Photojournalists Shaping Memory and History

Senate Watergate Committee Chief Counsel and Staff Director Samuel Dash (center), flanked by Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post and Leslie Stahl of CBS, June 26, 1973. Bernstein later collaborated with his Post colleague Bob Woodward to write All the President's Men, documenting the Watergate scandal. Photo © Fred J. Maroon.

Maroon Quote 1

Whether displayed in an exhibition, published in newspapers or books, or broadcast on television, photographs provide visual records shaping our memory and history. Photojournalists create images of history, whether candid or posed. Their published works continue to create a fascination with up-to-the-minute knowledge and identification of events and the individuals involved.

Curators in the National Museum of American History have worked with Maroon to exhibit his collection to the American public. His images will become a permanent part of the NMAH Photographic History Collection.

Contact sheet from one roll of 35-mm film taken with a Leica M Viewfinder camera, during a half hour in the White House Oval Office, on the morning of February 10, 1971. Photo © Fred J. Maroon.

Maroon Quote 2

President Nixon heading to his office in the Old Executive Office Building, escorted by Secret Service agents front and rear, December 31, 1970. Nixon's personal valet, Manolo Sanchez, holds umbrella. Photo © Fred J. Maroon.

Just as there may be several images in a single roll of film, it is also true that there may be many different photographs in a single frame. A photograph is normally composed in the viewfinder and printed full-frame. However, individual art directors, designers, or even photographers, when making a selection for a magazine, newspaper, or book layout, may crop an image to fit a space, or create a different visual impact than that in the full frame. When the cropped portion of a photograph is enlarged, there will be an exaggeration of grain; this can improve or compromise the final effect.

Maroon Quote 3