Former AP Photog Who Shot Tiananmen 'Tank Man' Recalls it 20 Years Later

By: Joe Strupp Twenty years after the famous Tiananmen Square uprising and the dramatic image of a lone protester in front of a line of rolling tanks, one of those who captured the image recalls well the June 5, 1989, event.

Former Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener recalls the moment he photographed the historic event in a pair of blog posts.

First, for BBC News, here, then at The New York Times Lens blog, here.

Among his comments on the Times blog were his thoughts during a recent return to China:

"My unexpected 20th anniversary return to Beijing was filled with emotions. On one particular day, I recall walking down a very tranquil tree-lined boulevard by the American embassy. As I strolled through Beijing's Ritan Park and sniffed that pleasant wood burning smell of Asia, I found it hard to imagine such hell took place on those streets two decades earlier."