Photos that changed the world

They missed this one:




Then there was Evelyn McHale:



This photo changed culture right along with Marilyn's white dress in The Seven Year Itch:



And I don't know about the world, but this one really got America:

Cyia said:

This one was on the list of photos there.

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oh jeez, seriously? Not all of them showed up on my computer--must have been one of them.

There are so many sad, sad shades of grey about the vulture and child picture. He did kill himself, but his own story was also more complex and heroic than that photo suggests.

I read a horrible series of research/first hand accounts of The Hunger in Ireland, and they haunt me along with that photo. The truth is worse than that picture. A child as far starving as the girl in that photo would die if she ate food (there are many accounts from Ireland - so, so heartbreaking). Add the disturbing topic of mercy killing here.

Did y'all know that folks sold human flesh in markets in N Korea recently because of the hunger there, and the aid being stolen by the military? After authorities found children's body parts in her kimchi, a noodle-shop owner admitted that she had lured the boys in to stand by her stove to get warm, and then she took an axe to them.

Nightmares. Absolute nightmares.

Whew. See what these photos do? 'End World Hunger' had never moved me as a phrase until photos like that caused me to read more.

What I find rather discouraging and surprising are the responses to many of the images. I understand there are the trolls that only post to draw out some sort of reaction, but it just seems like there's an amazing amount of ignorance and disrespect that exists out there. And while some people can go 'oh, it's just some idiots responding' those are the people who exist in our culture, who could be the neighbor next door.

Even something like the Kiss at Time Square. People really think that was a fake image? Some even as far as Photoshop'd?

nahalwi said:

What I find rather discouraging and surprising are the responses to many of the images. I understand there are the trolls that only post to draw out some sort of reaction, but it just seems like there's an amazing amount of ignorance and disrespect that exists out there. And while some people can go 'oh, it's just some idiots responding' those are the people who exist in our culture, who could be the neighbor next door.

Even something like the Kiss at Time Square. People really think that was a fake image? Some even as far as Photoshop'd?

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Apparently some kids think it's cool to be racists. Some of them grow out of it. The others continue their other races bashing through the internet.

Anyway, I was going to mention the Kiss at Time Square as well on my "suspicious" pics. The pose, the angle, the celebration, it seems too perfect to be natural. It's true that many times things just happen in front of a camera, but I'd say it could've been staged by the photographer.

Kaiser-Kun said:

Apparently some kids think it's cool to be racists. Some of them grow out of it. The others continue their other races bashing through the internet.

Anyway, I was going to mention the Kiss at Time Square as well on my "suspicious" pics. The pose, the angle, the celebration, it seems too perfect to be natural. It's true that many times things just happen in front of a camera, but I'd say it could've been staged by the photographer.

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I've heard more than once that Kiss at Times Square was staged, but the people who told me never had the evidence to back the statement.

The Devil's Den photo I posted above was staged by Matthew Brady. But less people have a problem with that, because it illustrates (amplifies, really) the horror and loneliness post-battle.

I think more people get upset at the supposed staging of Kiss at Times Square because the photo represents unbridled joy and impulse--something genuine and celebratory after a cruel World War. People are disheartened when these pleasant emotions are falsified, even now, with the staging rumor.

Kaiser-Kun said:

Anyway, I was going to mention the Kiss at Time Square as well on my "suspicious" pics. The pose, the angle, the celebration, it seems too perfect to be natural. It's true that many times things just happen in front of a camera, but I'd say it could've been staged by the photographer.

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Umm,

All great photos seem too good to be natural. That's what makes them great photos.




Take the above photo. This is a true 'when lightning strikes' photo. I saw this fight. THIS WAS NOT A POSE. This scene happened so quickly that you actually have to go into slow motion to see it. The photographer got lucky. This 'pose' lasted 1/10th of one second.

The Time's Square photo kiss is not really hard to believe as compared to this. Out of all the millions of people kissing in Time's square, its really not all that hard to get a good shot as compared to catching a once in a lifetime knockout punch/pose that lasts 1/10th of one second that can only be captured by one angle, one position, with a 1950s camera that does not have rapid reload/shooting capability.

The NY times kiss is like winning at bingo. Everyone eventually does it.

The Ali photo is like winning the lottery. Once in a Million lifetimes.

Mel...

As far as media is concerned, I think we've become so used to being suspicious of everything because of the ease that it all can be manipulated today and how people fudge the truth to get popularity. So when true shots really happen, we just can't find it in ourselves to trust it. Which is a shame.

dgiharris said:

Umm,

All great photos seem too good to be natural. That's what makes them great photos.

Take the above photo. This is a true 'when lightning strikes' photo. I saw this fight. THIS WAS NOT A POSE. This scene happened so quickly that you actually have to go into slow motion to see it. The photographer got lucky. This 'pose' lasted 1/10th of one second.

The Time's Square photo kiss is not really hard to believe as compared to this. Out of all the millions of people kissing in Time's square, its really not all that hard to get a good shot as compared to catching a once in a lifetime knockout punch/pose that lasts 1/10th of one second that can only be captured by one angle, one position, with a 1950s camera that does not have rapid reload/shooting capability.

The NY times kiss is like winning at bingo. Everyone eventually does it.

The Ali photo is like winning the lottery. Once in a Million lifetimes.

Mel...

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Agreed. When I covered martial arts tournaments for Black Belt, and when I oversaw photo shoots for our cover, we'd take hundreds of photos, in the desperate hope that we'd get *that* image. The one right when the fist is knuckles-deep into some guy's face, or the nunchucku are fully extended, or whatever.

Capturing the perfect shot is impossible. Which is why when you DO hit it, it's magic.

nahalwi said:

What I find rather discouraging and surprising are the responses to many of the images. I understand there are the trolls that only post to draw out some sort of reaction, but it just seems like there's an amazing amount of ignorance and disrespect that exists out there. And while some people can go 'oh, it's just some idiots responding' those are the people who exist in our culture, who could be the neighbor next door.

Even something like the Kiss at Time Square. People really think that was a fake image? Some even as far as Photoshop'd?

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Look at the three images that have to do with Jews. One of them is a complete fake, one has nothing to do with Israel but was used as an anti-Israeli propaganda photo because they knew most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and one is of the final Jew seconds from execution. Read the comments there. The vast majority of them are anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. Welcome to my world.