http://www.travelthruhistory.tv/facts-about-shootings-kent-state/

This is a picture of 14-year-old runaway Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the hemorrhaging body of 20-year-old student Jeffrey Miller after he was wrongfully murdered at the infamous Kent State Massacre. His was one of the four innocent lives taken that day and his memory lives on through this powerful image captured by photography student, and later Pulitzer Prize winner, John Paul Filo. As a photography student at the university, Filo was in the photography lab during the rally and ran out to investigate the sound of gunshots. He began photographing the chaos, thinking the bullets were simply blanks meant to scare the protesters, even daring to blatantly photograph a nearby guard carrying a loaded gun. When he realized the bullets were real, he continued taking pictures with his Nikkormat camera, despite his fear, so he could document the true injustice committed by the National Guard that day.

This tragedy occurred On May 4, 1970, 45 years ago almost to the day. Filo’s picture was released soon after by a small daily newspaper called Valley News-Dispatch. It was later picked up by major news outlets like the New York Times and was used as the primary image of the Massacre. The picture has since been reprinted and circulated since it’s debut in 1970 as recent as 1990 in People Magazine. It remains in great condition, very clear and distinguishable with no pixelations due to the fact that it was taken by a seasoned photographer with a quality camera. It’s current condition does not represent the way it has been archived because the image was originally a clear picture and has remained as such throughout four and a half decades of reprint. The only aspect of this photo that makes it less than perfect is the black and white hue, which works to diminish some of the details in the picture. I found this 798 x 617 image when I googled “Kent State Shootings”; it was the first picture that popped up during my search due to its massive popularity. Despite the 45-year anniversary, it remains as infamous as ever. The event it depicts is remembered every year as the tragedy it was and the image continues incite raw feeling today.

I chose this image to represent the Kent State Massacre because in my opinion, it suitably depicts the pain and anguish caused by the shootings that day. The photographer captured this moment in spite of the fact that his own life was at risk. I think that is the most powerful aspect of this photo, a true sacrifice in order to raise awareness and initiate change. This image is candid and so real and because of that, became the symbol of the event and played a major role in encouraging the nation to force the government to take responsibility. This image joined together people in every state, on every college campus in a protest against the murder of unarmed students. The picture also reignited the anti-war cries by gracing newspapers alongside headlines such as “The War Has Been Brought Home”. This picture served an almost revolutionary purpose and goes down in history as one of the most powerful images ever produced. That is why I chose this specific image to represent my topic; it triggered the unity of millions under one cause, not only in the United States but in Vietnam too. News of the Kent State shootings accompanied by photographs, this being the most prominent one, reached American soldiers fighting in Vietnam and convinced a majority to refuse service. These soldiers especially refused to go through with the planned invasion of Cambodia, forcing Nixon to change tactics and comply with the original protests of the students.

Summer is around the corner which means jobs, internships, seeing old friends, and moving residence. This was how my past two summers of my college career looked, and for those doing the same enjoy the time that you get to spend doing these things as they are meaningful and important to your personal growth. I have 2 years left in school, and I felt like I had to do something different this summer to gain new experiences and knowledge. Next Thursday I will be heading to Spain to take a marketing class, and then traversing my way throughout Eastern and Northern Europe to expand my horizons and understanding of the world. Going to popular tourist attractions seems nice, and I will visit a few, but I want and plan to do something that will immerse me in the local culture of each place I visit. This is my first time ever stepping foot outside of the country, and I may be adventuring it solo for a few stretches of the trip to visit the sights and cultures that I want to see. I feel like when I came to SDSU, I learned alot about myself within just a few weeks, as it was the first time I had lived on my own. Now that I have the opportunity to explore new and exciting places in a similar fashion, I will be making the most of my time. Obviously this sort of thing is outside of my comfort zone, but if I have learned anything about starting an adventure it is that I have to escape that comfort zone to learn more about myself. I highly recommend to anyone reading to study abroad while you’re still a student to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, even if you have to go by yourself.

