The Protest Singer, an Intimate Portrait: Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger, Croton-on-Hudson NY, 2001

Annie Leibovitz's photo of Pete Seeger's left arm gripping his banjo is virtually uncropped; unfortunately, the picture's right edge, and the brand of his pants - "Hercules" - is partially cut off.
While not a huge loss, words are important in this picture. Most notably, the text around the edge of the instrument's skin head, which proclaims "THIS MACHINE SURROUNDS HATE AND FORCES IT TO SURRENDER", followed by a peace symbol (☮︎), a sentence almost certainly influenced by the text on Woody Guthrie's guitar: THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS.
The grit on the banjo head and the sinewy, masculine form of Seeger's forearm reinforces the word "Hercules", as a reference to someone who, like Seeger, is strong, unbending and committed to getting the job done.

The no-nonsense, sans-serif type used for this cover - in red, blue and black - seems to compress from the weight of the image above. Notice how the circular banjo head translates to the bold, red O in "protest".