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2731
2732

Tank man: the bigger picture (i.minus.com)

submitted ago by thephenom

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[–]enz1ey 1106 points1107 points ago

Well now I just feel like the original never really did this guy justice.

[–]perogies 258 points259 points ago

It's like the pre widescreen era.

[–]enz1ey 331 points332 points ago

I wanna know who thought "hey guys, cropping this would make it so much better."

[–]pzuraq 529 points530 points ago

I think they were trying to move the focal point of the image from the army and line of tanks to the lone protester standing in front of them.

The only reason this larger view is so impactful, is because the image of that man standing in the way of those tanks is iconic to us. It's like the raising of Iwo Jima or that one with the officer shooting a POW in Vietnam. It's because you know that guy was standing their, in the way of those tanks, that the zoomed out image becomes so much more impressive. If all you had seen was the large image, you would probably not notice, or place much less emphasis, on the man, and more on the army, and it would not have the same effect.

[–]benthejammin 279 points280 points ago

FYI that wasnt a POW. That was a guy who worked on murder squads for the viet cong. That general capped his ass right after that man had murdered a family. Scum had it coming.

[–]KorbenD2263 146 points147 points ago

Indeed, and even if you object to it morally, the shooter was within his rights legally. Geneva convention is very specific about who can NOT be summarily executed, and an army officer fighting in a combat zone while wearing civilian clothing is NOT one of those protected groups.

EDITED for clarity. Original statement could be construed to say that Geneva Convention permits executions in certain situations, when in fact it forbids it in all except certain cases.

[–]ClassicalFizz -4 points-3 points ago

The Geneva Convention does not say anywhere that you can execute someone without a trial. Stop spreading misinformation.

[–]Willtaylor 38 points39 points ago

What? The whole of warfare is execution without trial and clearly the Geneva convention allows certain forms of war, so implicitly the Geneva convention DOES include it.

[–]monopolymonocle 3 points4 points ago

The Geneva Convention is a misnomer. There are four conventions, the first three all have to do with the treatment of prisoners of war, protection of medical facilities, and stuff like that. The Geneva Conventions do not allow execution of prisoners of war, and term doing so a "grave violation" which we would now consider to be a "war crime." However, the conventions also define a prisoner of war as a uniformed officer engaged in combat, and civilian clothed death squad leaders would not be covered. The execution of such a person would be covered by the law of the country in which he was apprehended, and in that case he was almost certainly lawfully executed.

tl;dr: The Geneva Conventions don't give you rights to due process, they mostly just stop retaliatory mistreatment and executions of POWs.

[–]Carinix 1 point2 points ago

Not just that, but being an active militant in civilian clothes would open up the legal loophole of, "Well, he attacked us, and wasn't wearing uniform, so we figured he was just a rebel and not a soldier from the other army, so we can do what we want"

[–]EternalStudent 2 points3 points ago

[citation needed]. Where do the Geneva conventions say you cannot summarily execute spies and partisans?

load more comments (17 replies)

    [–]BaronVonBondage 25 points26 points ago

    the photographer of that, Eddie Adams, won the Pulitzer prize for his photo, and it brought opinion down upon the South Vietnamese National Police, something Adams always regretted because the man murdered an official's entire family. Harper's magazine called it "the moment when the American public turned against the war". Here's the photograph

    [–]mypantsareonmyhead 29 points30 points ago

    Here is the NSFL video. Seeing it in video is very different to the moment of time caught in the award winning photograph.

    He deserved it.

    [–]iaccidentlytheworld 4 points5 points ago

    Wow.

    [–]the_raptor 30 points31 points ago

    He was dressed in civvies, that means he gets no POW protections even if he wasn't part of a murder squad.

    [–]pzuraq 1 point2 points ago

    Fair enough, I remembered hearing something along those lines though I wasn't clear on the full story. And I think it goes to show just how important a photograph can be, the framing, the moment, and how thinking about how to present it is equally important.

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      [–]Frankeh 27 points28 points ago

      The only reason this larger view is so impactful, is because the image of that man standing in the way of those tanks is iconic to us.

      Finally, someone gets it.

      [–]Captain_Pirate 2 points3 points ago

      shouldn't it be the raising @ iwo jima?

      [–]Genericrelish 1 point2 points ago

      Link to officer shooting POW? You saying that isn't ringing any bells. :/

      [–]lytfyre 9 points10 points ago

      I suspect he means this photo.

