Following on from the 15 Incredible Historical Photographs list, we have another selection of 10. In no particular order:
1. Southern Sudan
Kevin Carter took this photograph in southern Sudan. The picture would later bring him the Pulitzer prize, but also death. The image shows a vulture waiting for a child to starve to death. This horrific sight affected the photographer so deeply that he committed suicide after winning the Pulitzer Prize.
2. Volcano Victim
Omayra Sánchez was 13 years old when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted. She was trapped in the remains of her house for three days in water up to her neck. Photor-reporter Frank Fournier got this picture a few hours before her death. The Red Cross alerted the local authorities, but they could not get there in time and Omayra died of hypothermia.
3. Soweto Riots
A photo that managed to draw the attention of the world shows Hector Peterson, age 13, as he dies in the arms of Mbuyisa Makhubo, after he was shot by a police officer on June 16, 1976, during the Soweto riot in South Africa. Picture taken by Sam Nzima.
4. Construction Workers
“New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam” is a world famous photo, made during the construction of the GE Building in the Rockefeller Center in 1932. Photographer Charles C. Ebbets took the picture on September, 29, 1932. The workers are on level 69.
5. Soldier’s Despair
In the photo, American sergeant, just found his best friend in the body-bag beside him. He was killed during the Gulf War. The picture was taken by David Turnley, but shortly after it’s appearance it was restricted by the Pentagon.
6. Unknown Refugee
Steve McCurry took this photograph of a young refugee girl from war-torn Afghanistan. It first appeared in National Geographic Magazine in 1985 but was taken in 1983. The girl’s name is unknown.
7. Einstein
The famous scientist, Albert Einstein, shows us in this famous photograph, that he also had a good sense of humor. The picture was taken on March 14, 1951, by Arthur Sasse.
8. Churchill
The portrait of Great Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, became famous all over the world. The photographer Yousuf Karsh, became famous for this picture. it is the most reproduced picture in history, and it also appeared on the cover of Life Magazine.
9. 9/11
American photograph Richard Drew captured this image during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. He managed to photograph a man who, in panic, jumped from the upper floors of the building.
10. Marliyn
This iconic image of Marilyn Monroe comes from the film The Seven Year Itch. It is probably the most famous picture taken of this celebrated actress.
Contributor: Yaurt
Technorati Tags: history, photography
i seen a documentary on nation geographic where they actually found the unknown afghan girl and interviewed her and took an after photo!
yes, i saw that too, but the photographer (McCurry) was already dead when they finally found this girl
Some people are just evil and greedy , why take a photo of someone in need and not help them? He could of saved that girl….
Also @jfrater, 80toy and others: many people were present during Sanchez’ ordeal (not just for her final hours, and not just the photographer) and they did attempt to save her. However, under the water, her legs were trapped under concrete and other debris. Heavier equipment was needed, and it sadly didn’t arrive in time.
zubair: oh – how was she? Presumably she survived the whole ordeal.
I saw that documentary too. I remember that she was older of course but still had the piercing eyes. Very interesting list Jamie!
you added the picture i suggested!!!(number 6 the refugee)nd yea der was a follow up it was reli gud!
bonjournickle: yep – I thought of it as soon as this list was submitted
Reea: Thanks
you’ve presented a whole range of emotions here..
the 9/11 images of people jumping off is still quite chilling.
Not quite sure the Churchill photograph is the most reproduced photograph in history. I think it belongs to another one that should be featured on this list.
i’m talking about the famous Che Guevara portrait by Alberto Korda.
Etienne: I have featured Guevara on the top 10 famous corpses – and frankly, that is the only list I want to see him on
As zubair and reea, i saw it too. At first some locals misguided the photografer to the wrong person. I think this was on purpose since the documentary is a little boring, they need to add a piece of drama. Just like Rocky movies, he lost the first fight, and then won the second one.
yeah sure JF,
but still a list about famous photographs should still include one of the most famous portrait ever.
The most chilling photo is number one.
no wonder the photographer of picture 1 killed himself.
