Charlie Cole

Charlie Cole, Newsweek

A young man confronts a line of People's Liberation Army tanks on Chang'an Avenue, Beijing, China, during protests for democratic reform on Tiananmen Square, on 5 June 1989. Tiananmen Square had been the site of non-violent pro-democracy protests for weeks when the military moved in and opened fire on 4 June. Although there has been no publicly released record of deaths, witnesses estimated up to several thousand fatalities. This photograph, along with other images of the scene, became an international symbol for peaceful resistance. There is no reliable information about what happened to the unidentified demonstrator and the ‘Tank Man’ pictures remain banned in China.

Charlie Cole (1955–2019) was an American photojournalist whose career spanned decades across Asia and the United States. Born in Bonham, Texas, he graduated from North Texas State University in 1978 with a degree in photojournalism and began his career at newspapers including the Colorado Springs Sun and Gazette.

Based in Tokyo and Seoul during the 1980s and 1990s, Cole covered political unrest, social change, and personal stories across China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines for publications such as Newsweek, Time, and The New York Times. His portfolio includes war reporting, most notably coverage of the Kosovo War, where he flew with US Stealth Bombers.

Later in life, Cole lived in Seattle before settling in Bali, Indonesia, where he passed away unexpectedly in September 2019.