Santiago Lyon’s choice of the perfect picture is the late AP photographer Joe Rosenthal’s iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in 1945.
‘Some photographs jump off the page and imprint themselves in our collective memories. Joe Rosenthal’s iconic image from Iwo Jima of five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising the US flag on Mount Suribachi is one such image.
‘Everything comes together perfectly in this frame. The effort of the men as they raise the flagpole, their body language, the hands on the left reaching up, the flag fluttering in the wind and the anonymity of the subjects all make for a truly iconic image.
‘The context of the photograph is important too, coming as it did after ferocious fighting throughout the Pacific theatre in the Second World War. The image has been reproduced on stamps, recreated in statues, had films made about it, been written about at length and is said to be the most reproduced photograph in history.
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‘That it was taken 52 years ago has done nothing to diminish its impact, proof of its power and lasting impact.”
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