They found out the girl’s name. It was Sharbat Gula. You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharbat_Gula
here eyes just pierce right through you…
God, some of these are heart-wrenchingly sad, especially #1. Not a good way to start off the day
Still, great list, you managed to portray a lot of emotions.
There is a CBC documentary based on picture #9 where they track down the identity of the jumper. The show is called ‘Falling Man’ and its really quite interesting.
The angry expression on Churchill’s face came about because as Karsh was getting ready to take the shot, Churchill had a cigar in his mouth… and Karsh walked up to him and plucked it out!
True story.
How about this photo?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man
The girl in photo 6 is indeed Sharbat Gula, and years later National Geographic managed to track her down. Although she was not too keen on the attention, she allowed for her photo to be taken again.
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/afghangirl/
ImplosiveFire: shame on you! If you looked at the list I mentioned in the opening paragraph you would see it is there
Marco: thank you so much for posting a link to the photo. Her hard life shows on her face!
Oh, whoops, my bad
so did the photographers of the trapped girl and the starving kid do anything to help them? it sounds like the one who photographed the trapped girl just left her there to die.
80toy: I wondered the exact same thing – surely there was something he could have done!
80toy: Sadly, he did not help the starving girl for fear of disease and it is unknown if she lived or not.
thats too bad. Its probably why he killed himself.
Well, he also took the first photograph of necklacing. That would depress and haunt anyone. He saw some terrible things in his photography career :\.
You can read about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter
I think that I remember reading about the trapped girl in photo 2 and if I remember correctly, there was nothing that they could do to help her. I believe her body or legs were pinned and they could not get her out. How horrible it would be to watch a young girl dying and not be able to do anything to help her.
I’m not sure that I would agree with the characterization of the jumper in photo 9 being “in panic”. That sounds as if he did not make a clear, rational decision and he may well have. It is quite understandable why someone would prefer to leap to their death rather than dying of smoke inhalation or worse, being burned. It’s a horrible choice to have to make but that doesn’t mean that the poor man did not consciously make it.
jfrater: The reason the photographer of picture 1 killed himself was the controversy over the fact that he didn’t help the little girl. Or the other people he photographed. Because it was his job to take the photographs, and as samiam said, fear of disease.
I say people should go see the carnage in such places before they ask if he helped this one specific person. Is she more important than thousands of others because she made for a stunningly sad photograph? I say no. I think it’s a naive response to a photograph such as this. It oversimplifies the problem.
If only some of those pics were rarities. As much as I want to cry and fall apart over these pictures, I realize these are things that go on around the world all too often and I am glad they are being shown to gain awareness. I am referring to pictures 1,2,3,5 and 9. Thank you for this list, jfray. Glad you went there.
The story behind #2, as told by the photographer. Tragic…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4231020.stm
Two pics are missing….the naked vietnamese girl running from her village and the vday photo of sailor kissing a girl in NYC after WWII
Beth: Yes they are missing from this list…But that is because they are on this list 15 Incredible Historical Photographs
I recently did an essay on the girl who was trapped after the volcano. She spent days trapped in the cold muddy water. Her body temperature dropped so low that she suffered from a heart attack. They couldnt get her out because it was difficult to get a water pump in that part of the world in time to save her. The worst part about it was she couldnt get out because her legs were pinned under the remains of her house and also, her dead aunt was still holding on to her ankles. Its really sad =[
Twyla: I think that it is too easy to say that there are thousands of others who are important too – as an excuse to not help the one person you can help. Yes, there are others suffering the same plight, but all people are equal and saving one person is better than saving none. I wondered if he had helped – I didn’t condemn him as I didn’t know the story behind it. Thanks for the comment though – it is good for us to see things from all sides I think
Ayesha: Thanks for shedding more light on that photograph – how absolutely terrible that must have been. The poor girl. What I think is most interesting is that the look on her face is actually very serene – unusual given the circumstances.
