"Fire Escape Collapse" by Stanley Forman

This photo is a part of a series, which shows a 19 year old mother named Diana Bryant and her 2 year old god-daughter Tiare Jones falling from a fire escape on a burning building. This picture was taken in 1975 on Marlborough Street in Boston. Stanley Forman is the photographer of this iconic photo. He was working as a photographer for the Boston Herald at the time and had received a call about the fire.
This photo is considered iconic because it captured the seconds between hope and tragedy and caused worldwide reaction. It became important because it was awarded Forman the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and an award for the World Press Photo of the Year in 1976.
This photo was influential and impacted society in two ways. First, the media was charged with invasion of privacy of Diana Bryant and pandering to sensationalism. But second, and more importantly, it prompted Boston officials to rewrite laws regarding fire escape safety which then impacted other cities around the country to do the same.
There are several ethical dilemmas in this picture because this tragedy was unnecessary and could have been prevented. It probably would not have happened today with current laws of building and fire inspections. The fire escape was deemed unsafe meaning that if the fire did not cause death, the unstable fire escape would. Why wasn't this responsibility to the safety of the tenants taken seriously by the landlord or by city officials? I also wondered, if the fireman had not stepped onto the fire escape, it might have held for Diana and the baby or did the ladder coming down cause the collapse? Did the rescue actually cause the tragedy? Though I wondered if it was morally sound to photograph this personal tragedy, it did result in improved fire safety of many buildings and people around the country. The tragic irony is that the baby survived because she landed on the body of her godmother whose job it was to protect her, which she did even as she was dying.
The photographer said he was called to cover a fire which he thought would be a routine rescue and he ended up covering a tragedy that shocked the world. He was taking pictures then realized what was happening and turned away so he would not see them hit the ground.
I feel this is an iconic photo because it was groundbreaking photography of a heartbreaking tragedy. It was a powerful photograph that caused worldwide reaction and positive change.