In the modern age, we are bombarded with imagery in the form of advertising, marketing, sales, social media, magazine articles etc. but every once in a while, a photograph so striking, chilling or simply fascinating will draw the eye and make us think about the story behind it. It is these images that stick with us and are the ones we will associate with certain times or places.
Sometimes, it is a rare image that we’ve never seen before and thus it strikes us as new and exciting despite its obvious age, sometimes it is a piece the world has seen but it is so perfectly constructed that it lodges in the collective psyche. Here we look at some of those images and give the stories behind them.
1. Hitler Visits Paris, 1941
The Nazi’s ruthless invasion of France in 1940 was perhaps Hitler’s greatest achievement and while France was a sworn enemy, Hitler made no secret of his love for the City of Lights and is reported to have said that visiting the city shortly after the invasion, “was the greatest and finest moment of my life.”
With that being said, the Fuhrer told Albert Speer (left) shortly after this poignant photo was taken that, “Berlin must be far more beautiful. When we are finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow.”
2. Afghan girl
When a National Geographic photographer visited a refugee camp along the Pakistan/Afghan border in 1984, he came across a striking pair of eyes. The poignant photo would go on to be seen by millions around the world and become of the most famous pictures of all time. But years later, the photographer decided to trace the woman down and returned to the same village. And after weeks of searching, he was finally led to the house of the woman after iris recognition technology confirmed her identity.
Her name is Sharbat Gula, and when asked by the photographer, Steve McCurry, if her life since the photo had changed for the better, she admitted that it hadn’t. “No,” she said. “But life under the Taliban was better. At least there was peace and order.”
3. War Is Hell
Captured by Associated Press photojournalist Horst-Faas in Vietnam, 1965, the photo paints a different image of war. At first glance, you see a handsome, innocent young man, and on the other, a soldier fighting in a war, that in his words, is a living hell. Many other American troops, disillusioned with the war effort, scribed similar messages onto their helmets as an act of defiance.
With protests and consternation around the war both at home and globally, this image struck a chord with many who thought America should stop their involvement in it.
4. The Burning Monk of Saigon
Arguably one of the most iconic images of all time, the photo, taken in Vietnam in the year 1963, depicts the Buddhist monk Thích Quang burning himself to death. The reason for Quang’s sacrifice stemmed from the feud between the Catholic Church and the Buddhists, who made up 70-90% of the population.
Although, when U.S correspondents became informed of ‘something important’ taking place outside the Cambodian embassy in Saigon, little did many journalists know or believe that anything of significance would happen. So unimpressed were many reporters that only a handful turned up. However, one of those that did was New York Times journalist Malcolm Browne, who would go on to receive a Pulitzer Prize for his work documenting the crisis.
5. V-J Day
When American navy soldiers returned from battle in the August of 1945, to celebrate V-J day, one sailor took it upon himself to kiss a nearby nurse. Speaking to Time Magazine, Alfred, now 92, joked that his wife was in the background when he kissed the nurse. “I remember what those nurses did out there….is the reason I grabbed that nurse,” he explained. Good save Alfred!
What the photograph does not show is that, immediately afterward, the nurse slapped Alfred for his forthrightness but many years later, the two were reintroduced and they were able to joke about the incident.
6. War and Peace
In a protest against the Vietnam war, scores of people in America marched upon the Pentagon on October 21st, 1967. This was not the first anti-war protest and it would not be the last but with the idea of shutting down the war, if just for a day, 100,000 confronted 2,500 rifle-wielding soldiers and one girl, 17-year-old Jan Rose Kasmir, approached the soldiers trying to engage them in dialogue.
Unmoving, the soldiers held their ground rather than throw down their weapons as Kasmir had hoped. Kasmir then began to put flowers into the barrels of their guns to signify peace over war. Sadly, the protest itself was mired by violence as soldiers lobbed tear gas into the crowds who were trying to force their way into the building. 681 protesters were arrested, and dozens were beaten as they were pushed off the Pentagon’s steps.
7. Love In A Riot
Canadian’s take their ice hockey seriously but in 2011, it all got a little out of hand in the city of Vancouver after the Vancouver Canucks’ Game -7 Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins, when rioting broke out over the results. Scott Jones and his girlfriend Alex Thomas were caught in the middle of this chaos when Thomas was hit, first by protestors and then by Police, trying to force them back.
Falling to the ground, the Police moved over her and Jones rushed to see if his partner was ok. A little hysterical, he tried to calm her by kissing her, as the police fought rioters in the background.Many later questioned if the photograph was staged but the photographer insists this is not the case.
8. The Skateboard Revolution.
American society underwent a skateboarding revolution in the 1970s when a few bored surfers in the early 1950s grew tired of having nothing to do when the waves were flat, they thought up the ‘skateboard.’ Years later, the recreational activity became one of America’s favorite activities- especially amongst the youth of California.
This photo, taken in 1975 during the peak of the craze, was captured by the photographer Hugh Holland, who admitted he was in the right place at the right time when a beach kid skated past two bikini-clad women. The capturing of a moment within an age of change, the image is highly lauded even today.
9. The six faces of death
In the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1939, German officials in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz decided to kill over 14% of the entire city’s population in response to a fight that broke out between German sabotages and members of the Polish army. And as this haunting photo illustrates, the last moments of a life before death are ones that encompass a range of human emotions.
