What makes a picture Pulitzer Prize worthy

Posted by J Gaines on September 22, 2010 · 2 Comments 

1959 Pulitzer Prize Winner

“Wheels of Death”

Taken by: William Seaman

This Pulitzer Prize prize-winning photo struck my eye with the simplicity that contrasts with the horrible image it presents. Some of the noticeable techniques the photographer uses is the wide-angle lens, the depth, the color, and the visual flow.

The first technique I noticed is the black and white color. It shows the age of the photo along with giving it a kind of bleak setting. The photo is taken with a wide-angle lens. The visual flow takes the viewer from one object to another. There is this upward movement from the broken red wagon, to the covered body, and finally to the policemen and beyond. This leads to the use of depth perception. This is a tragedy where the policeman and the rest of the people are onlookers (the background) to a crash scene that is right in front of the camera. It is interesting to see that nothing is centered in the picture except for the chid’s body. The photo gives a tiring feeling of an upward climb up a quiet suburban street.

I was drawn to this image for its undistinguished look. I could not tell the event right away like some of the other Pulitzer Prize winners at the Newseum. A lot of the photos had a connection to a known event that was familiar to the general population. The picture told the story, unlike a photo that has a story behind it that was covered heavily in the news. I don’t know how much news this story made, but the photo exceeds anything that could be written about it.

Filed under Visual Literacy