From 'Tank Man' to Princess Di

It wasn 25 years ago when Jeff Widener captured the photo outside Beijing’s Tiananmen Square that became the icon of democracy known as “The Tank Man” but, for the American photojournalist, it still feels like yesterday. Now 57, Widener was last week back in Bangkok, his operational base at the time, to mark the anniversary and talk about that soul-stirring image. 

 

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE SITUATION THAT DAY, AMID THE UPHEAVAL OF STUDENT PROTEST?

It was crazy. I was photographing a burning armoured car and there were soldiers inside in the flames. My camera and flash batteries were running low so I could only take one picture every 60 seconds. Imagine – you’re covering one of the biggest stories of the 20th century and you can only take one picture per minute! I was just going crazy – you know, take a picture and then, come on, come on, recharge, recharge, take a picture. 

But what happened was, when I lifted the camera to my eye, a rock hit me in the face and smashed the camera completely. The camera actually saved my life, but I had a bad concussion, so when I was taking the “tank man” photo I was very dizzy. 

I was staying at the hotel closest to Tiananmen Square. Kirk Martsen, an American student, had got me into his room, past the secret police. From the balcony we saw this man walk in front of the tanks and he said, “They’re going to kill that guy!” I was waiting to get a shot of the man getting killed, though they didn’t kill him after all. Meanwhile I realised my shutter speed was too slow for such a long-distance shot, so Kirk went and got me a roll of film with a different speed. The next thing I knew, the man near the tanks had been taken away, so I thought I’d lost the picture I was expecting [of the man being killed]. 

Five hours later Kirk dropped the film off at the US Embassy, which passed it on to the Associated Press. The next day, newspapers and magazines all over the world were using this picture on the front page. It was incredible. I was so lucky, because that was an “impossible” picture. It’s truly a miracle that it came out.

 

WHAT EMOTIONS DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU RECALL THOSE EVENTS?

Well, returning for the 25th anniversary just seemed like the right thing to do, because this is part of my life now. And as much as I’d like people to look at my other pictures, I’m always going to be in the shadow of “Tank Man”. I’ve stopped fighting “Tank Man”, and anyway I probably won’t be alive for the 50th anniversary. That’s why I went to Hong Kong and why I’ve come here, to visit old friends and revisit my time when I was a correspondent here in Bangkok.

 

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO FIND THE REAL “TANK MAN”?

I wouldn’t know where to begin. Nobody knows where he is. Many people think they know where he is, but they’re just guessing. 

What I find most amazing is that it’s not just one man we’re talking about – the Tank Man has family and the guys in the tanks have family. Where are they? Are you telling me that none of these people talk about it? I mean, you must have 20, 40, 50 people involved because of all the connections, and it’s like all these people have disappeared off Planet Earth. After 25 years, a quarter of the century, nobody knows where anybody is.

 

TELL US ABOUT THE OTHER EVENTS YOU COVERED IN ASIA.

Oh, they’re were so many. I covered the Seoul Olympics, the Khmer Rouge, even Michael Jackson on tour. I photographed Princess Diana in Chiang Mai. I covered Benazir Bhutto during the elections in Pakistan. I covered the fighting in Afghanistan. 

I have very, very fond memories of my Associated Press posting in Bangkok. It was one of the last great romantic postings for an expat photojournalist and I really feel fortunate that I was one of the last Americans to have such a great posting. It’s so wonderful to be back here in Bangkok, to be back in my old hunting ground, my old home. 

 

TELL US ABOUT THE ASIGNMENT IN AFGHAN

That was taken on the Afghan border. While I was there, a friend and I got an AK-47 because we want to fire it and we were firing at the metal sidings on a hill. All of a sudden a door on the hill opened and an old lady came out, waving. And I went, “Jesus Christ, I almost killed this lady!” We thought it was a target area. It wouldn’t have been very good for my first week on the job!

 

IS IT DIFFICULT THINKING BACK ON THE SHOCKING EVENTS ON THE FRONT LINES?

People say it’s like the movies. For a photojournalist, everything is like a movie – it’s not real. But I’m scared all the time – I’m a white-knuckle photographer. Whenever I shoot anything involving guns and violence, I’m always scared. 

When I was first hired in Bangkok, I thought maybe I’d have three months’ training. Three days later I was in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, getting shot at by Tamil guerrillas. So I learned quickly. I’m very lucky to be alive.

 

HAS THERE BEEN A MENTAL TOLL?

Like post-traumatic stress? Oh, yeah, I think there’s probably a little bit. You can’t have gone through my life and not have it a little bit. Sometimes when a car backfires, I’m, like – [he pretends to shudder]. I’ve had some pretty scary situations. But I think I’m okay. I look okay, right?

 

WHERE WERE YOU MOST AT RISK?

I was almost kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. I don’t know how, but I managed to talk my way out of it. I’ve been in situations in Sri Lanka, a lot of street demonstrations. I’ve been hit even in soccer games – British fans throwing rocks, almost killed me. I was in the Polish Solidarity riots and a teargas canister went flying past my face. I’ve almost crashed in helicopters and planes. I’ve even taken off in a plane with the door open – they forgot to shut the door! As I said, I’m very lucky to be alive.

 

WHICH OF THE EVENTS YOU COVERED HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU?

I would say Tiananmen was the scariest situation I’ve ever had. I really thought I was going to die when soldiers began shooting at the diplomatic compound while I was on the street nearby, riding in a cyclo. I jumped out to run and hide and my 400mm lens – the one I’d shot the “tank man” with – crashed onto the ground. I didn’t go back for it. I ran like a scared little schoolgirl, as fast as I could. When you have 100 AK-47s shooting, you don’t go back to pick up your lens. You run for your life. 

 

ARE YOU EVER GOING TO RETIRE?

Never.