I remember well some video of the volcano girl. She was smiling until the end, and waving as if to say good bye. Heartbreaking.
How should the photographer have helped the starving girl (from pic #1)? Taking her home with him? Not possible. Feeding her? With what? And even if he had some food in his pocket that he could give to her, then what? And how about the thousands of other starving people around? No wonder he killed himself.
Pic #1 makes me incredibly angry by the way. We should be ashamed of ourself letting this happen to people on our planet.
We should be ashamed of ourself letting this happen to people on our planet.
…
Yes, greed is a very dangerous thing..
sakul: I totally agree – the problem is mostly in government I think – the nations afflicted need to take care of their people – they can’t just rely on the Western nations to front up and fix the problems. Maybe there should be an international law that abolishes any government that allows this kind of thing to happen.
Looking at the construction workers on that beam gives me chills! I love how they aren’t even scared of the heights, probably because they had been working on it for 69 floors by then. What a great picture!
the most reproduced picture in history is the picture of the boy who is on “kinder-schokolade” (kinder-chocolate)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Chocolate
The volcano victim picture is amazing.
jfrater said
That is certainly true, but I think that we should also remember that the Western nations (in this case, the UK) are at least partially responsible for their problems. Sudan, as are so many other countries that have civil strife, was a British colony. In 1946 the British decided that Northern and Southern Sudan would become one.
Why don’t we (the Western countries) ever seem to realize that you can’t just take a random group of people of different religions, ethnic backgrounds and cultures, and decide that they are going to be a “country” with some arbitrary borders that we have set, without it leading to internal strife and power struggles? Yes, their government should be doing more, but we should remember that their original government was put in place by us. Meanwhile, the common people suffer…
Mathilda: you make a very good point there – I stand corrected. Thanks
there was a documentary on the Fallin Man who jumped from the tower.
they got his name but you can probably search it somehow.
sorry if someones already mentioned it.
One photo I would add…
John-John saluting his father, JFK, during the funeral procession.
What about the picture of The Raising of the American Flag in Iwo Jima?
Some ((well…most)) of these are really sad. I was ready to cry when i saw the first one
JFrater, you made a comment about Omayra Sanchez’s face, you said it was serene inspite of her condition. Serenity is so often found in death, my dear.
Your No No 6. Unknown Refugee has been found. National Geographic had a special program that showed her how she is today.
Ivor Berger: Thanks for mentioning that – though it was mentioned in comment 19 as well
It is good to know the ultimate conclusion to her story.
The 9/11 photo made my stomach turn.
Some of these pictures are terrible to look at, but important as well.
pic 5 is really sad for me because my cousin and his friend were both shipped off to Iraq and when my cuz was looking for survivors he found his dead friend lying face down in a puddle of blood…
it seems strange when pics like pic no 1 are shown…. life in this world doesn’t seem to have a value…. the leaders and everyone in this world talk about development and don’t actually realise the pain and misery of many others who are dying coz of this development……, no one is spared….. neither the infants
wow, that man falling from the world trade center is just one of the saddest things i have ever since. also the first one with the kid and the vulture. sometimes we take living in this country way too much for granted
luckyaz: what country is that? Anyway, how can you say that the guy jumping from the World Trade center is so sad when there are people who jump off buildings to commit suicide anyway?
i found out the afghan girls name , its Sharbat Gula
No.1 tore me apart.OMG,no wonder the photographer committed suicide.that’s a horrifying sight to see,let alone do nothing about.
Can anybody shed light on the construction workers on the beam picture.It cant be for real can it?It makes me glad I live in a bungalow.
thanks
Pete,
Its a real photo. Back in the day no one really had any concern for safety and if I recall correctly, I think most of the men were Italian immigrants. If you look up most major construction projects of that period most of them have high death tolls because of the lack of safety regulations in place. And that was probably as good a place as any to eat, I mean, would you want to go down 69 flights and then go back up them just to eat lunch?
Re #1 most likely nothing could be done to save to child, but my instinct would have been to hold her and comfort her.