      [–]Kad66 22 points23 points ago

      Gif (NSFW)

      [–]NekkidSnaku 25 points26 points ago

      TIL there is footage of this.

      [–]C_M_Burns 12 points13 points ago

      Links to: http://www.fosterspage.net/...albums/ AssortedComedy /Vietnam_Execution.gif

      ಠ_ಠ

      [–]ndougla2 1 point2 points ago

      damn that was a lot quicker than I thought it would be...no final words or any of that shit...just a monster slain with the quickness...

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        [–]Genericrelish 2 points3 points ago

        Ah thank you. Now I know it.

        [–]rasputine 24 points25 points ago

        FYI, as said upthread, not POW. It was an enemy officer in civilian clothing after being found killing a family.

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          [–]BenStillerIsGay 22 points23 points ago

          I Believe it's a different picture

          "Another version was taken by Stuart Franklin of Magnum Photos from the fifth floor of the Beijing Hotel. His has a wider field of view than Widener's, showing more tanks further away. He was on the same balcony as Charlie Cole, and his roll of film was smuggled out of the country by a French student, concealed in a box of tea.[16]"

          [–]Glorious-G 16 points17 points ago

          It's not cropped, it's a different picture altogether

          Source

          [–]IAmNotACastingAgent 1 point2 points ago

          "it's a different picture"

          [–]gowron 1 point2 points ago

          "it's a different picture"

          [–]pinchhazard 10 points11 points ago

          This isn't the iconic image. It's a different shot, I think by a different photographer.

          [–]coogie 1 point2 points ago

          Isolating the subject is much more powerful.

          [–]bitparity 1 point2 points ago

          Cropping did make it better. If they had published this full picture in a newspaper, you wouldn't even notice the guy. You'd notice the tanks. In fact you'd notice the background of Tiananmen square more.

          By cropping it down to just the 4 tanks, you have a better juxtaposition between tank man and the tanks, with the visual line drawing your eye more easily to the guy standing in front dressed in a white shirt, emphasizing him more, while still maintaining the message of a lone guy against giant steel beasts.

          A wide screen shot like the one submitted, if you didn't have the context of the original 4 tank crop photo, would more likely visually convey the scene of a traffic jam rather than a heroic stand. Especially since your eye naturally draws to lighter areas. In the tighter crop, your eye draws to the man in the white shirt. In the wider shot, your eye draws to the parking lot.

          Source: I'm a photo editor

          load more comments (2 replies)

            [–][deleted] 66 points67 points ago

            It is a great thing to stand up for what is right against another person.

            It is a greater thing to stand up for what is right against an armed person.

            It is an amazingly great thing to stand up for what is right against a group of persons with heavy weapons and tanks.

            It takes a hero, a true, genuine hero with courage so great that most of us cannot even imagine it, to stand up, alone and unarmed, to an army.

            This picture makes me shiver in awe.

            [–]friendofships 9 points10 points ago

            The scene was actually photographed by five different photographers Jeff Widener, Stuart Franklin, Charlie Cole and Arthur Tsang Hin Wah all took a variety of shots from an elevated perspective and a BBC film crew also recorded footage from a similar angle. Photographs from these four photographs and the footage were all published in the immediate aftermath. The fifth photographer Terril Jones took the street level photo this photo though was not revealed until 2009. The most widely published version photo of the scene was Jeff Widener's the wider angle shot may be from Stuart Franklin but I am not sure.

            Sources

            Wiki

            NY Times Lens Blog

            [–][deleted] 26 points27 points ago

            What are 100 tanks going to do to him that one couldn't?

            [–]BanglaPP 21 points22 points ago

            Run him over 100 times. Without having to back up. Duh!

            [–]Lurks_And_Votes 11 points12 points ago

            Practically, there is no increase in danger. You have to admit, however, that the perceived danger of blocking 100 tanks over 1 would be a lot higher.

            [–]BearSole 2 points3 points ago

            The tanks weren't coming for him, he's just stopped in front of them.

            [–]shakeyjake 2 points3 points ago

            It only takes one of the tank drivers deciding to kill him for his life to be over. With a single tank that is only 1 decision. As you add more tanks the likelihood of all the decisions to fall in your favor falls exponentially.

            [–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

            You seriously underestimate the discipline of Chinese tank commander.

            [–]nechneb 2 points3 points ago

            1 Tank would imply that if the one tank driver prioritized humanity over following orders he(tankman) would be spared. 100 tanks means if 1 out of 100 drivers prioritized following orders over humanity he(tankman) would be dead.

