Mannie Garcia: The Photo That Sparked 'Hope'

Enlarge Mannie Garcia, AP

Mannie Garcia, AP

In April 2006, Associated Press photographer Mannie Garcia took a batch of photos of then-Sen. Barack Obama at a National Press Club discussion about the crisis in Darfur. One of those photographs later became the basis for Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" poster, an image that came to be intimately associated with Obama's campaign.

Recently, the AP threatened to sue Fairey over the photo, charging that Fairey's use of Garcia's original infringed the AP's copyright; Fairey's lawyers themselves filed a preemptive lawsuit, arguing that the work he created based on that image is protected under the so-called "Fair Use" provisions of copyright law.

Garcia has photographed news events for Bloomberg, Reuters, The New York Times, and Newsweek. He's worked in countries around the world, including the U.S., Somalia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Philippines. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the dispute.