--- title: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo | TIME description: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo canonical: https://time.com/video/9ktJjcpE/ og:title: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo og:description: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo og:url: https://time.com/video/9ktJjcpE/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9ktJjcpE/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo twitter:description: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9ktJjcpE/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo [Watch (HLS stream): Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9ktJjcpE.m3u8) (5:35)  _Published 2014-06-04. Behind the Iconic Tank Man Photo_ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:45 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The Iconic Photo of D-Day](/video/8CmPFMLD/) ### The Iconic Photo of D-Day [An Iconic Photo of Burning Man](/video/I3M2BcvQ/) ### An Iconic Photo of Burning Man [An Iconic Photo of Burning Man](/video/8vjErNtL/) ### An Iconic Photo of Burning Man --- ## Transcript [ NOISE ] My name is Jeff Weiner, I was the staff photographer with the associated press. I was called in to cover the 1989 students protest in Tiananmen square. I think Liu Hueng Shings says I can't fo because I'm Chinese. So that was up to me. And so, I had to go out and get the bicycle, and I was so scared And I had heard that the Beijing Hotel had security, and these security were going around and using electric cattle prods on journalists, to give up their film and, and all the equipment. So, I was concerned about this and I had hidden my cameras as best I could, in the shadows of the lobby I saw this tall western college kid and I walked up to him and I just said hey Joe, where you been? I've been looking for you. And I whispered, I'm from AP can you let me up to your room? He says yeah, come on. This was Kirk Martsen. Kirk Martsen played a major role in the Tank Man photo so when I got back up to the room, I basically just collapsed on the bed, I was exhausted, I was hurting. And what made me totally unsettle was the fact there was a bullet hole right behind me on the wall. So I knew that I was easy pickens for anybody who wanted to get me. Then a little while later I heard this noise of tanks coming down the street and I went out to the balcony and I see the column of tanks coming towards me. And I'm thinking well this is a nice compressed shot of the tanks and, you know, it wasn't fantastic, but it was compressed. And, and all of a sudden, this guy with shopping bags walks out in front. And I'm looking at it, and I get annoyed, and I look at Kirk, and I say this guy's gonna **** up my composition. And he goes they're gonna kill that guy, they're gonna kill him. And I looked and I said this guy's crazy. And so you hear gunfire going on everywhere, and the guy doesn't flinch. He just, he just stays there. Not only pop shots from the AK47's, but there is automatic from a large caliber you could hear, and he still didn't move. So, I, I, I, it's just unbelievable how much courage he had to just fight his course there. It's just, gives shivers. And I get shivers just looking at this video. It's very emotional for me. [ NOISE ]. And I aimed my 400 mm lens at him and I waited for, I waited for the moment he would get shot. And I waited, and I waited. I thought I could see him yelling or saying something, but I wasn't really sure and then I looked back at the bed where the teleconverter was and I thought to myself. This is too far away. This picture's too far away. And a long, should I go back and put the doubler on? Should I stay with, get what I have and it was again, a huge gamble and I've always gambled. So I went back to the bed. And I got it. Now while why I was gone to the bed, this guy had gone up on top of the tanks, and he was doing this thing up there. And then he came back down again. So when I finally got to the balcony, I'm leaning over, and there's a, I think there was a wall partition coming out or something, because I remember I had to lean over the balcony to photograph him. I took one, two, three shots and then I noticed that the needle on the meter was down between thirtieth and sixtieth of a second. And so I remember collapsing on this chair next to the window and I'm just looking at the carpeting and Kirk says, did you get it, did you get it? You could say it's David and Goliath but I think it goes beyond David and Goliath, it's just it's this, it's un, it's unbelievable. I mean, here's this guy who is obviously just out shopping and finally he just had enough. And he goes out in the street with these oncoming tanks and if he's any, if he's halfway normal, I, I assume he's gonna, he thinks he's gonna die. But he doesn't care. He just doesn't care because, for whatever reason. Either he's lost a loved one or he's just had it with the government for whatever it is. His statement is more important than his own life. And he walks out there and he stand there, and I think, and my picture is when he's coming off the tank and he's just making one last stance and he looks, he's got the Gandhi, pose. Passive, everybody connects to this that, you know, there isn't, all hope is not lost. That, you know, you can make a stance, you can, you know, you can be somebody. You know, there is some dignity and, and that, that you fight for your rights. [ NOISE ]. Where has the guy gone? I don't know. John. Pick up. 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