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Photograph↕ | Photographer↕ | Year↕ | Location↕ | Impact↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tank Man (Tiananmen Square) | Jeff Widener (AP) | 1989 | Beijing, China | One man vs. column of tanks, symbol of individual defiance, censored in China, identity still unknown |
Afghan Girl | Steve McCurry | 1984 | Pakistan (refugee camp) | Sharbat Gula's green eyes on Nat Geo cover, symbol of refugee crisis, found 17 years later |
Earthrise | William Anders (Apollo 8) | 1968 | Moon orbit | First photo of Earth from space, launched environmental movement, 'we came to explore the Moon and discovered Earth' |
V-J Day in Times Square | Alfred Eisenstaedt | 1945 | New York City | Sailor kissing nurse, end of WWII joy, later consent controversy, celebration frozen in time |
Migrant Mother | Dorothea Lange | 1936 | California, USA | Face of the Great Depression, Florence Owens Thompson, moved government to send food aid |
Lunch Atop a Skyscraper | Unknown (debated) | 1932 | New York City | 11 ironworkers on a beam 850ft up, no safety equipment, Rockefeller Center construction, staged but iconic |
Pale Blue Dot | Voyager 1 (Carl Sagan) | 1990 | 6 billion km from Earth | Earth as tiny pixel, Sagan's speech about human insignificance, 'everyone you love' on that dot |
Napalm Girl | Nick Ut | 1972 | Vietnam | Kim Phúc running from napalm attack, turned American public against Vietnam War, Pulitzer Prize |
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima | Joe Rosenthal | 1945 | Iwo Jima, Japan | Six Marines raising flag, most reproduced photo in history, Marine Corps Memorial, actually the second flag-raising |
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon | Neil Armstrong | 1969 | Moon | Visor reflects Armstrong and Earth, 'one small step' moment, most expensive selfie in history (technically) |
Pillars of Creation | Hubble Space Telescope | 1995 | Eagle Nebula (7,000 light-years) | Star-forming gas columns, made astronomy beautiful for the public, re-imaged by JWST in 2022 |
Einstein Sticking Out His Tongue | Arthur Sasse | 1951 | Princeton, USA | Genius being silly, humanized science, most reproduced Einstein image, signed copy sold for $125K |
Burning Monk | Malcolm Browne | 1963 | Saigon, Vietnam | Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation protest, JFK said 'no news picture in history has generated so much emotion' |
Blue Marble | Apollo 17 crew | 1972 | 29,000 km from Earth | First full-Earth photo, most reproduced image in history, used for every environmental message |
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