            So his odds of getting run over was much higher with 100 tanks.

            [–]alcakd 0 points1 point ago

            They could fire 100 times as many rounds at him :O

            load more comments (1 reply)

              [–]Terrance021 1 point2 points ago

              I have seen the Messiah

              [–]apinney89 4 points5 points ago

              I kind of get where you see the increased impressiveness (that's a word now), but I think we're dealing in diminishing returns here. A single man head on with a tank vs a single man head on with a whole battalion of tanks is pretty much the same thing. That dude would be fucked either way.

              [–]disembodied_voice 3 points4 points ago

              On the other hand, while he could conceivably slow down one or two tank drivers with a conscience (which he apparently did), he can't stretch himself out to stop an entire tank battalion if they decided to travel line abreast rather than in a column. His efforts could have resulted in the loss of his life for no gain whatsoever (and may very well have), and yet he stepped up anyway, and delayed the tanks for a little while.

              [–]apinney89 4 points5 points ago

              I'm not discrediting this man. He is extremely brave and this is one of the most incredible acts by a single person in the history of the (documented) world. Just kind of stating the 'logistics' of a tank vs a human being (minus the social/psychological effects that the tank driver had that day).

              But since you mentioned it. Had they been driving line abreast like you mentioned, I wonder how this would've played out. First, Tank man may not have taken this brave action. Second, the driver in the front tank would have conflicting emotions. "Should I hold the front line with my fellow soldiers or should let this man live?"

              [–]mapkinase 1 point2 points ago

              Who are the lines of people further back? Some of them seem like sitting which to me implies that they are opposition. If it's so, then that would mean that there were other opposition people on the path of tanks.

              [–][deleted] ago

              [deleted]

              load more comments (8 replies)

                [–]tehbertl 205 points206 points ago

                Here's some video footage of Tank Man to go with it, for your viewing pleasure.

                [–]BritishArsearsein 60 points61 points ago

                I wonder what the conversation was between him and the tank operator.

                [–]DeliriumTremen 35 points36 points ago

                Sadly, nobody will probably ever know.

                [–]itsprobablytrue 24 points25 points ago

                Actually if you see the video where the other people pull him back you can clearly tell that he's yelling at the tanks for blocking traffic

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                  [–]ThisLand 35 points36 points ago

                  "So what are those tank made out of? My balls?"

                  [–]remondo 15 points16 points ago

                  God damn mongolians breakin down my shitty wok.

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                    [–]snacknuts 124 points125 points ago

                    I think the video is more poignant than the photo. In the photo we see a single man against a relentless regime. The video shows not only the man but the driver who didn't want to run him over. Both are victims here.

                    [–]identiphiant 6 points7 points ago

                    i wonder if the driver had any problem after this

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                      [–]blowinbacksout 9 points10 points ago

                      never seen that... wow

                      [–]Hiphoppington 1 point2 points ago

                      Nor had I. Amazing. When he started moving with the tank as it tried to go around him...no words.

                      [–]shieeet 16 points17 points ago

                      Fucking great. Now i'm crying. one of the bravest things in modern times.

                      [–]Ejdl 2 points3 points ago

                      Why did the other people go there and pull him away? Did they see that he would do no different and went to save him? Or what is the thought? When i saw them running in front of the tank I thought they were going to join him :/

                      [–]tehbertl 8 points9 points ago

                      I have no idea, but I think they might be part of the military dressed as civilians. They do that a lot.

                      [–]shooterlesson 1 point2 points ago

                      Citation? Or how did you reach this conclusion?

                      [–]BHSPitMonkey 2 points3 points ago

                      HE SAID THEY DO IT A LOT OKAY? SHEESH

                      [–]xLowDown 2 points3 points ago

                      I can imagine the people in all the tanks behind the first being confused as to what the hell was going on.

                      [–]jdk 12 points13 points ago

                      A real "I've had it with these mothefucking tanks" moment.

                      load more comments (4 replies)

                        [–]gfish93 130 points131 points ago

                        I think the reason why this picture is so much more powerful is because we were raised on the cropped version. That version gives you a good feeling of scale; in this picture, the scale is nearly incomprehensible. You feel a greater connection with the man in the zoomed in version than you do in the full version. Although it is more impressive seeing the whole scene, it's not quite as emotional.

                        [–]mrkurtz 16 points17 points ago

                        i dunno, a line of tanks, with more in formation behind them, not to mention what appears to be a large number of ground troops as well (it's quite blurry, so relying on context and the fact that they seem to be stationed in rows behind barricades, though it's possible they're civilians).

