Truth Beyond the Frame: Stuart Franklin shares the story behind The Tank Man photo
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The Camera Never Lies: Challenging images through the Incite Project (part of the What Is Truth? season at the Sainsbury Centre), explores whether an image captured by an individual photographer, choosing one angle, with a singular crop, can show the whole truth of an event.
One image which has been the main source of information for a historic event is Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin’s image of The Tank Man.
In 1989 Beijing, China saw weeks-long protests calling for greater democracy in Tiananmen Square until the Government stormed the Square with soldiers and tanks, firing at the protestors on 4 June. It is estimated that hundreds were killed, and the famous image remains of an unknown demonstrator stopping a line of tanks as they leave the Square.
Iconic to Western audiences for its emotive impression of one man’s defiance against authoritarian power, whereas in China, the protests, military retaliation, and images of that day remain highly censored, to the extent that it is not clear how well known the events are to the younger Chinese population.
We spoke to Stuart Franklin about the historic event and taking the famous image.
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