This picture is a Land Rover advertisement in Germany from 2008 that uses passport stamps from various countries to outline the shape of the car. I found the picture in a thread titled “A picture is worth 1000 words” from a gaming site I frequent, teamliquid.net, and this image spoke to me because it puts importance on getting out in the world. Spending money on experiences rather than material goods is a habit I have been trying to adopt, and this is my first test of that mentality. The image was intended to do what I described above, to inspire people to travel and see the world they live in. The marketing executives at Land Rover created the campaign to target their demographic of people who like to explore, as the Land Rover is sturdy all terrain vehicle. I chose this picture as my discussion topic because I always try and set short term and long term goals and plans as a way to structure my life. This is one of my plans I will be spending alot of time doing this summer, and will be the basis for all future traveling that I plan on doing. 

This photograph of Jim Morrison was taken on July 3, 1981 by photographer Joel Brodsky. Since then it has been pixilated into a JPG sized 2.8 mb and can be found via google.com and is published on the Doors website:

https://www.thedoors.com/gallery/1981

In the article associated with this picture, Brodsky explains that he “always thought it was sort of funny that the pictures of Morrison from that session were the most used. Jim was totally plastered.” While this picture represents “Jim…[as] the sex symbol and an important visual focus for the band ”; in an era where counter culture America was taking over, these pictures personified the counter culture’s sexuality and free spirit.
This picture was selected to illustrate a shift in American history. As much as mass media and the Vietnam War or mass media and presidential elections played a part in changing the nation’s culture; the counter culture played off the media to extend their popularity.
With a generation rejecting 50s norms and values, expressing ones sexuality became much more acceptable. I like this picture because it glorifies Jim Morrison as a male sex symbol. Previously sexuality was much more subdued. This picture targets the counter culture generation and mainstream America by putting Jim in your face. I like to think that Morrison had no intent on becoming so idolized. After all, Brodsky said “Morrison never really looked that way again, and those pictures have become a big part of The Doors’ legend. I think I got him at his peak”. Before the technology to capture such clear and detailed photos, along with ability to mass distribute records and the convenience of being able to play these records in ones home, people were forced to make their decisions on a different criteria Today parallels can be seen in mainstream media. Sex sells; and many new up and coming, as well as well known artists play off their good looks to sell records. However, those not picked up, for one reason or another, by companies who can further market them, struggle to make a name for them. This highlights the argument that cultures will change with changes in technology.

JAH

This is a photo of the March for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in New York in 1970. To find this image, I google searched “feminism” and found this among many others that were somewhat similar. When I chose the image, it took me to a blog called Direct Action Everywhere, which deals with and discusses different social issues. It is a PDF that was probably scanned in and put on the Internet at some point. This site is not the original source of the image, but I did discover that it was taken by a man named Bob Adelman in 1970. This image, along with the many others that were taken of this march, were used to promote and spread the women’s liberation movement. By getting the word out and showing people what they were fighting for, the movement was able to gain more momentum and support throughout the country.

The image was both taken and released in 1970. I believe it was important for it to be released as soon as possible in order to quickly rally support for such an important cause. Many people did not understand the movement and had misconceptions about what these women were fighting for. Even today feminism is misconstrued as a man-hating movement, however, this could not be further from the truth. The goals of this march and the movement as a whole were to bring women up to the same level as men, not pull men down to the same level as women. The sign in this image that states, “Women of the world unite,” is a call to women everywhere, not just in America, to band together and demand their equality. These women knew that inequality was not just an issue they were dealing with, but something women everywhere were facing and continue to face today.

I chose this subject to find an image of because it is not just a social issue that was dealt with in the past, it’s a fight that is still happening today. It’s relevant to the present and is an issue that I believe everyone should be educated on in order to understand and help find a solution.