                        anyway, literally one man vs an army, i think it's as powerful a picture as the cropped version, if not more powerful.

                        [–]this_sort_of_thing 1 point2 points ago

                        The tanks are also lined up perfectly in a line very close to each other, so it makes the image look more powerful. In the big one the tanks have so much space between each other and aren't in a very neat line, it looks like the tanks would/could just bypass the man so easily with all the space they have.

                        Obviously for whatever reason they all decided to follow the lead tank into stopping in the middle of the road in a line right next to each other...

                        [–]BurningPandama 1 point2 points ago

                        The most famous is not a cropped version, it's another picture but taken from the same balcony. source

                        load more comments (1 reply)

                          [–]into_the_stream 18 points19 points ago

                          Jan Wong is a reporter (foriegn correspondant for the globe and mail, among others) who was at the tianeman square massacre. In one of her books (I can't recall which), she talks about tank man. She said how the most remarkable thing wasn't the guy facing the tanks. The most remarkable thing was that this particular tank driver chose not to simply run him down. Everywhere people were standing off against tanks, laying down to block their progression, and the response was almost always the same. The tank drivers simply ran the people down. Why this driver chose to do something different was a question she still can't answer.

                          [–]riveracct 4 points5 points ago

                          Holy shit, that's a bigger shocker for me that they ran people down!

                          [–]into_the_stream 4 points5 points ago

                          I know. Her descriptions of the whole thing were pretty amazing. She was staying in a hotel room with some other journalists where the balcony was right on the square. The protest started out as a student protest, but workers joined after a couple days. People would lie in the street in a naive attempt to impede the tanks progress, thinking that they wouldn't pass, but the tanks didn't even pause. They just ran right over anyone and anything in their way. She was also right there when they opened fire on the protesters. Great account if ever you get to read it. I've read three of her books and can't recall which it's from. Maybe red china blues?

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                            [–][deleted] 4 points5 points ago

                            Oddly though it appears they the tanks changed course to run him over, then didnt. Or had he stood in the way of their original path and they attempted to go around him, then he moved in front of the tanks again?

                            [–]dajumbles 1 point2 points ago

                            If you watch the video, you see him actually continuously moving in front of the tank, even when the driver tried to go around him.

                            load more comments (1 reply)

                              [–]perogies 52 points53 points ago

                              Balls of solid steel.

                              [–]bobboy211 46 points47 points ago

                              Reason for always carrying 2 large bags.

                              [–]dudie 17 points18 points ago

                              "Hey man, I'd love to help but I've got these bags."

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                                  [–]Trapped_in_Reddit 254 points255 points ago

                                  The alternate angle is pretty crazy too.

                                  [–]thephenom[S] 131 points132 points ago

                                  What shocks me is more not how he stood in front of a tank, but standing in front of a LINE of 50 tanks less than a km away.

                                  [–]Duramax159 303 points304 points ago

                                  In all fairness, 50 tanks can't hurt you any more than a single tank can.

                                  [–]lawless6776 37 points38 points ago

                                  This is a legit question, did he live? I've never heard or seem anything about this guy about what happened after the picture

                                  [–]Cyberhwk 97 points98 points ago

                                  Yeah, nobody knows. A couple of other protesters drug him away. To my knowledge there is only one more picture of him after the famous one was taken.

                                  On one hand, some people say he likely didn't make it. The photographer was shaken down by police within minutes of the famous photo being taken (he duct taped it to the underside of his toilet lid IIRC).

                                  On the other hand, others say had they caught him they would have likely paraded him around as propaganda and to make an example out of him. The fact that they never did leads some people to believe he may have miraculously gotten away. Whether this is just wishful thinking is an exercise left to the reader.

                                  [–]the-fritz 74 points75 points ago

                                  A couple of other protesters drug him away.

                                  There is some speculation that those weren't protesters but plain cloth security forces.

                                  [–]NeverTheMachine 6 points7 points ago

                                  Seeing how they tried to confiscate the film, it seems like they would suppress the man rather than parade him around. IIRC, many Chinese are not aware of this incident.

                                  [–]TomPong 18 points19 points ago

                                  They drug him away?

                                  [–]BeatlesForSale 45 points46 points ago

                                  Yeah, he started tripping balls and got out of the way.

