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by
Robb Fulcher
When Hermosan Lawrence Manning watched in despair as his TV screen broadcast the nation-changing events of Sept. 11, he could not know that a photograph he took years before would soon be sent back and forth by millions of Americans as a symbol of their unity.
It was his photograph of an American Flag, created with painstaking care in a Redondo Beach garage, that the U.S. Postal Service would make into a stamp in a rare rush to commemorate the national mood.
"For something like this to happen is just mind boggling," said Manning, a 56-year-old commercial photographer. "I feel elation and, I guess, humility, to be involved."
The Postal Service has been working to print and circulate some three billion of the stamps, which feature Manning’s radiant, billowing flag and the words "United We Stand." The stamp, which is being snapped up by citizens across the nation, has taken its place as one of about 40 regular-mail stamps in circulation as long as the 34-cent rate remains in place.
Rare speed
The Postal Service, which can take as long as a year to conceive, design and produce a stamp, whipped out the "United We Stand" one in short order.
"After Sept. 11, we started receiving telephone calls and emails asking if we would commemorate the disastrous events, said Terry McCaffrey, manager of stamp development for the Postal Service in Washington, DC.
A number of people suggested the use of a high-profile photograph of three firemen hoisting the flag against the backdrop of Ground Zero, but McCaffrey said that would have run afoul of a Postal Service policy against commemorating disasters.
"We don’t honor death dates, or disasters. That could become negative, and we want to honor positive things," he said.
"We wanted to do something, and in the days after Sept. 11 as I was driving around I kept seeing lots of flags everywhere, and that phrase ‘United We Stand’ kept popping up," McCaffrey said.
He discussed those themes with Virginia Noelke, a history professor who chairs a citizens advisory committee on new stamps, then began contacting agencies that offer stock photos of almost everything under the sun, including Old Glory.
A multitude of U.S. Flag photos was narrowed down to eight finalists, including Manning’s offering, which had been sitting on file with the Corbis agency. That photo became the hands-down final selection, winning the votes of McCaffrey and every member of the advisory committee, which includes actor Karl Maulden, television sports commentator "Digger" Phelps, and members of the design, art, education and history communities.
Approval by the U.S. postmaster general also came in a twinkling, bringing the new stamp to the production phase all within about 72 hours.
"That is almost unheard of," McCaffrey said.
‘Powerful and dramatic’
Manning’s photo had a life to it that was not found in the rest, McCaffrey said.
"One unique thing about Lawrence’s was the angle of the photo. Most of the flags were shot straight on, and his seemed to be coming out at you," McCaffrey said.
"Also the ripples in the flag are very unique. It’s not the standard roll, it looked like it was being whipped around in a strong wind," he said. "It gave it an effect that is powerful and dramatic."
The effect was painstakingly conceived about four years ago by Manning, with the help of his now 20-year-old daughter Sara.
"It was in this period where I was just shooting flags," he said. "In stock photography I will often shoot photos just working upon one theme. For two months I shot flags. I shot every flag in the world."
With no specific purpose except to submit the photos to the agency for possible purchase by publishers, advertisers or whoever, Manning went about setting up what would become his historic shot.
"Outdoors I couldn’t quite get the quality I wanted. I could get a flag against a nice sky, but I couldn’t get that effect where it looks like a painting," he said.
So he and Sara took the flag indoors, and used clamps and bungee cords to suspend it in the air. Then, using a big, heavy Sinar view camera mounted on a tripod, he took three exposures that would blend together into the finished photograph.
The first exposure was taken with a light on the floor, pouring up through a pane of Plexiglas to bathe the flag in a milky radiance. The second used eight pinpointing lights coming in from the sides to bring out various individual stars and cast shadows on parts of the flag. For the final shot, Sara tugged at the cables to make the ripples come to life, giving the flag the almost 3-D effect that so impressed McCaffrey.
Stamp of approval
The Postal Service printed a first run of 1.2 billion "United We Stand" stamps to be sold in booklets of 20 and coils of 100, and was continuing to print up the stamps for its vending machines and other points of sale.
The stamp saw a limited release Oct. 24 in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania, the areas struck directly by the terrorist attacks. The stamp hit the nation’s post offices for general release Monday, Nov. 5 and continued to be snapped up by eager consumers.
"I think they will be very popular," McCaffrey said. "The day they went on sale I walked out of my office down to the Post Office and they were already out. I couldn’t even buy my own stamp."
He said it is not easy to tell what sort of value the stamps will have to collectors.
"They will definitely be popular for use on mail," he said. "People want to send them around to make a statement about the situation."
Enjoying the moment
As Manning receives praise for his work, and hears people gush over it as he waits in line at the local post office, he feels honored to be part of something so large. Talking it over in his 3,100-square foot south Hermosa studio, he radiates a sense of gratitude and lingering shock.
"I took that photograph so long ago. If I had just seen it on a stamp I don’t think I would have even known it was mine. Flags, when you think about it, are some of the most photographed images in the world," he said.
"Often commercial photography is shooting a six-sided box and making it look real neat," he added.
The Chicago-born Manning learned to shoot photos while he was teaching English and English instruction as a member of the Peace Corps in Iberia and Ethiopia from 1969 to 1972.
He has lived mostly in the South Bay for the past 20 years and in Hermosa for the past two, where he has begun the process of expanding his studio into a home for himself and girlfriend Betty, a designer.
The building, a former shipping warehouse, already has a homey-artsy look, with rugs strewn about the cement floors, candles and paper lanterns suspended from the ceilings, and African art adorning the cinderblock walls. As Manning speaks, light slants into the room from an open, metal warehouse-style door.
Over the course of his photography career he has gone extremely high-tech, producing photographs so complex in their setup that he could only shoot one exposure per day. These days it’s all low-tech, available-light type of stuff. He even bought a $25 camera so shoddy that light leaks inside and streaks the film, creating unpredictable and sometimes striking effects.
A project he hopes to launch would take him around the nation, shooting film-quality digital photos of people and handing them a copy on the spot. He hopes his newfound high-profile status might land him a digital photography sponsor.
But for now he’s busy giving interviews and enjoying the success of his stamp photo, and planning to donate his proceeds to a Sept. 11-related charity.
"To be associated with this stamp is definitely a high point in my life," he said. ER
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Hermosan Lawrence Manning, whose photograph of the American Flag adorns the latest U.S. postage stamp has traveled China (below), Nigeria (right) and Turkey (bottom ) as well as his own nation to capture images. Other examples of his work can be seen at http://www.hillstreetstudios.com.
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