This is an original photograph taken on June 5, 1989, the day after the Tiananmen Massacre that occurred in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989. It is titled “Tank Man”. Jeff Widener of the Associated Press took this photograph, which is similar to four other versions. I originally searched “Tiananmen Massacre” in Google, and the cropped image came up. I looked for another image that was not as pixelated, and discovered that the original image is actually much larger, showing the brave man standing in front of a row of ten plus tanks, rather than just four in most images.

It was taken during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, showing the students’ willingness to stand up against the Chinese Army for what they believed in. It is a clear image; we can see an unarmed man standing in front of the tanks that are forcing him to move. I chose this image because in my Freshman year of high school, my history teacher had this posted on his wall and I really had no idea what it was as a new history student. I researched more about the image, and discovered the poster was a photograph taken during the student led protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is now four years later, and in our history class we have been discussing many student led protests that took place in Berkeley around the 70’s and 80’s as well. The massacre began on June 3rd and lasted until June 4th, 1989 in the heart of Beijing, China, where many students and other demonstrators had been on strike for seven weeks.

The photograph shows the People’s Liberation Army of China clearing out the unarmed protesters from the Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process. This relates to Berkeley because unarmed protesters were killed and arrested for standing up against the government. This image is widely considered an iconic image of the 20th century that still marks an important day in history today.

This is an image taken that showed the after events of the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War in 1968. It is a photograph that was originally taken by an army photographer named Ron Haeberle on the same day the massacre. The events of the massacre were unknown until the media published his photographs in November the following year.This image would later be published in publications such as LIFE Magazine a month later. I acquired this image as a 37.2 KB JPG image through an online article on the NYPost that detailed the incident.

The My Lai massacre was an event in which U.S. troops marched into the village and slaughtered 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians on March 16, 1968. This image shows a mass amount of dead bodies on a small village road, i believe the intent of the photo was to document and show the brutality of what had occurred, even though the company the photographer was in was told it was due to the actions of the Viet Cong who were retreating from another battlefield. The incident would later cause antiwar sentiment on the home-front to increase because of not only the atrocities but because high ranking officers tried to cover up what had happened. Due to the event, the people in the U.S. and army soldiers began to wonder what other atrocities high-ranking officers were trying to conceal, dividing the people on their opinion on U.S. involvement on Vietnamese soil.

The condition of the image is remarkable, it reflects how the image first  appeared over 4.5 decades ago. Though it may be due to online documentation of the image. I don’t believe this image holds any modern context, as it is merely a documentation of what had happened. But i believe it still holds the feelings it was meant to portray when you look at it. My search criteria was images of the My Lai Massacre. I chose this image to represent my topic because it was an event that showed the brutality on the U.S. side. The Vietnam war was painted as good(us) vs evil(them), but with the events of this massacre brought to light, we can see that that’s not always the case.

-Nick Thips-

This is a picture of a woman in history who has changed many lives, inspired many and has done more with her life than I could even imagine. Although she is not famous she is well known in her own little town and community. Born on June 14^th 1961 into true poverty, she lived a hard life till about 13 years old, then an even bigger struggle came her way when her mother suddenly passed away of a heart attack. With her father never in the picture she was moved from home to home, her and her siblings were all separated, abused, neglected, and starved along the way. She rebelled and ran away from many homes and would find herself homeless and getting into things that put her life in danger. But April of 1979 this photo was taken as a remembrance that she would beat the odds and prove everyone wrong, she would graduate high school and go onto get her college degree. This is a high school year book picture from Cordova High School, there was no digital copy so my picture is a picture of a picture, the original is a 5 x 7 print out taken by the photographers at the school and then I took a picture it and now it is a 837 MB picture on my computer. Believe it or not the picture is actually in great condition but the color scheme is a little different from what we are used to seeing in school pictures today. I chose this picture because it is actually a picture of my beautiful mother. Although some would say that she is just an ordinary individual to me she is far more. Without even knowing she has made history, by graduating high school she was able to go onto college and from college she was able to find a a job where she met my dad. of course she married him and now me and my siblings are here. She has been the foundation for many achievements in life for me and my eight siblings, who knows she could be the mother of a potential US president or big shot, without even knowing it we are history. Throughout this class we have learned to look at things from a different perspective and we have seen how history develops because of small details playing into a bigger picture. That’s how I feel about my mom and the role she plans in our history, she has made many small pieces come together to form our future.