                                  [–]tikiporch 23 points24 points ago

                                  It's called dialect, and it's every beginner grammar-Nazi's main obstacle.

                                  [–]rogersmith25 4 points5 points ago

                                  I'm going to need a more thorough explanation - which dialect uses drug as the past tense of drag in place of "dragged" and why is it considered acceptable? It seems like a lot of people collectively made the same mistake.

                                  [–]jsct 2 points3 points ago

                                  I grew up in Illinois and always heard 'drug' in this context to the point I always think someone is wrong when they use 'dragged'

                                  *It should be added that English has no equivalent of the Académie française, so there is nothing actively governing the use of the language, much to the dismay of grammar nazis.

                                  [–][deleted] ago

                                  [deleted]

                                  [–]dejust 1 point2 points ago

                                  Probably related to the "thunk" in "Who'd have thunk it". Although I've only ever heard this in use in an ironic way.

                                  [–]avalose 1 point2 points ago

                                  Linguistically it is called Morphological leveling or Analogical leveling. Good examples in English are throw/threw/thrown become throw/throwed/throwed, cleave/clove/cloven has become cleave/cleaved/cleaved, strive/strove/striven has become strive/strived/strived.

                                  Page 106 in this book Historical Linguistics by Lyle Campbell

                                  [–]powerchicken 1 point2 points ago

                                  Because it's a word that people use in some areas, that's why it is correct, no matter what your dictionary might say.

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                                        [–]Sanic3 34 points35 points ago

                                        He was never identified. wiki

                                        [–]lawless6776 2 points3 points ago

                                        Also many thanks!!!

                                        [–]LetMeBuyYouABeer 31 points32 points ago

                                        Many tanks indeed! :)

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                                            [–]keyree 13 points14 points ago

                                            I seem to recall that he was never identified.

                                            Edit: There you go.

                                            [–]lawless6776 1 point2 points ago

                                            Thanks for this!

                                            [–]CleverGirrl 2 points3 points ago

                                            Here you are.

                                            [–]Peabush 2 points3 points ago

                                            Theres like one in a billion chance that this is the guy...

                                            [–]Iamnotacrackpot 1 point2 points ago

                                            Possibly ended up in one of those black jails? I'm not sure anyone really knows.

                                            [–]HeyCitizen 10 points11 points ago

                                            You mean an american jail?

                                            [–]sarcasm_rocks 6 points7 points ago

                                            No those are Hispanic

                                            [–]OmegaVesko 3 points4 points ago

                                            Knowing china, I would be surprised if he was still alive.

                                            [–]stufff 1 point2 points ago

                                            According to Chinese authorities he is living a long and happy life in luxury and comfort after they had a pleasant chat with him about his political beliefs.

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                                              [–]basshound3 6 points7 points ago

                                              The Command and Conquer series begs to differ

                                              [–]imsabbel 4 points5 points ago

                                              Yeah, the wonders of RSP mechanics: watching a rifleman slowly kill your tank while he evades being run over...

                                              [–]nechneb 1 point2 points ago

                                              1 Tank would imply that if the one tank driver prioritized humanity over following orders he(tankman) would be spared. 100 tanks means if 1 out of 100 drivers prioritized following orders over humanity he(tankman) would be dead.

                                              So his odds of getting run over was much higher with 100 tanks.

                                              [–]AccountClosed 1 point2 points ago

                                              In all fairness, 50 tanks can't hurt you any more than a single tank can.

                                              I believe the difference is in "peer pressure". A tank commander is more likely to stop if he is by himself, when he is leading a column of 50 tanks, not so much.

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                                                [–]poon-is-food 19 points20 points ago

                                                he did more than stand in front of it, he climbed all over it and tried to get in.

                                                link

                                                [–]ssjaken 4 points5 points ago

                                                He was just getting groceries.

                                                With all this war. Artificial threat of terrorism. Our president assassinating US citizens with drones. I think / dream.

                                                Will we have our own tank man when our country collapses? Will the effects of social network and reality TV keep the next tank man from existing? I pray that we will have another tank man some day.

                                                [–]this_sort_of_thing 3 points4 points ago

                                                If I was the commander in the second or third tank (and further behind), look how much space they have, they could have easily just gone on ahead and around Tank Man so they could crush the peasants on their way to most glorious victory

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                                                  [–]OIP 14 points15 points ago

                                                  guy on the left has a jaunty as fuck stride

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                                                    [–]EARink0 55 points56 points ago

                                                    Made a couple wallpapers, both in 16:9 (standard HD) resolution.

