When I was asked to come up with and create a presentation based on an iconic photograph, this historical event came to mind. The Wright Brothers' first flight on December 17, 1903, was a flight that changed the dynamics of not only travel, but also of the way the world viewed things. Our world became so much smaller and easier to access thanks to the Wright Brothers' inventions. With their testing based in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright were able to test various materials and models in order to produce the plane shown in the photo. When that fateful December day rolled around, the Wright Brothers employed coast guards from the Kill Devil Hills area of North Carolina to help carry the plane. One coastguard, John Daniels, was asked to take a picture of the flight. John Daniels was the one man who took the only photo of the event using the Wright Brothers' Korona-V camera, the nicest camera at the turn of the nineteenth century, set up on a tripod and focused in the direction of the passing plane.
I consider this photo iconic because it represents a huge turning point in our nation's history: the point at which we as a nation were finally able to touch the world in a new way. I also consider the photo iconic because it is, to me, a timeless symbol of triumph for not just two men, but for the whole world.
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