5. “Faith and Confidence” becomes iconic image for police.
Another award-winning photograph, this one taken by William C. Beall of the Washington (DC) Daily News, entitled Faith and Confidence. Beall captured the charming moment when policeman Maurice Cullinane leans down to talk to two-year-old Allan Weaver during a Chinese New Year parade in Washington, D.C. on September 10, 1957. Little Allan, fascinated by the exploding fireworks was trying to get nearer and Officer Cullinane was explaining to him why it was unsafe to do so.
The photo made the front page of the Washington Daily News the following day and later made the back page of Life magazine. The image became the logo for the D.C. Police Boys Club. A life-size statue depicting the photo was placed outside the courthouse in Jonesboro, Ga. Cullinane came from a background of law enforcement, his father, grandfather and two uncles had been policemen too. When the photo was captured, Cullinane was fairly new to the force, having been a policeman for about a year. He went on to have a successful career in the force and became Chief of Police in 1974. Weaver went on to work in the entertainment industry and at one stage worked as personal assistant to Orson Welles for two years.
Interestingly, Beall was on Iwo Jima in 1945, when his colleague Joe Rosenthal captured the moment when the marines and navy corpsman raised the flag on Mount Suribachi. Unfortunately for Beall, he was at the other end of the island so he missed out on capturing that particular moment. Fortunately for Beall, he was in the right place at the right time to capture the endearing moment between Cullinane and Weaver. Faith and Confidence won Beall the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1958.