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Joe Rosenthal

May 27, 2013 by · Comments Off on Joe Rosenthal 

Joe Rosenthal, Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima. His picture became one of the best-known photographs of the war.

Joseph Rosenthal was born on October 9, 1911 in Washington, D.C. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants; however, he converted to Catholicism during his youth. His interest in photography started as a hobby in San Francisco, California, during the Great Depression, where he lived with his brother while looking for work. He became a reporter-photographer for the San Francisco News in 1932. He graduated from the University of San Francisco.

Rejected by the U.S. Army as a photographer because of poor eyesight, Rosenthal joined the Associated Press (AP) and followed the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the war.

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