Story of Trump’s iconic image after the failed assassination, video captures how Evan Vucci got the shot
Evan Vucci, the chief photographer for the AP News, captured a time-stopping historic moment with his camera shutter on Saturday, July 13. As former President Donald Trump proudly pumped his fist high, with blood streaking his face, he signalled he’d survived an apparent assassination attempt during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The multi-faceted photojournalist raced past the conflict to document a legendary American photo for posterity.
Pulitzer-winning photographer Evan Vucci ran across the podium amidst flaring mayhem at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to capture what has now become the super-viral iconic Donald Trump shot after the former president survived an apparent assassination attempt.
The iconic photo is all over the internet and is still circulating at a wildfire pace. While it may seem like it’s gone super-viral on social media due to the waves of modernity, Vucci instinctively knew beforehand that he was snapping a life-altering picture even as he was living the moment amidst flaring mayhem. “I knew it was a moment in American history, and it had to be documented,” said the AP photographer.
Beyond Trump’s videos of July 13, another visual got the world abuzz, showing Vucci’s race against time and the life-threatening circumstances that he was a first-hand part of on the day of the alleged assassination attempt. A video doing rounds at a mind-numbing speed on the internet shows from a distance how the photographer ran across the podium – despite blazing gunfire, screams, and all kinds of chaos – to capture the picture that everyone is talking about. It’s safe to say that it will possibly offer an empowering boost to Trump’s grand aura for years to come.
While describing how everything transpired at the event, Vucci explained: “I’m not sure how long it was, beginning to end, but in my mind… it all happened really fast.”
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Who is Evan Vucci?
Based in Washington, the AP photojournalist has been covering Trump for years. As iconic as his photo-folio is, his professional achievements are unlike anything you may have heard of. In addition to being a well-respected Pulitzer-winning photographer, the Rochester Institute of Technology graduate is also recognised as a martial arts enthusiast.
According to his Instagram bio, he’s affiliated with Team Lloyd Irvin and has even won some accolades for his MMA side quests. One of his video profiles online revealed that he found Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 40. He’s now 47 years old, having spent over two decades covering news, sports, and politics.
On his path to commercial photojournalism, he crossed several other eminent media stops, including The Washington Post and Reuters. His RIT profile lists him as a Class of 2000 graduate.
Beyond his familiarity with still photography, he’s also been awarded a National Edward R Murrow Award for his documentary video work, through which he covered “a platoon of American soldiers, and their families, during a 15-month combat tour in Mosul, Iraq.” Although Vucci has traversed the world on his professional quests, he now primarily associates with politics in the US.
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He ultimately won his Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2021 as a member of the Associated Press team. He clinched the highly acclaimed accolade for covering the aftermath and protests following George Floyd’s death.
Coincidentally, one of the pictures from this series shares a visible similarity with his latest Trump photo. The said picture sees demonstrators overturning a car on May 31, 2020, while protesting Floyd’s death. The 46-year-old Black American man died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
As one of the pictures part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning entry, Vucci’s shot witnesses protestors in action while a background visual of fire reflects their innate fierce response to the American man’s killing by a white police officer. Another man is seen lifting his hand up in agony while demonstrating aggressive dynamism and hitting back against a vehicle.
Netizens are again applauding the “compositional mastery,” as content creator David Altizer noted, which Vucci achieved with his latest click. His latest breathtaking shot further reflects his profound expertise and over two decades of vast experience in the field.
A TV news broadcast fully captures Vucci’s coverage of the event from a third-person point of view, and the instant takeaway is how calmly he glides through the scene without missing a beat. His confident composure through it all speaks volumes about how bullets and warzones are a bit too familiar a domain for him.