                                                    3737x2102

                                                    1920x1080

                                                    [–]docticdoc 33 points34 points ago

                                                    so you cropped the uncropped version. good job!

                                                    [–]EARink0 4 points5 points ago

                                                    I decided to make a cropped version for myself, and just thought others might like it if I saved them the effort of doing it on their own.

                                                    edit: Heh, yeah I get the joke now, you get an upvote for that. For the record though, I don't like bars too much on my wallpapers, so cropping gave me complete control over what exactly what shows up on the screen.

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                                                      [–][deleted] ago

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                                                        [–]farcast 13 points14 points ago

                                                        Photoshop content-aware fill is getting really good these days!

                                                        [–]Wyrmshadow 55 points56 points ago

                                                        The bigger picture is that he was soon arrested by a plain clothes PLA cop. You can watch the video as he's being ushered off the street with his arm bound behind his back. That's why we never heard who this man was, he was arrested and disappeared.

                                                        [–]erratic_thought -3 points-2 points ago

                                                        with his arm bound behind his back

                                                        His hands are holding those bags they are not bound ... also I think it's more like those are some students rushing there so he can be saved from the PLA. Of course I can't be sure that he wasn't arrested but i'm sure his hand are not bound on this video ...

                                                        EDIT: Also fuck China! The communists are cowards, always were and always will be!

                                                        [–]Wyrmshadow 9 points10 points ago

                                                        Here

                                                        I linked the video to the proper time. You're assuming that I meant 'bound' as if with physical restraints like handcuffs or rope. No, but bound in a grip by the plain clothes PLA police.

                                                        *edited for poor grammar

                                                        [–]erratic_thought 1 point2 points ago

                                                        I'm sorry still can't see where his hands are bound ...

                                                        EDIT: In the short reply I didn't saw

                                                        You're assumed that I meant 'bound' as if with physical restraints like handcuffs or rope.

                                                        I understand your point now ...

                                                        [–]Wyrmshadow 4 points5 points ago

                                                        doesn't look like he's being rescued by concerned citizens does it?

                                                        [–]Hellman109 4 points5 points ago

                                                        Yeah when I look at the actions of the people around, it seems more likely that they are working for the government/army/police. You dont wave on opposing tanks, you dont stand around.

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                                                          [–]alcakd 14 points15 points ago

                                                          2012

                                                          fuck [the communists]

                                                          communists are cowards, always were and always will be!

                                                          Pssst. China is no more communist than America is.

                                                          [–]Wuggeh 6 points7 points ago

                                                          China is still communist, but they are a more successful form of communism than they were before. They have created a synthesis of communism, socialism, and capitalism that creates a more prosperous environment than "Soviet" communism and Maoism did.

                                                          They're still a Police State though, and it's fucked up.

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                                                                [–]definitelynotaspy 23 points24 points ago

                                                                What a tremendous human being. Honestly one of the most amazing people to have ever walked the earth. I can't get over the courage that that man had. It is literally awe-inspiring.

                                                                [–]Frodoholic 2 points3 points ago

                                                                I agree with you, but what's also striking is that he is an ordinary man. He has shopping bags. He might have just been walking home from the grocery store, and then he made a one courageous decision and became a legend. I think part of the appeal of the photo is that we, too, are ordinary and that maybe we could be at the right (wrong?) place at the right time and make the same decision. I doubt many of us could.

                                                                [–]definitelynotaspy 1 point2 points ago

                                                                Yeah, that's what impresses me so much. He is, ostensibly, an average person. He's not a soldier or a police officer. He's not a revolutionary, at least not by name. But he mustered up this incredible courage and carried out this incredible act. It's remarkable.

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                                                                  [–]BungaSlaney 5 points6 points ago

                                                                  "Hurry up and turn around, the ice cream is melting"

                                                                  [–]TheCheeks 11 points12 points ago

                                                                  I think this version speaks more loudly than the famous one.

                                                                  [–]BlamesRapMusic 8 points9 points ago

                                                                  This picture just sends a chill down my spine of pure emotion.

                                                                  [–]Jared_Jff 3 points4 points ago

                                                                  "Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right... When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world; 'No, you move.'"

                                                                  -Capt. America

                                                                  [–]terranex 10 points11 points ago

                                                                  I don't understand why that Chinese general built so many Battle Masters and not a single Overlord.

                                                                  [–]ZiggyOnMars 7 points8 points ago

                                                                  5 Battermasters together have bonus attack speed

                                                                  [–]YaKoStar 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  This is the overlord, tank.

