The photograph was taken in Yarmouk, Syria, showing thousands of desperate Palestinian refugees waiting to receive food aid. It was shared millions of times last month via social media, and on Thursday evening, it appears on a big screen in New York's Times Square in an effort to focus attention on a civil war that's now in its fourth year.
The image is epic. Thousands fill a gray canyon of rubble framed by shattered buildings. Yarmouk is a neighborhood made up of of Palestinian refugees who fled to Syria decades ago. For more than a year, Syrian government forces have held 20,000 people there under siege. The photograph documents a food distribution in January by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
The photo is "cinematic in its scope and grandeur, and yet, it's deeply personal," says Chris Gunness, the group's spokesman. "Etched on each small face is a very personal private story. And I think it's the combination of the epic and the miniature which partly explains it."
It's about timing, too, he says. He released the photograph as the U.N. Security Council debated a resolution last month urging Syria's government to open besieged areas for aid. The social media reaction was unexpected.
"It's been extraordinary. Within minutes of that iconic photograph being sent out, it went viral," he says.
When charges surfaced that the photograph was a fake, Gunness released a video from Yarmouk recorded at the same time.
The food distribution came after a fragile ceasefire between government forces and rebels inside Yarmouk. The video shows the magnitude of humanitarian crisis for civilians.