Talking about black power and Malcolm X’s influences, I thought about WHY he was such a great influence upon the people of his time, and still, today. I came up with how he had experienced segregation his whole life, how he was fed up with it as others were, and he had new strategies of self defense. He looked out for himself and his people, he wanted definite equality for all, and he was going to do whatever it took to be treated as human. His vast knowledge and the way he talked went hand-in-hand. Malcolm was a leader, a new kind of leader that took matters into his own hands.

Being one of the most historical photographs taken on August 14^th, 1945, “The Kiss” was an instant American favorite. On Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day) in Times Square, New York City, thousands gathered to celebrate the long awaited Allied victory of the second World War. Alfred Eisenstaedt took the photograph with a Leica IIIa camera. It would appear in Life magazine in the August 27^th, 1945 issue along with various photographs depicting the celebrations that took place in Times Square that August day. I acquired the image via screen shot (portable network graphics image, 204 KB) of “The Best of Life: 37 Years in Pictures” on the Time website. The image appears to be slightly pixelated due to the time period and the quality of the camera. Nevertheless, I think that the faults in the quality contribute to the character of the photograph. My search criteria included, “Iconic images of the 20^th century”. Rightfully so, it is apparent that this photo holds much meaning for Americans. I chose this photograph because it resembles a moment following years of destruction and remorse. A moment wherein all weight was lifted off the shoulders of Americans across the country. Seldom do we experience these moments where absolutely nothing in the world matters except for the moment at hand. Apparently George Mendonsa, the sailor in the photograph, was experiencing the same type of euphoria. After further investigation into the story behind the photo, George was on his first date with his future wife, Rita, the day this picture was taken. However, Rita was not the woman in the white dress he was kissing. While watching a film with Rita at Radio City Music Hall, the showing was halted after someone barged in announcing the surrender of the Japanese. Everyone fled the theater and filled the streets while bartenders had lined up mugs all along the bars and kept pouring. George recalls going to Child’s Bar just down the street. They then made their way to Time Square where George saw a group of nurses. He then had a flashback to his duties in the Pacific when two Kamikaze pilots crashed into a neighboring naval ship. Afterword’s he watched various nurses’ work on hundreds of injured men. He spontaneously ran from Rita, grabbed the first nurse he saw, dipped her and kissed her. Rita does not resent the kiss till this day. George says he was so drunk he does not even remember the kiss. Greta Zimmer, the woman in the white dress, however, was not in fact a nurse. She was a dental assistant from Queens who made her way over to Times Square after the news of the surrender. Greta was actually born and raised in Austria, and was one of the last refugees to flee to America. Both of her parents died in concentration camps. After learning about the authenticity of this photograph, it has changed the way I interpreted its meaning. As many Americans would initially assume, I felt it resembled a celebration of a long awaited reunion between a soldier and his love. With the authentic history now at hand, I look at this picture as collaboration between countries. An American soldier, protectively taking into his arms an Austrian runaway. Whether it is fate or chance, I stand flabbergasted regarding the identities of the two pictured. Without the alliance of countries across the globe, the celebration that took place on August 14^th, 1945 may have just been another day on the busy streets of New York. I chose this image because it was stood out to me since the first time I moved to San Diego. I visited the USS Midway on Harbor Drive where I saw a rendition of Seward Johnson’s “Unconditional Surrender” statue, resembling the iconic kiss. It has always been one of my favorite locations in San Diego. Even though my meaning of the statue has changed, I feel as if I gained an even greater appreciation for “the kiss that ended the war”.

JT

Here is the flier that I made for the Showcase! I posted it in the Storm Hall building.