Before I even opened my copy of SI’s April 22 issue, I stared for a long time at the cover photo by John Tlurnacki of the Boston Globe. The three policemen in their lime green vests, pistols drawn, and the staggered runner in his orange shirt form an extraordinary tableaux of urgent action and dazed repose.
The body language is as telegraphic as the iconic shot of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi by the AP’s Joe Rosenthal or Martin Munkacsi’s famous photo of the three black boys dashing into the Liberian surf, circa 1930.
(Henri Cartier-Bresson said that Munkasci’s image "made me suddenly realize that photography could reach eternity through the moment.") The Marines’ triumph and the boys’ joy form an elemental triad with the shock and valor depicted on SI’s cover.
When I turned to the first Leading Off picture–the bird’s eye view of the chaos on Boylston Street by Tlurnacki’s colleague, David Ryan–the three policemen leaped out at me on the lower right.
All three are in virtually the same position as they are on the cover. There, standing wide-legged in front of them, a photographer is taking their picture. The fallen runner, partially blocked from view, can just be made out in front of him.
What you have is a picture of the cover picture being taken. Pretty amazing.