The Shots Seen Round the World: Origins of a Viral Photo | PROOF

The first photograph I saw by Daniel Etter wasn’t in a magazine or newspaper or even on a website. It was on Twitter. In May 2013, Istanbul was erupting in protests. News of it was dominating social media—and all of a sudden this stunning image of a protestor holding the Turkish flag appeared on my feed. I was instantly struck by the mood and defiant body language of the protestor, who was surrounded by tear gas. It was timeless and epic. The photo went viral, as it should have, and was reproduced all over the world. It’s even a statue now. “I lost control of it quickly,” Etter told me.