N.Y. Times shows street-level shot of famous Tianamen confrontation

Terril Jones’ angle on the historic encounter between the man in the white shirt and tanks in Tinamen Square is vastly different from four other versions shot that day, taken at eye level moments before the tanks stopped at the feet of the lone protester. Wildly chaotic, a man ducks in the foreground, reacting from gunfire coming from the tanks. Another flashes a near-smile. Another pedals his bike, seemingly passive as the tanks rumble towards confrontation.

Jones was a reporter in Beijing and did not realize until some time after June 5,1989, that he captured this image. The Times says it has never been publ;ished before.

Click on the title to see it as well as the four other shots of the scene from a hotel.