                                                                  Gattling cannon will be ready soon. Speaker tower will be ready soon. Bunker will be ready soon.

                                                                  [–]Jaktroj 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  The guy should have brought an AK 47 weilding angry mob with him.

                                                                  [–]TheNickOswald 6 points7 points ago

                                                                  Maybe a stupid question, but why did the guy stand infront of all the tanks? What's the back story to the picture? I've always been so interested of the picture.

                                                                  [–]flagpole 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  When you said big I didn't think you meant it would take ten seconds to load. Saved, thank you my good sir!

                                                                  [–]bassoonsexytime 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  It also provides more context - it looks like the protesters have already been cleared out of Tiananmen square and the tanks are moving in a direction away from the area.

                                                                  [–]Pookah 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  For the record, as some people are callining it the "uncropped" version...this is a different picture than the zoomed-in picture we all know.

                                                                  [–]NeonRedHerring 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  Why are there massive stars of David on top of poles in Tienanmen square?

                                                                  [–]gaop 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  Nicely trolled.

                                                                  [–]ChangingYang 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  I spent a year abroad in Beijing, where the tiananmen massacre took place, the scariest thing for me about china, was that the younger generation in Beijing didn't even know about the massacre. Most of the older generation wouldn't talk about it, but the ones who did were really paranoid about saying anything about it. They said that people were still being hauled off today for talking about tiananmen.

                                                                  [–]ZiggyOnMars 4 points5 points ago

                                                                  Battlemaster tank reporting

                                                                  [–]kotta 6 points7 points ago

                                                                  clone http://img.im/i/mg2ff7

                                                                  [–]B-166-ER 3 points4 points ago

                                                                  What are the lines of people doing?

                                                                  [–]ChildrensBrigade 8 points9 points ago

                                                                  Sad that many of the kids in China may never see this picture or know about the man and what he stood for.

                                                                  [–]bulaien 10 points11 points ago

                                                                  Everyone knows about it

                                                                  [–]NotSiZhe 6 points7 points ago

                                                                  Nope. I worked in an area of Central China where lots of people weren't even aware of the 1989 protests. Seriously. Even in other parts of China where everyone knew about 1989 (I moved to Shanghai - very different) that does not mean they knew specifically about tank man (though they did know the background).

                                                                  [–]lambdaq 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  Everyone knows about it, no one knows what you are talking about. It's not called a protest in Chinese, it's called "学潮"

                                                                  [–]Heroshade 5 points6 points ago

                                                                  This. The idea that nobody in China knows about Tank man is a myth, a pretty dumb one IMO.

                                                                  [–]mmq_con_queso 9 points10 points ago

                                                                  Everybody? Wrong wrong wrong. There are people who know, of course. There are many who know very little, and people who know nothing, especially young people.

                                                                  source

                                                                  You can also just ask people.

                                                                  [–]NotSiZhe 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  Perhaps a myth that 'nobody in China knows about Tank man' but it is not a myth that many/most don't.

                                                                  I've lived in three areas of China - two in Central China and then in Shanghai. In the two areas of Central China almost nobody had heard of Tank man. In the more rural area even a lot of people didn't even know about 1989 (to be fair, I doubt much happened in that part of China, but still). In Shanghai people were much more knowledgable. People (to varying degrees) knew about the protests in 1989, the background and different aspects of the situation at the time. Even then most didn't know about Tank man specifically, but they did (more important) know about the news behind Tank man.

                                                                  [–]Tongan_Ninja 7 points8 points ago

                                                                  Pfft. People in China are barely aware of the Tiananmen protests. Show them this picture, and they're all "So what? Some fool carrying his shopping home is gawking at some tanks."

                                                                  [–]riveracct 2 points3 points ago

                                                                  Controlling 1+ b people is, FAIL.

                                                                  [–]tenkadaiichi 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  I showed it to my China-born coworker and he knew what it was.

                                                                  At first he thought it was a photo of a parade, but when I disagreed he looked again and said "Oh! June 5th!!"

                                                                  [–]petedawes 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  source?

                                                                  [–]alcakd 3 points4 points ago

                                                                  But censoorship!

                                                                  [–]eggandmuffin 1 point2 points ago

                                                                  Most of this generation of Chinese know how to bypass the Great Firewall of China (i.e. 自由門/Freedom Gate)

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                                                                    [–]Danielcdo 2 points3 points ago

                                                                    fucking communists

                                                                    [–]Unstopkable 1 point2 points ago

                                                                    I don't know if this is necessarily a more powerful image, but damn that man had balls.

