Joe Rosenthal was a Reporter / photographer for most of his life. He was rejected by the U.S army because of his poor eyesight. He became a inspirational war photographer. This picture became one of the best-known photographs of the war.
My first impression of this picture is of victory, hope but also struggle and determination. You can almost feel the determination of the men raising the flag. I think this piece is very inspirational.
To develop my understanding further i done a little research into this picture. As i studied the photograph a little further my respect for the soldiers and indeed Joe Rosenthal grew. The first thing that shocked me was that only three of the six men survived. Three of the men died within weeks of this photo being taken.Their names were Strank, Block and Sousley. The second suprise was the age of the soldiers. The eldest was Strank at 24 and was called the 'old man' by the other soldiers. The others were all teenagers aged from 17 to 19. They were just boys not men.
The photograph itself is is powerful due to the composition. Firstly there is a very definite incline from the back soldier to the front man. If you look a the flag and the movement at the top of the flag this incline is exactly the same. The flag pole has a incline in the same direction if a little more extreme. And yet the rubble smothered ground is against them with the incline going in the apposite direction. For me this is what gives the element of struggle and determination. The background is out of focus so all visuals point towards the subject. A iconic photograph..
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