By Joe Arney

The facial expression Donald Trump is making. The positions of the Secret Service agents trying to shield him. The angle of the American flag and the unbroken shade of blue sky in the backdrop.

Ross Taylor has total recall of what he called “the perfect news photo,” taken in the moments after Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania.

“The composition truly helps this photo stand out,” said Taylor, an assistant professor of journalism at the College of Media, Communication and Information at the University of Colorado Boulder and an award-winning photojournalist. He described what he called “a perfect circle of entry” beginning with the agents, moving to Trump’s bloodied face and raised fist, and a clean background that helps the viewer understand what’s happening.

“But what really makes it iconic is the flag,” he said. He first saw it while scrolling through X (formerly Twitter), and “while I saw other versions of this scene, without the flag, they don’t hold the same aesthetic strength as this one.”

The photo was taken by Evan Vucci, a longtime photographer with The Associated Press who Taylor counts as a friend. He was unsurprised by reports that Vucci raced forward to get the photo as others fled for safety.

“Evan and others in that sphere are fearless,” Taylor said. “Evan has said he’s more of an operator than a photographer—that he knows how to maneuver through these kinds of situations. A lot of people can compose an image, but can you operate under such duress and stress in an unbelievable short amount of time?

“It’s emblematic of the journalists who put themselves out there—when others are running away from violence, they respond so we can have a better understanding of what happened and what it means.”

For Taylor, the image will join the likes of the firefighters raising the flag over the fallen World Trade Center or the execution of a Vietcong fighter—the kind of image that explains an event and shapes our collective reaction to it. That will be the case however the 2024 presidential election is decided; Taylor said its influence on the election was one of the first things he thought about upon first seeing the photo.

“There’s no way around it—it will have an influence, perhaps already has had an influence,” he said. “If he wins, we’ll remember this as being emblematic of his rise toward his second term as president. I’m not sure how he and others will use it to advance an agenda, but we’ll soon see for ourselves.

“No doubt, this photograph documented a key moment in our history—and that’s the power of photojournalism.”

Photo by Evan Vucci of The Associated Press.