'Tank Man' photographer Jeff Widener: 'There was debris and blood stains everywhere'

In the spring of 1989, US photographer Jeff Widener was in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. When the protests escalated, he took a photo that went around the world: It shows a man courageously standing up to a tank. Interviewed by Fabian Peltsch, Widener tells us how he experienced the protests and why he initially believed his famous "Tank Man" photo to be a failure.

Last updated: 24. July 2025