A picture is worth a thousand words! This has become obvious, since we are about to talk about a group of photos that did much more than that.
They have managed to leave a mark in society, they managed to modify ideas and mentalities through their messages.
1. The photo that upped the photo journalism stakes: “Omaha Beach, Normandy, France”, Robert Capa, 1944
Photographer Robert Capa used to say ” if your photos are not good enough, you are not close enough”. Words that characterizes all the images he took on 06.06.1944 when he landed on the first line of the Omaha Beach infantry. Caught by the enemy fire, Capa hid himself using any camouflage he could, he took the pictures, after which he managed to get away. Unfortunately out of the 4 rolls of films he used he could only save 11 pictures after one assistant was in a hurry to get them developed.
2. The photo that put a face on the Great Depression: ” Migrant mother” Dorothea Lange, 1936
Florence Owens Thompson is the “face” of the Great Depression, thanks to the legendary photographer Dorothea Lange. The image is taken during her visit in California, in February 1936, taking a photo of the image of a nation in a period of despair. And to increase the drama, the story of Miss Thompson is as sad as her portrait. Mother of seven children, and a widow, she lived near a ranch in Nipomo and feed her family with the birds her children managed to kill and vegetables from the near farm fields.
3. The photo that brought the front line home: “Federal Dead on the Battle of First Day, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania”, Matthew Brady, 1863.
Mathew Brady was well known for the portraits he managed to do, like Abraham Lincoln and Robert E Lee and he wasn’t the type of man who could take war pictures. Even so, he said that he felt he has to do this, reason for which he took on the uniform of the Federal Army and went on the front carrying only his photo camera. In the period he spent on the front, Brady along with his assistants managed to take more than 7000 pictures. A very impressive number of photos, considering that during that time, to take a single photo you needed a lot of heavy equipment and toxic chemicals.
Federal Dead on the Battle of First Day
4. The photo that ended the war with the life of one man: “Murder of a vietcong by Saigon Police Chief”, Eddie Adams, 1968.
Eddie Adams wrote that “Photographer is still the most powerful weapon in the world”. This attitude gave him the possibility to win the Pulizer prize in 1969, managing to change the attitude of Americans regarding the Vietnam war. Even if the political impact of the photo was huge, the real situation was not as dramatic, because the man that was executed was a captain of a “rogue formation” that executed, in the same day, dozens of innocent civilians.
Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief
5. The photo that is not as romantic as it seams: “V-J, Times Square, 1945″ also known as “The Kiss”, Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1945.
It was August 14, 1945, the day in which USA announced that Japan surrendered, fact that symbolized the end of the second World War. During that day, amongst the masses of people that celebrated the event, there also was present one of the most talented photojournalists of the 20th century, Alfred Eisenstaedt. He managed to take a picture of a sailor that was running down the street, grabbing each girl and kissing her.
V-J Day, Times Square
6. The photo that destroyed an industry: “Hindenburg”, Murray Becker, 1937.
The explosion of Hindenburg, on May 6 1937 has won the honor of being cataloged as the main disaster of the 20th century. Even so, things are only dramatic on the surface, because out of 97 passengers on board, 62 survived.
7. The photo that changed the planet: “The Tetons – Snake River” Ansel Adams, 1942.
Some are saying that the photo can be split into two eras: Before and after Adams. To offer a concrete example, we mention that photo before Adams was not considered to be a form of art. Photographers were trying to transform photos into more artistic forms by giving them the look of a painting. Ansel Adams managed to eliminate these complexes by preaching the value of the pure photography. Also to underline his quality, we mention that through his photos he was able to win at Washington, the law suit to transform King Canyon, California, into a national park.
8. The photo that kept Che Guevara alive: The corpse of Che Guevara, Freddy Alborta, 1967.
In his efforts to incite the revolution amongst the poor in Bolivia, Che Guevara was captured by the national army, trained and equipped by the US Army and the CIA. They executed him, but before they buried him into a secret tomb, they organized a strategic photo shoot trying to prove to the world that he is not dead, in the hope that political movements will disappear once with his disappearance. Anticipating that people might say that the photos are fake, the cut off his hands and conserved them into formaldehyde.
9. The photo that shows us that the genius has a sense of humor:” Einstain with his Tongue Out”, Arthur Sasse, 1951.
Just like Albert Einstein changed history through his contributions in nuclear physics and quantum mechanics, this image also changed the way in which history looked at Einstein. Humanizing a man that is known for his intelligence, the image gives him the look of, let’s say, a wacky genius.
10. The photo that transformed the unreal into real: Dali Atomicus, Philippe Halsman, 1948.
Philippe Halsman is probably the only photographer that made a career from photographing people while they jump. He required 6 hours, 28 jumps and a room full of assistance that thrown catas and buckets of water to realize the perfect exposure.
11. The photo that lied:” Loch ness Monster”, Isa Wetherell, 1934.
The image represented in time a reason for frenetic speculations, of some underwater research and of a local tourist industry that generated income of million of dollars each year. The frenzy almost ended in 1994 when Christian Spurling admitted that he faked the photo.
12. The photo that almost didn’t happen: “Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel”, Margaret Bourke White, 1946.
The portrait of one of the most influential people of the 20th century almost didn’t happen because of the strict requirements f Mathama. Because of the fact that Margaret Bourke White was about to photo Gandhi at his spinning wheel, she was obligated to learn to use it first. Also, she was obligated to use only three light balls for her flash, and on top of this, the weather caused a lot of problems, causing her equipment to malfunction.
13. The photo that previewed the future: “e Violon d’Ingres”, May Ray, 1924
Before Photoshop, there was May Ray, a photographer that always experimented. ” Le Violon d’Ingres” is probably the most popular photo of the artist, that makes the visual connection between the body of a woman with the body of a violin, helped the the drawings on the back of the model.
