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A Miami Herald study has identified 19 of them, through Department of Defense documents and interviews, and tried unsuccessfully through lawyers and intermediaries to speak with the seven since released.

One, Australian David Hicks, convicted as an al-Qaida foot soldier, just completed a nine-month sentence. He is now free in his hometown of Adelaide -- but under a U.S. gag order that forbids him to talk about his treatment at Guantanamo.

It is hard to pinpoint the moment the pictures became so prevalent.

Soon after their release, the Pentagon took them off its own Web sites and labeled them "For Official Use Only," to prevent further distribution.

Military escorts let civilian news photographers take pictures of detainees -- but only out of focus, from behind, or if they cropped a captive's face from the photo and show him from the beard down.

The Pentagon has also tried to discourage news organizations from using the photograph. But Carlebach says the military's efforts overlook the point of what makes a photo iconic.

'These guys are pathetic'

Time moves on, but the instant comes to tell a larger story. "They're kneeling with that anti-personnel barbed wire in the foreground, and it does not describe blood-thirsty jihadists. These guys are pathetic looking in their bright orange pajamas."

For those who want to see a captive bowed, it provides a certain satisfaction. For those who believe the policy swept up innocents, it tells another story.

But McCoy never saw it either way. He was too busy.

And he never got in trouble for making those pictures.

A few weeks later, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld toured the prison camp. "I told him, 'Hey, I'm sorry my photos caused all these problems.'

"He told me not to worry about it, I was doing my job. And that was about it."

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