About the Day-April 5th 1976
The marchers spotted Landsmark coming toward them. So did a photographer who only minutes before had arrived on the scene. Stanley Forman loved his job. He had arrived early for work that day, as he did every day. No news was being made in his bachelor apartment in Brighton. So Forman drove to the Herald American offices with his constant companion, Glossy, a golden retriever. He arrived sometime after 8 for a 9-5 shift and asked Al Salie, the assistant city editor, if anything was going on. Salie told him that Gene Dixon, another of the news photographers, was off at an anti-busing rally at City Hall. There was nothing else to do so Forman asked if he could go join him.
He drove his silver Mercury to City Hall Plaza, about ten minutes away. He parked on the island on Cambridge Street, cracked the window for Glossy, and walked toward the plaza. It was pleasant enough for April 5; Forman enjoyed the walk. He was in no rush to arrive at yet another anti-busing rally. So he stopped to get an apple for his girlfriend, who worked around the corner from City Hall. He dropped by to chat and told her he was headed to a demonstration and would see her later.
Around 10:00, Forman made his way to the stairs at City Hall Plaza. He exchanged greetings with various people he knew and, as he looked up, he saw a large group coming down the stairs. It was no big deal. These demonstrations had become a routine occurrence. One of the protesters was waving an American flag.
Forman readied to take some shots. He was ahead of the group as it came out onto the steps. The protesters were moving toward him. He had two cameras, both Nikons. One had a motor drive; the other did not. He had three lenses: 35 mm, 135 mm, and a 20 mm in his pocket. He left the 35 on the camera without the motor drive and replaced the 135 on the other camera with the 20, which is a wide-angle lens that provides greater depth of field and therefore requires less focusing in the midst of action.
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Copyright Louis P. Masur, excerpted from The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America (Bloomsbury Press, 2008)
