Flower Power

On October 21, 1967, a large demonstration took place at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. As many as 100,000 demonstrators attended the event, and at least 30,000 later marched to the Pentagon for another rally and an all night vigil. The civil disobedience on the steps of the Pentagon was interrupted by clashes with soldiers and police. In all, 647 arrests were made. A plot to airdrop 10,000 flowers on the Pentagon was foiled by undercover agents. After the airdrop was halted the flowers intended for the airdrop were placed in the barrels of officer’s rifles resulting in the iconic images from the “flower power” movement. The slogan “flower power”, coined by poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965, was used by the American counter-culture resistance as a symbolic action of protest against the Vietnam War. A surge of peaceful demonstration protesters were handed masses of flowers to offer policemen, press, and politicians as retaliation and defiance against the war. The flowers served two purposes: one as symbols of passive resistance of non-violence and secondly as emblems to reduce negative energy and connotations associated with feelings of fear, anger, threats, prosecution - all which were frequent results of these anti-war demonstrations. Photographs of flower-wielding protesters at the Pentagon March became seminal images of the 1960s anti-war protests. The image I chose to analyze is a photo by French photojournalist Marc Riboud of a seventeen-year-old high school student, Jan Rose Kasmir, clasping a daisy and gazing at bayonet-wielding soldiers on the steps of the Pentagon. This photo embodies the flower power movement by illustrating a strategic juxtaposition of armed forces against flower power innocence. The lighting of the picture helps develop this juxtaposition. It creates a brightness that forms a highlighted contour of her face. The highlights on her face make her face look supple adding to the vibe of youth and free expression that she is trying personify. This is a stark contradiction against the stern dark faces of the officers she is opposing. The comparison created by the lighting separates the two sides, the flower child who embodies free expression against the armed officers symbolizing conformity and rule following. Although the officers are armed and in position they seem somewhat intrigued by the flower girls peace offering. The soldier on the left is pointing his gun in her direction as if he wants her to put flowers in her gun next. The lighting also slightly illuminates the right side of his face and helmet. The combination of the officers perceived intrigue and the illumination on his face show that the white light of peace is affecting him. He is supposed to be enforcing the law but his conscious is touched by the innocence of the flower girls peaceful gesture. The white light is brightest on her hands holding the flower, which is directly in the center, making it the focal point of the photograph. The focal point seems to be glowing with bright white light. White light is a clear indication of peace and hope. The faces that are in focus are all fixated on the glowing focal point. This light embodies the power that the flower has to represent peace. Her right hand is gently holding the stem of the flower. The flower is leaning in a way that captures the light and emphasizes its significance as the focal point. The left hand is daintily reaching out, which is another indication of peace. The bracelet that the woman is wearing has metal rings, which make it look like she is wearing handcuffs. Additionally, the way in which her hands are pressed together add to the thought of her being handcuffed. The gun placed between her hands could be another interpretation of how the officers identify with the protester by trying to break her restraints. It is not clear whether she is wearing handcuffs or is just wearing a bracelet but it adds to the enthymeme of the photos focal point. If the photo was re-framed to exclude the individuals depicted in the picture and include the hands holding the flower and the gun it may depict more of a conflict between peace and war and not uncover the power of the flower to halt violence. The re-framed image of just the focal point creates the tension between the protesters and the law enforcers. The gun between the delicate hands of the flower woman could be seen as violent and aggressive. As opposed to the original image in which I saw the gun between the hands as liberating. Reframing the photo strips away the humanity of the characters in the image. The humanity of the two in focus soldiers and the flower child are what make this picture a powerful peace of anti war demonstration. By showing the emotion of these three people the photographer was able to capture a moment that is evidence for the ability of the flower power movement to make there voice heard. Additionally the focus of the picture makes it one protester against a countless amount of officers. The line of officers with there bayonet’s faced toward the crowd is broken by a single woman holding a bright purple flower. This fulfills the two main purposes of the flower, a symbol of passive resistance of non-violence and as and emblem to reduce negative energy Today, flower power is most closely associated not with antiwar protests, but with acid-tripping hippies. Soon after the Berkeley Vietnam protest that inspired Ginsberg's flower power non-violence concept, the hippie movement, fueled by psychedelic drug use, mushroomed into a nationwide phenomenon. Although both hippies and non-hippies alike would continue to advocate flower power principles of peaceful demonstrations, the psychedelic lifestyle proved unsustainable. But footage like the photo Marc Riboud took of a seventeen-year-old high school student, Jan Rose Kasmir at the Pentagon demonstration offer visible proof that for a for a few years in the mid-1960s flower power was potent, viable and life-changing.

Zach Wasserman