                                                                    [–]yellowmonkey2 1 point2 points ago

                                                                    Is there any information on the guy from this picture? I have seen many articles about the protests themselves, but never about that individual.

                                                                    Granted, he probably got black-bagged, but I just wondered.

                                                                    [–]emr1028 7 points8 points ago

                                                                    The tl;dr is nobody knows, or really even has any idea.

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                                                                      [–]glucoseboy 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      What is the source for this picture?

                                                                      [–]adventgfx 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      Wow... truly fascinating, I'd still love to hear his side of the story... to actually know what went through his head when he marched out into a tank-battalion just to imply and symbolise, "No." when he knew rightly they could just end his ass.

                                                                      The Duke would be proud.

                                                                      [–]Nimcenzo 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      "uncrop"

                                                                      [–]TheBigYello1isTheSun 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      I can't think of another situation where a subject of a picture triples in badassery when you simply go wide.

                                                                      [–]2funk2drunction 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      hey guys, i'm in china, what is this a picture of?

                                                                      [–]BioDerm 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      Tankman, come together with your hands. Save me, I'm together with your plan. Save me!

                                                                      [–]20toes 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      The tanks were obviously on the wrong side of the road. He was just guiding them to the right. He doesn't like leftists.

                                                                      [–]Tartan_Commando 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      I had always assumed the tanks were going towards Tiananmen Square, but the square is in the background of this picture. They are leaving the scene. Those lines of people are therefore probably protestors, with soldiers standing over them.

                                                                      [–]robotporkchop 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      I've always wondered what he's carrying in his hands...

                                                                      [–]lilmitchell545 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      "Sir, we can't proceed. There's a giant pair of balls in the way."

                                                                      [–]LysolTea 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      Tank man will forever make me feel like a lesser man, but inspire me to be greater. Fucking Tank Man. Humanity at it's brightest.

                                                                      [–]Nicked777 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      Wow. This version of that image is genuinely frightening. No-one knows what happened to that guy but he was clearly a fucking badass.

                                                                      [–]Feed_Me_Seymour 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      I love the bags in his hands. It gives the impression that he's just a normal, everyday guy on his way back from shopping.

                                                                      "I got my milk, my chicken wings...oh shit, a tank parade. Time to block this bitch!"

                                                                      [–]boardin1 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      I thought he had big balls to begin with but... Well I think I'l let Dr Seuss say it for me.

                                                                      And what happened, then?

                                                                      Well, in Beijeng they say -

                                                                      that the Tank Man's big balls grew three sizes that day.

                                                                      And then - the true meaning of Tiananmen Square came through,

                                                                      and the Tank Man found the courage of ten men, plus two!

                                                                      EDIT: formatting & spelling

                                                                      [–]kfijatass 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      It's amazing how all my chinese colleagues don't know anything about this event.

                                                                      [–]ilikefries 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      4 M1Abrams would decimate that line of junk

                                                                      [–]arjeezyboom 1 point2 points ago

                                                                      This is probably my favorite picture of all time, and I never knew there was an uncropped version. Mind blown. Anyone know where I could find a poster of this full-size version? I've searched for hours with no luck :(

                                                                      [–]garythecoconut 2 points3 points ago

                                                                      wow this really changes it. I had no idea.

                                                                      [–]dimcoin 3 points4 points ago

                                                                      The definition of a true boss.

                                                                      [–]hoodoomonster 2 points3 points ago

                                                                      The bigger picture-is tank man still ALIVE?

                                                                      [–]GoldwaterAndTea 10 points11 points ago

                                                                      Not a chance. He was likely tortured to death.

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                                                                        [–]windinsea 3 points4 points ago

                                                                        What a badass! 99% of us would shit our pants and run

                                                                        [–]boredatworkinSK 17 points18 points ago

                                                                        Tank Man: he is the 1%

                                                                        [–]RdMrcr 8 points9 points ago

                                                                        THEN FUCK HIM

                                                                        Oh wait... I don't get it, should we love him or hate him? TELL ME WHAT TO THINK REDDIT

                                                                        [–]chemaster23 1 point2 points ago

                                                                        This is a picture for the ages.

                                                                        [–]patrat21589 1 point2 points ago

                                                                        TIL that tank guy was not actually run over and it's not known if he was taken and executed or is still alive today.

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