What makes a photo Pulitzer Prize winning? The film “A Glimpse Of Life: The Pulitzer Photographs” seeks to answer this question. What better way to find an answer than to ask winners of the prestigious award? In the words of William Snyder, a multi-time winner, “It’s not a photography contest. It’s about telling some of the biggest stories of the year.”
Pulitzer award winning photos show moments that stay with people. “If it makes you laugh. If it makes you cry. It’s a good photo. You look at a film and you see it and it’s over and it goes on the shelf. But a still picture is in front of you all the time….The most powerful weapon that we have in the world is a still photograph,” Eddie Adams, another award winner, said in the film. Photos that effectively use the medium, images that are powerful win Pulitzers.
In 1943, Nathaniel Fein photographed baseball player Babe Ruth taking a final bow to a packed stadium. Teammates stand to the side with their caps over their hearts. This photo shows an important cultural event that was an important story. Babe Ruth is considered one of the best baseball players in history. This was his last moment on the field as a professional baseball player. The picture shows the respect that people had for Ruth. This is also an image that The New York Times named “one of the best known images of perhaps the greatest baseball player who ever lived.”
Many people would know Eddie Adams’ 1968 iconic photo. It showed the moment when a Vietnamese police chief assassinated a Viet Cong prisoner. This image demonstrates the power of photography in multiple ways. It showed the camera’s power to immortalize moments and is also credited with being the spark that changed public opinion on the Vietnam War. The Babe Ruth photo showed humanity at its best, gathered together to celebrate someone’s achievements. This image shows humanity at its worst.
In 1976, Stanly Forman went to photograph what he expected to be a standard ladder rescue. That quickly changed when the balcony and fire escape of the building collapsed. His award-winning picture shows a woman and a toddler falling through the sky. A metal ladder and scaffolding are in pieces left of center. This photo shows what was an important story for the area. It’s an image of the in-the-moment impact of a fire in Boston. It shows a tragedy that a photo can best convey, due to its split second nature.
Michel duCille and Carol Guzy won for their photos showing the impacts of the 1986 Colombia mudslide. One particular image shows a young girl submerged in water up to her head. Two others are caught in frame, one with a rope and the other gripping on the girl’s arm to help her out. This is an image that shows the power of nature but also the will of humanity to help one another in times of need. It is powerful for its duality.
The 1990s was a time of contrast for photojournalist William Snyder. He won the Pulitzer for his work at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, showing gold medalist Jackie Joyner Kersee take a victory lap. In 1991, he photographed the deplorable conditions of a Romanian orphanage. One of his photos showed a visibly malnourished baby in a crib. To the crib’s left is a baby doll. When speaking of his experience taking these pictures, he said that these orphanages were known as “homes for irrecoverables.” He called them “warehouses for children.” One image is a celebration of human accomplishment and sharing the joy that comes with it. The other brings awareness to injustices. Each is powerful in different ways.
Through seeing what makes a picture Pulitzer Prize winning, the power of photojournalism comes through as well. Photojournalism is more than pictures to accompany text of a news story or pictures that look cool. The images themselves tell a story and they show humanity in all of its forms.
