18 of The Most Amazing Photographs Ever Taken

1.

A pickup truck flees from the smoke and volcanic ash ( pyroclastic flows) spewing from the Mt. Pinatubo volcano that erupted during 1991 in the Philippines. Amazingly the photographer Alberto Garcia survived this gut-wrenching scene and has won many awards for this amazing photograph.

2.

Dr. Religa sits exhausted after successfully completing a heart surgery which lasted 23 hours saving the life of a patient thought unsavable. In the lower right corner, you can see one of his colleagues who helped him with the surgery fallen has asleep. Dr. Religa was a pioneer of heart transplantation in Poland. Even though Dr. Religa's heart has stopped beating, the patient in the photo is reportedly still alive.

3.

A young girl feels the emotion and passion of her grandfather as he weeps during a Veteran's Day Celebration.

4.

Daredevils Gladys Roy and Ivan Unger Play Tennis In Sky, riding on the wings of a biplane as it flies over the city in November 1925.

5.

A photo of two young brothers, who are already on very different paths. One is smoking cigarettes and listening to rock music, and the other is on the path to enlightenment as a monk. This photo, taken by Roger Stonehouse is known as "A Punk and a Monk" and it gained acclaim on the cover of the Fall Out Boy album “Save Rock and Roll”.

6.

A powerful depiction of friendship and loss. A photograph taken during the funeral of Private Kevin Elliot who was killed in Afghanistan during a battle with the Taliban. His best friend can be seen in a green dress as per an agreement they had that if one of them ever died, the other would wear a bright green dress to the funeral.

7.

American born Minister and Civil Rights activist, Malcolm X peeks out his window with an A-1 Carbine rifle amidst death threats and violence he constantly received.

8.

This photograph, titled "Earthrise" was captured by Apollo 8 lunar module pilot Bill Anders during the first human voyage around the moon on Dec. 24, 1968. Anders flew around the moon with Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman and command module pilot Jim Lovell as they witnessed the Earth rising above the lunar surface.

9.

This stunning photo taken by Frans Lanting, is known as Ghost Trees, A river once flowed through this remarkable place in the dunes of Namibia, but over time it changed course the area dried up. The camelthorn trees that once flourished here are now just sculptural skeletons. Lanting captured this photo during an early morning sunrise which reflected off of the red sand dunes covered in patches of white grass.

10.

.Wait for Me, Daddy is a photo taken by Claude P. Dettloff on October 1, 1940. The British Columbia Regiment was marching down Eighth Street in British Columbia after Hitler threatened Poland and demanded the town of Danzig. While Dettloff was taking the photo, Warren "Whitey" Bernard ran away from his mother to his father, Private Jack Bernard. The picture received extensive exposure and was used in war-bond drives.

11.

General Nguyen shooting a Vietcong prisoner- The prisoner was caught cutting the throats of a South Vietnamese officer and his family, who were close friends of General Nguyen, and the general shot him in vengeance.

12.

Easy Company (Band of Brothers) Parachute Infantry Regiment, having a well earned rest after capturing The Eagle's Nest in 1945. The Eagle's Nest was used for Nazi meetings and secret government operations and was visited on 14 documented instances by Adolf Hitler, who disliked the location due to his fear of heights, the risk of bad weather, and the thin mountain air. The compound was eventually given to Bavaria by the Allies and today it is open seasonally as a restaurant, beer garden, and tourist site.

13.

This close up action photo capture a bumblebee peeing while in mid flight. The photographer Mark Parrott was quoted as saying, "I was shocked with excitement when I saw the shot and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It’s difficult to get good close-up shots without a tripod and this one was taken handheld."

14.

An exhausted U.S. Marine exhibits the thousand-yard stare after two days of constant fighting at the Battle of Eniwetok, February 1944.

15.

Buffaloes were nearly killed to extinction as part of a State-sponsored genocide of indigenous people. Buffalo was a major resource of these people for food and materials. Killing buffalo was akin to cutting off the supply line .During the 60-year period now known as “the Indian Wars,” from 1830-1890, the federal government massacred tens of thousands of Native peoples and “removed” surviving communities to isolated “reservations.” Entire ways of life and foodways were intentionally destroyed.

16.

Larry Nance gets some serious air and wins 1st place during the inaugural 1984 Slam Dunk Contest. This was the first "NBA Slam Dunk Contest" and it did not take place until 8 years after the ABA and the NBA merger in 1976.

17.

Test Pilot George Aird flying an English Electric Lightning F1 over the countryside was forced to eject from his plane at a dangerously low altitude of about 100 feet in 1962. The pilot survived but had multiple fractures. A fire in the plane caused loss of control of the aircraft on its final approach forcing the pilot to bail.

18.

A heart breaking photograph of two engineers stranded atop a wind turbine that caught on fire. The two engineers are seen hugging each other as they accept the harsh reality that they are going to die.