25 Iconic Photos that Changed the World – Part 2

Iconic Photos that Changed the World: It is nearly impossible to summarize the whole world into just 25 images alone. There are numerous ones which could have made it to the list but the world only remembers the most heart rendering ones. Continuing with our previous series, we present you another 25 images which influenced and shaped the world as we see it today.

Also on DdesignerR: Iconic Photos that Changed the World Part 1

1. Joseph Niepce:  Window View, 1826

The above image may not be the most striking of the whole collection, yet, it was the beginning to all the images in the world. It was the first time ever that a human had written with the help of the light from sun. This technique was called Heliography. It made use of a plate photosensitive in nature, a pewter coated sheet in a bitumen mixture, dissolved in oil of lavender. Effectively, it was the first camera and was developed by Louis Daguerre.

2. Nick Ut: Napalm Attack in Vietnam

This shocking image shows a South Vietnamese girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, running distraught on the road immediately after a napalm attack by US army. It, along with other images, came to epitomise the Vietnam War and eventually led to withdrawal of the US army troops.

3. Man Falling after 9/11 attack on WTC, 2001

This surprising photograph is of a man falling from the North Building of World Trade Centre. It received outrageous reviews from readers of the papers who ran this. The result, it was never published again.

4. US Air Force: Nagasaki, 1945

The World War II ended with bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showing that man is capable of wreaking destruction on large scales. This image of the mushroom cloud caused by the bomb is etched on the collective imagination.

5.  Peter Leibing: Hans Conrad Schumann jumping across fence in West Berlin, 1961

This image captured the desperation in the ongoing cold war. It captured the moment when a soldier, Hans Conrad risked his life by escaping from the east communist block by leaping over a barbed fence.

6.   Tear down this wall, 1987

This image here shows President Reagan standing in front of Brandenburg Gate, part of the wall of Berlin. He was delivering his famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech. Two years after this historic event; the wall of Berlin was brought down by people. Ronald Reagan is most recognized for his inspiring speech in the history of presidents.

7. Anne Frank, 1944

Around six million Jews were murdered in Holocaust by Hitler. Most of the stories about the brutality of Nazis were given face by the teenage girl, Anne Frank. She has remained immortal through her diary in which she wrote daily while hiding with her family in an attic in Amsterdam. 1944, the Nazis got a tip and arrested the Frank family. Anne later died with her sister due to typhus at Bergen-Belsen. In this captivating picture, she stares enigmatically through big eyes and wishes for a bright future which we know will not come.

8.  Birmingham, 1963

Birmingham was home to a large population of black people as well as dominant whites. This often resulted in clashes of hostility. The city became a hub of National Civil Rights Movement in 1963. However, it also faced the harsh wrath of the whites there as can be seen in the above picture. There are black people who are being tortured by battering ram while supporting the cause for blacks.

9.  Betty Grable, 1942

WWII took American soldiers to far flung lands. There was seldom mail, often; the only letters they got were of Dear Johns. The troops longed for a memento from home, something which gave then the hope that it was worth fighting for. The solution came in the form of Betty Grable and her million dollar legs. This 1942 pinup was full of back to home charm and beauty and seduction which made the war bearable. The pinups transformed into posters. The photograph remains the most endlessly reproduced portrait.

10.  The Scandal In Abu Ghraib, 2004

This prison in Iraq was where the POWs were interrogated and tortured in the most inhuman ways imaginable. The stories made headlines when photos like the above surfaced.

11.  9/11 attacks, 2001

There are many heart wrenching images of the WTC attacks on 9/11. The attack showed the world how a powerful nation like the States succumbed to terror and still is haunted about the fateful day.

12.  Robert Capa: Omaha beach, 1944

Robart Capa’s blurry image was one of the few surviving ones from his role. They brought glimpses of war to the common people’s light who otherwise ignore the hardships soldiers face.

13.  Iain Macmillan: Abbey Road Cover, 1969

The Abbey Road was the final album recorded by The Beatles before the band broke up. Its cover featured a photograph of the four members crossing the street in almost lock steps. The only exception was that of Paul McCartney whose unnatural off balance stride birthed the urban legend that he was dead.

14.  Martin Luther King, Jr, 1963

This image is of August, 1963 when Luther made his famous speech “I have a dream”. This was the time that a fully fledged Civil Rights dream blossomed.

15.  James Nachtwey: Genocide In Rwanda

This image was taken in Rwanda. It depicts the harsh genocide witnessed by the whole country which in this picture is symbolized by a Hutu man. He was in one of the concentration camps and was later freed.

16.  Rondos: a soldier’s final moments, 1962

This image is perhaps one of the most painful images till date. It shows how helpless a man can become in his last moments. A soldier who was shot by a sniper took refuge in the arms of father Luis Padillo. The incident took place in Venezuela during insurrection. Father insisted on providing the last sacraments to dying soldiers despite the danger. It was during this moment that he sheltered this wounded soldier.

17.  Mother and her kids

A family comprising of a mother and her kids try crossing the river in South Vietnam. They were running away from the American bombs.

18.  The father and the child, 1980

This image brings out the harshness of poverty and hunger in Uganda. This badly starving kid is about to die due to hunger. His hand in the hand of a missionary seems ironical and almost satirical on the circumstances.

19.  Jean-Marc Bouju: Prisoner And Son, 2003

This heart wrenching image won the photographer a Pulitzer. It shows an Iraqi man who is a prisoner of war, trying to comfort his son. Photographed with a barbed wire in the foreground, the image speaks for itself as the unrecognisable man clutches his child in his lap.

20.  Jamil ad-durra

This image is captured from a film. It depicts a Palestinian father, Jamil, trying desperately to save his son from Israeli ambush. Moments later, the boy was shot dead, the father was wounded and the ambulance driver who came to help them also dead.

21.  Oded Bality: Will And Power, 2007

This image won Bality the Pulitzer. It shows a lone Jewish lady trying to defend her settlement against the Israeli security troops who were removing the illegal settlers on the west bank.

22.  The Oka crisis, 1990

Probably Canada’s most famous image, this was taken during the Oka crisis. It was a land dispute between the town of Oka in Quebec and the Mohawk Nation. It started on March 11, 1990 and resulted in three casualties. The image shows a young Canadian soldier staring stoically in the eyes of a defiant Mohawk.

23.  Beall: Confidence And Faith

This photograph by Beall is one of the most applauded images to have appeared in Washington daily news. It shows a policeman who is patiently reasoning with a two year old child who was trying to cross the street during an ongoing parade.

24.  The memorial day

This Pulitzer winning picture was taken on the eve of Memorial Day and is extremely touching. It shows a woman grieving at her husband’s grave site.

25. Carol Guzy: The Haiti crisis,1994

Carol has been covering Haiti as far back as the early 1980s. She just wanted to make people understand the tumults going on there. The picture was taken when the US army intervened to ensure peace in the region. During a peaceful democratic march, someone threw a grenade in the crowd. There were dead bodies around and people were angry. There was shooting all around and people thought the soldiers were responsible for it. The guy on the ground is an American soldier who was the victim of the crowd. The other soldiers are trying to protect him.