Black Lives Matter: The photo that symbolises a movement

Jonathan Bachman's photo of a demonstrator being detained near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department (Reuters)
Jonathan Bachman's photo of a demonstrator being detained near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department (Reuters)

It's the photo that symbolises a movement.

The image depicts a calm, unarmed black woman being detained by heavily armoured, seemingly hurried riot police - and it's garnering plenty of attention online.

Taken by Jonathan Bachman for Reuters, the photo is already being hailed as "iconic", "powerful" and "legendary" on social media.

The Black Lives Matter protest was taking place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, days after a video caused outrage online depicting two white police officers killing Alton Sterling.

Among the people sharing the photo online are New York Daily News senior justice reporter Shaun King, British-Indian novelist Hari Kunzru and Calestous Juma, the Kenyan-born professor at the John F Kennedy School of Government who was once named among the 100 most influential Africans.

It's been reported the woman in the photo was detained after refusing to move off the highway, but little more is known about her.

As the photo depicts an individual's nonviolent resistance against a much more powerful and heavily armed opposition, it is reminiscent of other iconic photos - including Marc Riboud's shot of a Vietnam War protester holding a flower in front of armed police, or the image of the lone protester confronting a tank in Tiananmen Square.

Newshub.