WASHINGTON — A photo a Virginia photographer captured of a man with a baby swaddled in an American flag is drawing controversy around the country.
Vanessa Hicks, a professional photographer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, took the photo of her friend, a Navy veteran, holding his newborn child cradled in an American flag.
Hicks, a veteran herself, posted the photo on her business’ Facebook page Sunday, and after a Facebook page called “You Call Yourself a Photographer?” circulated the image, it went viral. Many people like the photo, while others said it disrespects the flag and shows poor taste.
“The image started spewing hate. People were messaging me, they found my personal page and they were telling me things like, ‘This is not the proper way to use the flag,’ ‘You are disrespecting the country’s flag,’ ‘You don’t deserve to be a veteran,’”says Hicks who has been a professional photographer for about one year.
She says she even received death threats.
“I was in utter shock. I broke down,” she says. “I could not believe people were interpreting this image that way.”
Many people commented on the image and offered positive feedback.
“As a military family, I love this picture and it shows exactly what we sacrifice everything for,” wrote one commenter.
The You Call Yourself a Photographer? page had a different perspective.
“To use the American flag in such a way is disrespectful, rude, tacky, disgusting, and against the U.S. Flag Code,” a post says.
Hicks says the feedback is a little jarring because she has taken an almost identical picture several times.
“I have taken a picture with a newborn with a flag multiple times. I live in Hampton Roads, the largest naval base in the world is here, and most of my clients are military and when they schedule sessions … they want to incorporate their military service into their pictures,” she says.
But she says thanks to “Internet trolls” picking up this specific picture, it has gained fame.
After mounting criticism, Hicks took to Facebook Tuesday addressing the cyber bullies who said she “disrespected our country by taking this picture.”
“I am very well aware of our U.S. Flag code. I also know exactly what desecration of a flag is. It’s when you pull into ports and you see protesters with our flag and have spray painted horrible things on it. It’s when you watch the news and you see other countries burning our flags, and you are a young Quartermaster scared because you know you are just a few nautical miles from that exact country,” she wrote in the post.
Hicks says she and the family like the picture — and that’s all that should matter. She says she will continue to stand up for the photo, which she says shows what the flag means to one family.
“I think that this image shows everything that every service member fights for. They aren’t fighting for a flag, per se, they are fighting for everything that flag stands for.”
