Talk

MPS Digital Photography and Picturing Resistance present a talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John Filo.

On May 4, 1970, John Filo was a student photographer at Kent State University where, like at college campuses across the country, students were protesting against the Vietnam War. On this day, when the National Guard turned and fired on the student protestors, killing four of them, Filo captured an image that went around the world, defined a country in turmoil, and eventually won a Pulitzer Prize.

In this talk, Filo will talk about covering what became a tragic event, his images, and the aftermath. What does it take to keep your head about you in extraordinary circumstances to capture an image that tells the story, and speaks to a generation? What does it mean when one of your images becomes iconic? And how does a photographer who makes such an era-defining image, keep that image from defining them?

A Q&A will follow.

The talk will be hosted at the MFA Design for Social Innovation auditorium.

Picturing Resistance: Bearing Witness and Amplifying Voices and Visibility Through Photography is presented by the DEVELOP Photography Newsletter.