#1
Some of these images are wonderful and some just horrific and heartbreaking — but what’s common among them is that they tell us a story and pull us into a moment we were never a part of.
Another similar pattern among these pictures is that they focus on emotional and very human moments.
Even though we might not be able to completely relate with the subjects or understand what they went through, the simplicity of these pictures makes it easier for us to form an immediate emotional connection
#4
princessrat:
Thank you. One of the most beautiful images of clouds I've ever seen. I appreciate this after so many depressing posts.
#5
The photo was taken in 1967 by Rocco Morabito called The Kiss of life.
J.D Thompson is the one giving the mouth to mouth, Randall G. Champion is the one who made contact. The photo was taken in 1967 by Rocco Morabito called The Kiss of Life. Champion went on to live an extra 35 years and died in 2002. Thompson is still alive today.
For those who don't know when someone makes contact, it means they made a simple mistake which can happen to anybody in this line of work and made contact with probably 7500 volts. Based on what it looks like to distribution, if it would have been transmission, he wouldn't be with us.
When we see these images, it makes us think and question their background.
American photojournalist Ami Vitale says: “Images should have a story, meaning, and reveal truths. You have to go deep and show something original and unexpected, something that teaches and surprises, but also reveals those universal truths that everyone can understand and feel.”
#7
4 June 1962. Navy chaplain Luis Padillo was walking around giving last rites to soldiers as sniper fire surrounded him. A wounded soldier pulled himself up by linging to the priest’s cassock, as bullets chewed up the concrete around them.
#8
Why-so-delirious:
This is the best picture, but it needs more context.
The Hubble Extreme Deep Field is a picture taken by NASA over several weeks. They aimed the Hubble Telescope at a completely black spot in the night sky. A tiny, tiny area that is only a thousandth of the night sky, where they can't detect any stars. No light comes from that patch of night sky. There are no stars there.
And then they waited weeks for the telescope to collect all the light that it could, and it returned that image.
That is an image of a fraction of the night sky, a tiny, tiny portion, where there is already no visible light, and it is literally teeming with far-off galaxies.
Each speck of light, each pixel in that picture that isn't black is another galaxy, just like our Milky way.
So think about that for a minute. That view, except multiplies by literally thousands, and that is the scope of the universe close to us.
Or even just imagine that this picture was taken by an alien race in a galaxy far away, and one of those specks in the distance is the Milky Way. And in the Milky Way are a hundred billion stars. And of those stars we are just a single planet orbiting a regular ol' samey star.
The universe is mind-numbingly huge and we are mind-numbingly small.
#9
These images also challenge us to respond — they can make us cry, laugh, feel heartbroken or even give us butterflies.
Contemporary photographer Anton Corbijn has put it simply but powerfully: “The best photographs are the ones that make you feel something, that evoke a strong emotional response… They can make us even feel a profound sense of awe.”
#11
#12
Research shows that the most influential photos usually show conflict, struggle, or human suffering.
Photojournalism has always been closely linked with politics and violence because cameras usually go where history is unfolding — in wars, protests, revolutions.
It's because they show humanity at its most vulnerable and most real.
Even in this list, many people shared pictures of profound historic moments.
But not always. There are also pictures of the Woodstock music festival, or a picture of an old couple being lovey-dovey, and even one of a sky filled with beautiful lights.
A war-torn street and a couple holding hands may look worlds apart, but both make us pause and reflect, and feel connected to something larger than ourselves.
#13
#14
The look and emotion on his face brings me to tears sometimes.
Sometimes, what makes a photo iconic has nothing to do with planning. A lot of the images in this list are completely spontaneous — someone just happened to be in the right place at the right time with a camera.
This might not be so hard to believe in today’s world, where we can click a picture with our phone anytime, anywhere.
#17
Huge wave hitting lighthouse.
#18
Photographer: Collin Rodefer
It’s extraordinary to see that most of the pictures in the list are old, some of them even black and white, when cameras were few and far between and not everyone was a pro photographer.
What’s more astonishing is that the pictures come without any filters or AI editing, and that’s what makes them even more powerful and awe-inspiring.
#19
#20
