Charles Porter's Pulitzer Prize Winning Photo at the Oklahoma City Bombing

Firefighter Cradling Infant Victim of Oklahoma City Bombing by Charles Porter IV. April  19, 1995.
Spot News Photography, Associated Press.

On April 19, 1995, a bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  Charles Porter, the photographer of the above photograph, was working a few blocks away when he heard the rumbling form the explosion.  He thought there might be construction occurring and he grabbed his camera that he kept in the trunk of his car and ran to the site of the noise. As an aspiring photographer, he hoped to take some interesting shots, but he had no idea what he was about to encounter.  In the ensuing chaos, he snapped pictures at everything he saw, starting with the crumbling Federal Building. At one point, as he was taking photos of a woman receiving medical care, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. A policeman, holding something in his arms, was running toward a fireman. Charles took a photograph of the policeman handing what he realized was a young child, to the firefighter. This first frame by Charles Porter is seen below:

Then, the firefighter removed his gloves, turned and Porter saw the baby clearly in his arms. He took a picture, but at the time, had no idea if it would be a good photograph or if it would even be clear because of the smoke in the air. Both the firefighter, later identified as Chris Fields, and Porter did not know at the time of the photo that the child was already dead.

After taking the photo, Porter went to a nearby hospital and searched for the infant, to no avail. Then, he took his photos to Wal-Mart to have them developed. He said the first time he realized he might have a strong photograph was when the photo clerk paused at one picture and began crying.  After seeing the pictures himself, and showing them to a friend, the friend recommended Porter send them to the Associated Press office in Oklahoma City. Within a few hours, Wendel Hudson, the AP photo editor in Oklahoma City, received the photo, realized its potential, and sent it out on the AP wire. Porter received a phone call from a reporter at The London Times who asked him, "Could I get your reaction and response to what your feelings are going to be, knowing that your image is going to be over every newspaper and every magazine in the entire world tomorrow?"  Before that call, Porter thought one of his photos might end up in the local paper, but now his dream of becoming a photojournalist had been realized.

To the left is a picture of Charles Porter, holding the front page of Tulsa World with his photograph on the front.  Immediately after his photo was shown worldwide, Porter could not pick up his camera again. He felt sick that his fame was growing when the family of the infant, now known as Baylee Almon, was grieving the loss of their one-year-old daughter.  A few days after the bombing, he met with Baylee Almon's mother, who told him the image did not cause her extra pain. In fact, she felt relieved that there was evidence of the care she was given. Also, she was able to begin grieving immediately because their daughter was found and identified so soon, rather than having to wait like many other families. For the family then, this picture's fame brought relief.

Indeed, the photo was immensely popular. As the woman from The London Times told Porter, the photo would be on covers and in newspapers across the world. A year later, in 1996, the photo also received an extremely high honor - the Pulitzer Prize. Charles Porter went from obscurity to infamy in an extremely short time because of this one photograph. 

Why was it so popular? In the article, "Looking at War," Susan Sontag sheds some light on this. She wrote that photos of mutilated bodies can not only bring home the realities of war, but also serve to condemn the responsible parties (3). Because of the grotesque nature of Baylee Almon's bleeding, lifeless body, this photo appalled viewers and automatically made them sympathetic to the victims. Attacks like this which target innocent civilians are always difficult to comprehend, and images like this show the horrors of terrorism. 168 people were killed that day, including Baylee Almon, but her image serves as the symbol for them all, and her death is much more violent as she was taken from her parents so prematurely. After looking at this photo, regardless of the reasons for or context behind the bombing, the perpetrator(s) are labelled as evil and condemned. The perpetrator in this case, Timothy McVeigh, was indeed caught, convicted, and then executed for his crimes on June 11, 2001.

In my opinion, this photo also has extreme power because it was taken by an ordinary photographer, not a photojournalist sent to record the destruction. Charles Porter took the photos and got them developed at a local Wal-Mart, and then sent them to the AP without editing them. Because of this, the photo is thought to be more realistic, more honest because it could have been taken by anyone. That also gives it more emotional power, as viewers look at the photo and imagine themselves at the scene, witnessing that moment, just as Charles Porter did. That's a powerful feeling.

Sources: 

The Newseum, Permanent Exhibit: Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery: http://www.newseum.org/exhibits-and-theaters/permanent-exhibits/pulitzer/videos/1996-spot-news-charles-porter--the-associated-press.html

BBC World Service Programme, The World Today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4529389.stm

Associated Press Pulitzer Prize Photograph List: http://www.ap.org/company/pulitzers

Prodis, Julia, "Amateur Photographer Takes 'Photo Felt Around the World.'" Associated Press, (23 April1995): http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1995/Amateur-Photographer-Takes-Photo-Felt-Around-the-World-/id-7871f59d269d4539aedd11042039e3b0?SearchText=oklahoma%20city%20bombing%20charles%20porter%20photo;Display_

Associated Press, "Porter Wins Pulitzer for Bombing Photos Moved by AP" (9 April 1996): http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1996/Porter-Wins-Pulitzer-for-Bombing-Photos-Moved-by-AP/id-400560e842893655ed970d3268d16633?SearchText=oklahoma%20city%20bombing%20charles%20porter;Display_

Famous Pictures Magazine Blog, "Oklahoma City Bombing": http://www.famouspictures.org/mag/index.php?title=Oklahoma_City_Bombing

The Indianapolis Star, "The Oklahoma City Bombing" (2003): http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/ok.html

Sontag, Susan, "Looking At War." The New Yorker (12 September 2002), 3.