Ricky Ortuno
Marc Riboud "The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet"
1967
Marc Riboud was known for taking pictures about brief moments but express a lot of meaning. In this photograph it displays a young girl closing in on the soldiers with their bayonets while holding a flower. This was an anti-Vietnam march held outside the Pentagon with the National Guard ordered to hold their ground. In this photograph I felt both the discomfort of the soldiers and the compassion of the girl. The soldiers had no clue what to do for they were presented with a caring girl who wanted nothing to do with violence. This made me think of the constant battles my mother and I have had. Consistent fighting that led to no where but sadness. But one day after work I left a flower for her and it diffused the situation just like this one moment captured by Marc Riboud. We are all just people who want to live together in peace.
