The photograph shows the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., photographed from the eastern shore in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial. On both sides of the water basin and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, demonstrators crowd together in large numbers; in the right foreground, additional participants sit and stand directly at the shore. The image was taken during the rally on August 28, 1963, the culminating point of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial formed the symbolic center of the protest, where hundreds of thousands of people advocated for civil equality and economic justice. The perspective across the still water toward the monument underscores the spatial dimension of the mass gathering.