Jeff Widener
| Jeff Widener | |
|---|---|
Jeff Widener in Greece, 2010
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| Born |
August 11, 1956 Long Beach, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Known for | Tank Man photograph |
Jeff Widener (born August 11, 1956 in Long Beach, California) is an American photographer, best known for his image of the Tank Man confronting a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 which made him a nominated finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer.
Through the years, he has covered assignments in over 100 countries involving civil unrest and wars to social issues. He was the first photojournalist to file digital images from the South Pole. In 1987, he was hired as Associated Press Picture Editor for Southeast Asia where he covered major stories in the region from the Gulf War to the Olympics. Other feats included East Timor, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Burma, Syria, Jordan, India, Laos, Vietnam, Pakistan and many more.
Widener is now based in Hamburg, Germany.
Jeff grew up in Southern California where he attended Los Angeles Pierce College and Moorpark College majoring in photojournalism. In 1974 he received the Kodak Scholastic National Photography Scholarship beating out 8,000 students from across the United States. The prize included a study tour of East Africa.
In 1978, Widener started as a newspaper photographer in California and later in Nevada and Indiana. At age 25, he accepted a position in Brussels, Belgium as a staff photographer with United Press International. His first foreign assignment was the Solidarity riots in Poland.
Widener was tasked to capture the scene of the Tiananmen crackdown on June 5, 1989. He had brought camera equipment and film to the hotel where he later took the photo, but was at the risk of being denied entry by security personnel. He was helped inside by Kirk Martsen, who also brought more film when Widener ran out, which Widener used to take the Tank Man photo, and delivered the photo film to the AP office at the Diplomatic Compound.
Prior to taking the picture, Widener was injured during the night event of June 3, 1989 after a stray rock hit him in the head during a mob scene on the Chang-An Boulevard. His Nikon F3 titanium camera absorbed the blow, saving his life.
The "Tank Picture", repeatedly circulated around the globe (except in China where it is banned), is now widely held to be one of the most recognized photos ever taken. America Online selected it as one of the top ten most famous images of all time.
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Wikipedia