Photography Research Project

Author: mdgiii

Date: February 18, 2023

Category: school

Tags: Inspire, Photography, Shasta College

Born on October 9, 1911 to immigrants from Russia, Joe Rosenthal developed his photography skills and soon obtained a job with the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He later tried applying for the military but got rejected due to having poor eyesight. Luckily, he found a job that still allowed him to take photos of the military through the Associated Press.

His assignment was to capture photos of the war in the pacific (World War II). In 1945, when Joe was 33, he took the most iconic image of World War II, the Iwo Jima Flag Raising, taken on February 23 (my birthday), 1945. Less than a day later, it was on the front pages of newspapers everywhere. Later appeared a poster that raised $26 billion for war bonds. The photo had even made it on postage stamps even before the war was over.

He won the Pulitzer Award that same year (normally they choose photos from the previous year to win the award). Years later, the legacy of this photo has proved to the world that Joe is an inspirational photographer.

The photo is great and all but what most people do not know is that the photo was actually faked. Earlier that day, Joe heard that a United States flag was being raised atop the mountain of Suribachi, Iwo Jima. He wanted to get a photo of the raising but trekked his way up the mountain to find that it had already been raised. Another photographer had already gotten the shot but had broken their camera on the way down. This gave Rosenthal a second chance to capture the breathtaking moment. He later died on August 20, 2006, in Novato, at the age of 94.

Charles O’Rear was born in Butler, Missouri on November 26 (did not know this until now that he was born on my brother’s birthday), 1941. He first started photography when he was 10 (about the same time as I got interested) with a Brownie Box camera.

Charles O’Rear was born in Butler, Missouri on November 26 (did not know this until now that he was born on my brother’s birthday), in 1941. He first started photography when he was 10 (about the same time as I got interested) with a Brownie Box camera. He was originally wanting to be a pilot, but photography piqued his interest far more. Over the time of his career, he has been a reporter for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. Nat Geo even Hired him in 1971 to report on the lives of Russian villagers, or “Old Believers”, in Alaska. He did many other kinds of stuff to build up his experience and in his portfolio. When National Geographic sent him to take photos of the vineyards in Napa Valley, he developed a liking for wine photography. So, he spent most of the rest of his career as a photographer as a wine photographer.

But in 1996 when he was driving to his girlfriend in San Francisco, he took the photo that was used as the main wallpaper of Windows XP, called Bliss. He took the photo while driving down Highway 121. He took it handheld with a medium-format Mamiya RZ67 camera. The photo was submitted to Westlight, an older company that merged with Corbis, which is now Getty Images. Later, Microsoft found the photo and asked O’rear if it could be the default wallpaper of their new operating system, Windows XP. He agreed to a large payment and personally flew up to Seattle and hand-delivered the photo himself. Today, Bliss is the “most viewed image on the planet”.

Joe and Charles are both widely celebrated photographers that have similarities and differences. The main similarity that they share is that both of them have one piece of work that was dramatically more popular than the rest of their work. For Charles, it was his Bliss photo that Microsoft used for the default wallpaper of Windows XP. For Joe, the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima image was his most-seen image. Experience-wise, Charles wins because he was a reporter for several different newspapers before he was hired by National Geographic. The only experience that Joe had was for the Newspaper Enterprise Association before he was hired by the Associated Press. Both photographers captured their great photos while working for these companies. Joe won the Pulitzer Award for his photo while Charles did not win any awards for his photo, though he did get an undisclosed amount of money from Microsoft for the photo. The timing for taking the photo was completely different between the two photographers. Joe was late to the scene. Luckily, he got a second chance. Charles, on the other hand, was driving down Highway 121 when he saw the grassy hill and pulled over to take the shot that would be recognizable by millions.

I would not necessarily say that either of these photographers inspires me. I just have personal connections to them or their work. What actually inspired me to start photography was my family. I saw family members using small point-and-shoot cameras at family get-togethers when I was younger and always wanted to take photos. Eventually, I did get my own camera in 2010. In 8th grade, I decided to take a photography class that confirmed that I wanted to do photography for a living. Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima was taken on my birthday. Coincidence? I think not. I found this out in a history textbook in 10th grade and after a quick google search confirmed this fact and I instantly love his photo. His photo of the men raising the flag is such a powerful photo. I also have a strong liking for World War Two Because it involves Europe and Europe is a pretty cool place. Charles O’Rear was born on my brother’s birthday which makes him special to me. his photo being the default wallpaper of Windows XP is the main reason why he inspires me. Back before I remember I was introduced to computers by my dad. My dad had an old Windows XP machine and I used to see this wallpaper all the time. Now looking back Windows XP has become very nostalgic to me. My dad is also the person who got me into computers.

“Joe Rosenthal.” International Photography Hall of Fame, December 20, 2019. https://iphf.org/inductees/joe-rosenthal/.

Newman, Lily Hay. “The Most Famous Desktop Wallpaper Ever Is a Real, Unaltered Photo.” Slate Magazine. Slate, April 11, 2014. https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/charles-o-rear-is-the-photographer-who-took-the-windows-xp-wallpaper-photo-in-napa-valley.html.

Inscoe, Michael. “Location of the Microsoft Windows XP Default Wallpaper.” Atlas Obscura. Atlas Obscura, November 7, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/location-of-the-microsoft-windows-xp-wallpaper.

“Photographer Joe Rosenthal.” AP Images, September 20, 1944. http://www.apimages.com/collection/landing/photographer-joe-rosenthal/c887e3b8270744d6b2539d3c0bd734cc.

“Joe Rosenthal and the Flag-Raising on Iwo Jima.” The Pulitzer Prizes. Accessed November 20, 2020. https://www.pulitzer.org/article/joe-rosenthal-and-flag-raising-iwo-jima.

“Joe Rosenthal.” Accessed November 20, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/joe-rosenthal.

Images, Bridgeman, Photograph by W. Eugene Smith, Photograph by Robert Clark, Photograph by Joe Rosenthal, and Photograph by Becky Hale. “Was This Iconic World War II Photo Staged? Here’s the Heroic True Story.” National Geographic, May 6, 2020. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/02/iconic-world-war-ii-photo-staged-heroic-true-story/.

PeoplePill. “About Charles O’Rear: American Photographer (1941-): Biography, Facts, Career, Wiki, Life.” PeoplePill. Accessed November 20, 2020. https://peoplepill.com/people/charles-orear/.

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