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56 Photos From Around The World That Hit Harder Than Words Ever Could

56 Photos From Around The World That Hit Harder Than Words Ever Could

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Photography, if you want to be clinical about it, is a simple transaction: light hits film or a sensor, and whatever falls inside that small rectangle of a viewfinder becomes an image. But the result is rarely clinical. A good photograph can knock the air out of you.
One Reddit thread happened to be an unlikely place to see that in action: a user asked people to share the “hardest” photos from their countries, and the replies came through with exactly that. Take a look below and see which ones live up to the prompt.

#1 Canada

Canada
Wurm42: For anyone not familiar, this is Canadian athlete Terry Fox. After having his right leg amputated due to cancer, he started the "Marathon of Hope," trying to raise money for cancer research by running across Canada.
Terry started in St. Johns, Newfoundland, running the equivalent of a full marathon (26.2 miles) every day. He ran more than 2,400 miles (4,000 km) and reached Thunder Bay, Ontario before he had to stop.
Terry stopped because it turned out he'd been doing all the running after his cancer came back, and it had reached his lungs. He died nine months later.
He is an inspirational figure for Canadians and disabled people all over the world.
86points

#2 Kosovo

Kosovo
This one from the war showing a young mother marching to safety while breastfeeding her daughter. The picture is now a mosaic and the mother and daughter are alright :)
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82points

#3 Germany

Germany
An east German (GDR) soldier fleeing to Westberlin during the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961.
68points

#4 United Kingdom

United Kingdom
Live Aid, 1985. Wembley stadium jam packed and roughly one in every three people worldwide watched it. One of the last great humanitarian projects almost every country contributed to and one of the last great events hosted in the UK.
68points

#5 South Africa

South Africa
27 April 1994 - our first democratic election where everyone has the right to vote. This is a line at the ballot box.
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68points

#6 Russia

Russia
This one is pretty cool.
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65points

#7 Ukraine

Ukraine
Kharkiv. 2014. Leninopad “Leninfalls.”
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64points

#8 Morocco

Morocco
The last photo taken of a wild Barbary Lion. Taken in 1924.
63points

#9 Belgium

Belgium
Belgium, 1927.
Einstein. Curie. Bohr. Planck. Heisenberg. Schrödinger. Dirac.
The greatest scientific gathering ever photographed.
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63points

#10 The United States Of America

The United States Of America
Ruby Bridges, New Orleans, 1960.

Cacafuego: Pride is all Americans should feel, looking at this photo. Pride in tough-as-nails little Ruby and all of our fellow countrymen who stood up and claimed the freedom and equality we are promised. Forget about everything else for the moment. That's an American right there.

CrazeMase. In case anyone wants to know how recent this was, she is 71 now. She's still alive, she currently does political activism.
62points

#11 Germany

Germany
Survivors of the concentration camp Buchenwald showing how they "lived" in the barracks.
61points

#12 Iceland. This Is Fine

Iceland. This Is Fine
Quarkonium2925: Just another Tuesday in Iceland.
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59points

#13 Poland

Poland
Polish Women’s Strike 2020.
57points

#14 Scotland

Scotland
Statue of kelpies, a Scottish mythical creature.
55points

#15 Poland

Poland
Photo after First heart transplant in Poland.
55points

#16 Lithuania

Lithuania
Baltic Way, 1989 - peaceful protest of Baltic people against the USSR regime by creating a live human chain across the 3 Baltic countries. This exact picture should be taken in Lithuania.
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54points

#17 Hungary

Hungary
I have many (including some from the 1956 revolution), but this is the one that still sticks with me.

Not Photoshop, it was the aftermath of the "red mud" disaster that happened in 2010. A faulty wall broke down, and a 2-meter-high wave of liquid bauxite residue (causing chemical burns) flooded the nearby village, [fatal to]10 people. There are many iconic photos from this incident as well, but this is probably my favorite.
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51points

#18 The United States Of America

The United States Of America
It's the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The photographer is Richard Lasher (I think!). It's a pretty famous photo in my state.
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49points

#19 Canada

Canada
Canuck the downtown Eastside crow. Stealing a knife from a crime scene.
48points

#20 New Zealand

New Zealand
47points
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