21 tháng 10 năm 1967. Nguồn ảnh: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
[…] Chàng trai 18 tuổi, George Harris cắm những đóa hoa vào họng súng các Vệ binh Quốc gia (National Guardsman). Bức ảnh do Bernie Boston chụp ngày 21 tháng 10 năm 1967. Nguồn ảnh: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
[…] Chàng trai 18 tuổi, George Harris cắm những đóa hoa vào họng súng các Vệ binh Quốc gia (National Guardsman). Bức ảnh do Bernie Boston chụp ngày 21 tháng 10 năm 1967. Nguồn ảnh: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ […]
[…] Famous Pictures Collection. (2018). Flower Power. [online] Available at: http://www.famouspictures.org/flower-power/ [Accessed 27 Mar. […]