TIME 100 Photos | The Body of Emmett Till: The Story Behind David Jackson’s Photograph
In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago was visiting relatives in Mississippi. While there, he was lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman. The two men who did it were quickly acquitted. At the funeral, Emmett's mother Mamie Till-Mobley insisted on an open casket and asked photographer David Jackson to photograph the body. She wanted to show the world what happened to her son. This piece, produced by the TIME photo department, as part of their 100 Most Influential Photos project, tells the story behind that photograph, the impact it had on the Civil Rights Movement, and the importance it continues to have today.
This is another short from the 100 Photos project about the making of one of my favorite images. This photograph of Salvador Dalí, taken by Philippe Halsman, helped change the idea of what portrait photography could be, adding action and energy to a style that was generally more composed. This image took 26 separate takes to achieve the final composition.