#1 A Million People Gathered To Protest In Central Seoul, South Korea And Cleaned Up Before They Left
#2 A Mongolian Girl And Her Camel, United In Laughter, Photographed By Han Chengli In 2003
#3 A Statue In Istanbul To Honor Tombili, A Well-Known Stray Cat. He Used To Sit In This Position And Watch Passers-By
It’s probably the dream of most photographers to create work that is so powerful that it echoes around the globe.
Truly iconic photos that you can identify at a glance are the height of photography. They resonate with you on a deep level and offer you a glimpse into the very soul of humankind—or at least that’s the idea.
Building up to an iconic photo requires years of dedication, effort…and a big dollop of luck.
#5 South Korea Sent A Fully-Kitted Sharpshooter To The Olympics. Turkey Sent A 51-Year-Old Guy With No Lenses, No Eye Shield Or Ear Protection. He Took Home A Silver Medal
#6 Lonnie Johnson Invented The Super Soaker In The Late 1980s. In 2013, He Reached A Settlement With Hasbro That Awarded Him Nearly $73 Million In Unpaid Royalties
CNN points out that iconic images are so dramatic that they embed themselves in your culture. “They have come to define a historical event, a famous person—or maybe even an entire generation.” These photos can be something that makes you feel proud or horrifies you because of the tragedy captured in the frame.
“I think the most important common denominator is that they [iconic photos] strike us on a very deep emotional level, and the emotions are usually some of the deepest emotions that a human being can feel: heroism, fear, grief, joy,” Peter Howe, former director of photography at Life magazine and picture editor at The New York Times Magazine, told CNN about the universality of the emotions depicted in iconic images.
#7 In The 1980s, A Japanese Train Station Was Kept Open For Years Just So One Schoolgirl Could Commute To Class. It Closed After Her Graduation
Meanwhile, former Life magazine picture editor and professional photographer for more than 50 years John Loengard shared with CNN that another important aspect of iconic photos is their uniqueness. That is, they capture an exact, significant moment. There is no way that they can be repeated.
#10 Former Billionaire Chuck Feeney Secretly Gave Away His $8 Billion Fortune. His Philanthropy Was Exposed In 1997 When A Business Dispute Forced The Disclosure Of His Identity As The Anonymous Donor
#11 Mobster Al Capone Ran A Soup Kitchen During The Great Depression And Served Free Meals To Thousands Of Unemployed People Every Day. No Questions Asked
Photography is much more accessible and democratized in this day and age. Nearly everyone has a smartphone with them at all times and has access to the internet and social media. There’s a vast gulf between the number of photos that were taken in the past and how many pics are being snapped today.
#13 A Father Looking For His Two Missing Sons That Went Missing During The Kosovo War In 1999. (They Were Later Found Safe)
#14 Sombra, A Colombian Police Dog, Was So Skilled That Cartels Put A Bounty On Her Life, Leading Authorities To Assign Her Bodyguards And Relocate Her For Safety
#15 Many Japanese Toilets Have A Built-In Sink Above The Water Tank, Allowing Users To Wash Their Hands And Then Reuse That Water For The Next Flush. This Saves Millions Of Liters Annually
“I think there are probably more pictures being taken now than there have ever been taken in time. You just walk around and you see people always taking pictures on their iPhone. There’s a massive visual imagery that is being generated by the public,” Howe pointed out.
On the positive side of things, changes in tech mean that you can instantly see the photo you’ve taken, and there are more opportunities to capture exact moments. But not everything is a win.
#18 In Japan, The Term “Madogiwa-Zoku” Refers To Older Employees Who Stay On The Payroll But Do Almost Nothing, Often As A Gesture Of Respect Or To Avoid Pushing Them Into Early Retirement
On the negative side of the scale, the volume of photographic content being produced now is almost deafening. To put it simply, there are so many photos being shared online that it makes it extremely difficult to find potentially iconic images of high quality.
“I think it’s much more difficult now for any particular image to rise to the surface, because we are so inundated with visual imagery nowadays. … You are getting the image so quickly, and it’s being followed up by so many more images afterward,” Howe told CNN.
#20 The West African Lungfish Can Survive Up To Three Years Without Food Or Water. When Rivers Dry Out, It Buries Itself In Mud And Forms A Protective Mucus Cocoon To Breathe, Making It One Of Nature’s Most Extreme Survivors
