Charles Moore took this picture of Dr. King in the police station in Montgomery, Alabama, in September of 1958. They were booking Dr. King for loitering on the courthouse steps. He had refused to “move on” when ordered to do so. He was trying to get in to hear the trial of his associate pastor.
The photograph was taken for the Alabama Advertiser and published in Life magazine. I found the picture in a folio of Civil-Rights-Movement news photos that someone gave me. It is my new favorite photograph of all time. It is hard for me to imagine that anyone could ever have the serendipity and skill to take a photograph more evocative than this.
Father Mark White Blog 