Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006)

RAISING THE FLAG AT IWO JIMA, 1945. Selenium-toned silver gelatin print on fibre-based paper, printed c.1980, image size 212 x 163mm, sheet size 252 x 202mm, signed by the photographer in pencil on verso.

Provenance:

Philip Adam Collection

Years after Joe Rosenthal made his famous photograph Raising the Flat at Iwo Jima, 1945, he became a staff photographer at the San Francisco Chronicle. Philip Adam met Joe Rosenthal in the Photography Department at the Chronicle's main offices at 901 Mission Street. Shortly after they met, having learned of Adam's printing abilities, Rosenthal asked Adam to make a print of his iconic image of the Flag Raising at Iwo Jima, using his original 4 X 5 negative. Rosenthal had given the picture to veterans over the course of his life, signing them with a ball point pen on the front. The present print is made on fibre-based paper and selenium toned, and is one of the few archival-grade prints that exist from Rosenthal's negative, c.1970-1980s.