Tank Man

Posted by Lou. The time is 5:51pm here in London, UK.

Interesting commentary from the photographers who captured the Tank Man 20 years ago as he staged an act of defiance against the very tanks that had spent a day crushing bodies in and around Tiananmen Square.




I assume that nobody knows who he was due to the fact that he was probably taken away and shot out of sight of lenses, presumed to have been "just another" person killed in the main bloodbath by friends and family who will never know the role he played in history.

Footnote: I only just found out that Tiananmen translates as "gateway to heavenly peace". Is that the most tragically ironic thing ever in the history of language?

One thought on “Tank Man”

  1. Oh wow, brilliant article. So important that this is kept fresh in memory - and the continuing battle for human rights and democracy in China.

    The update with the previously unpublished image is amazing - the 'tank man' appears even more steadfast when placed in the context of the nearby chaos.