10 Photographs that Changed the World

1.

1950, Segregated Water Fountains in North Carolina (by Elliott Erwitt). This picture, which points out the injustice of social segregation, became a well-recognized symbol of the need for change. Looking at it now speaks volumes about how much has changed since then.

2.

1972, Kim Phuc in a napalm attack in South Vietnam (by Nick Ut). Nick Ut's photograph of five children running in terror from an accidental napalm attack was widely published around the world and crystallized in people's mind's the grim injustices of the Vietnam war. The war was heavily reported on, and historians believe that images, particularly this one, had a huge impact at home, resulting in violent anti-war protests, a world-wide campaign for peace, and even contributed to the end of the war.

3.

1945, Nagasaki (taken by the U.S. Air Force). Proof of man's ability to wreak destruction on a vast scale. This mushroom cloud killed 80 thousand people in one blow and is imprinted on the collective imagination of the world.

4.

1961, Hans Conrad Schumann jumping into West Berlin (by Peter Leibing). Capturing the moment of a soldier escaping from the communist Eastern Bloc by leaping over the barbed wire, this picture summed up the desperation of the Cold War.

5.

1936, Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death (by Robert Capa). This picture caused a stir when it was published in the French magazine "Vu," and it has been argued that it even helped strengthen the Republican cause. Some regarded it as a symbol of anti-Fascism, others as a more universal anti-war statement. Either way, the political implications of photography were fast being realized.

6.

Pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib prison. A series of "trophy" images famously revealed by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command in 2004, exposed abuse and humiliation of Iraqi inmates by a group of US soldiers.

7.

1994, Sudanese child with a vulture (by Kevin Carter). This Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of a vulture waiting to feed on a dying toddler in Sudan summed up the cruelty of the famine in Sudan. It also, famously, highlighted the plight of the photographer; within three months of gaining recognition for this photograph, Kevin Carter committed suicide.

8.

1826, View from the Window at Le Gras (by Joseph Nicephore Niepce). This may not be the most striking subject (a wall, a rooftop and a chimney), but the motivation behind it was absolutely inspired. It marks the first time man had ever written with sunlight. The technique, named heliography, used a photo-sensitive plate and a sheet of pewter coated in a mixture of bitumen dissolved in lavender oil. Using this process, Louis Daguerre worked on his invention, the daguerreotype, which was effectively the first camera. Without the impact of this picture, none of this gallery could exist.

9.

1855, Valley of the Shadow of Death (by Roger Fenton). Fenton is widely regarded as the first war photographer. Unable to take pictures of battle due to the necessary exposure time needed to create a photograph in the 1850s, Fenton arranged cannon balls across a barren landscape. This metaphorical and eerily empty image demonstrated that the photograph could be as thoughtful and affecting as a poem, even on the battlefield.

10.

1989, Tiananmen Square protest (by Jeff Widener). The government sent tanks to brutally kill hundreds of workers, students and children in a crackdown on the protest at Tiananmen Square. A small, unknown, unexceptional figure stood bravely in protest in front of the tanks. It is when history becomes allegory that the camera writes it best; and as TIME magazine reported it, tank man "revived the world's image of courage."