Chilling in its contrasting depictions of what some feel knowing that they are facing down their last moments on earth, it tells a story of humanity at its darkest.
10. Baubart
A photograph taken by Philippina “Pina” Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) who was a German performer of modern dance, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director. A technique to do with ballet, you’ll note all the subjects are pointing the toes on their right leg whilst balancing on their left in order to strengthen their technique.
Due to the eerie nature of the photograph through, it has also been used in many other mediums such as the front cover for a book named “Las Trece Rosas” (The Thirteen Roses) from Spanish author Jesus Ferrero, about 13 women who were judged and killed during the postwar period, as well as to promote the American TV series American Horror Story.
11. A Young Holocaust Survivor is Asked to Draw a Picture of Home
For many survivors who grew up in the German concentration camps, the memories of their stay would forever haunt them. Perhaps more tragically, younger survivors were less aware of any barbarity- for it was all they knew. And as this photo of a little child epitomizes, it’s the only image they can fathom.
In a world where many had seen their lives and houses destroyed and the people of their own nation turn on them in rage and hatred, what could they possibly call home and what did that even mean to them?
12. Tiananmen Square
Following student protests at the perceived oppression of the ruling communist party in China, hundreds of student demonstrators had died on the streets of the capital, Beijing. With the world’s media looking on as further protests broke out, a lone demonstrator stepped in front of the tanks rolling through Tiananmen Square as a shower of power towards the protesters.
Shuffling from side to side to stop the tanks rounding him, the protestor was later hauled back into the crowds and his identity and fate remain unknown.
13. Raising The Flag
U.S troops raising the flag over Iwo Jima, a Japanese island, after a vicious battle with the Japanese forces, has become one of the most widely distributed images in the world but there have always been question marks over the authenticity of this patriotic scene. Although a genuine event, the photo actually shows the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi as the first flag was deemed too small to be seen from the bottom of the hill.
Now, often recreated on film and in parody, this image has become iconic and one closely associated with the American identity.
14. Black Power Salute
The American athletes of Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands and hang their heads as the American national anthem plays at their medal ceremony in 1968. A sign of support for the struggle for civil rights back home, this moment shocked people across the globe as the games that they were a part of were supposed to be a non-political event.
The Australian sprinter next to them, Peter Norman, also wanted to show his support, aware of a similar struggle for Aboriginal rights back in his homeland, and so wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.
15. Kings of Horror
Mention classic horror films to anyone and there are four names that are likely to crop up for their dedication to the craft of acting and regularity in the genre. Vincent Price, John Carradine, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee were all legendary masters of their art but only ever appeared in one film together, the 1983 horror-comedy House of the Long Shadows.
This photograph, taken by Terry O’Neil captured all of these greats at once as they posed together for the film’s promotional material.
16. Marilyn
The actress and global sex symbol was filming her movie The Seven Year Itch when this scene came up and she took to the New York streets to film it, only to be greeted by thousands of fans lining the boulevard. Apparently, so busy and crowded was it, the sound man could not capture the dialogue and so the scene had to be recreated in the studio.
This photo was taken from the movie and is the most enduring of her on-screen legacy. With husband, Joe Dimaggio standing by and watching the scene he became enraged at its saucy nature and the two would divorce just weeks later.
17. Che
Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, was an Argentinian medical student who joined the Cuban revolution and became the right-hand man of Fidel Castro. This photo of him was taken in 1960 at a memorial service for the victims of the La Coubre explosion in Havana. His steely gaze of determination has been recreated and distributed in many prints and forms of art as it became associated with his revolutionary spirit.
Going on to try and encourage and support further Socialist revolutions in South America, he was later captured and killed by U.S agents. Alberto Korda took this picture and never asked for payment for distribution of the image as he supported Guevara’s revolutionary ideals.
18. Albert Einstein
The world famous and Nobel prize winning scientist had just turned 72 when this photograph was taken in 1951. Forever smiling for photographs, Einstein decided to stick out his tongue when a photographer asked him to pose and it went on to become one of the most iconic images of the time as it showed a playful and comedic side to a man so closely associated with very serious and imperious thought.
Einstein was even a fan of the picture and asked for 9 copies for himself.
19. The Oldest Known Picture of A Person Sneezing
With her face in a sort of manic contortion, the subject of this piece has been used to illustrate tragedy and fear in many articles and ad campaigns throughout the years. Taken in 1902, it actually shows a woman sneezing and is the oldest known photo of someone doing so. The nature of taking photographs back then also makes for an amusing story.
Because exposure and the capturing of light took a long time in old photos, people has to hold a single pose for quite some time and this is why, typically, you don’t tend to see many vintage photographs of people smiling. This poor woman would have been standing and waiting for her photograph for quite some time before sneezing at the most inopportune moment.
20. Dorothy Count’s First Day at Harry Harding High School
When the Brown Vs. Board of Education trial deemed segregation within schools unconstitutional, Counts made history; becoming one of the first black students to enroll at the all-white Harry Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. But, in scenes of a horrific nature, the 15-year-old was bullied, harassed and intimidated by her fellow students.
Unfortunately, and some would say inevitably, Counts act of bravery didn’t last long as her father withdrew her after only four days of attendance.
21. Audrey Goes Shopping
Audrey Hepburn needs little introduction, but her adorable friend does. The beautiful, yet unusual photo was taken when she was out with her pet deer ‘Ip’ in Beverley Hills, 1958. Known for her ‘doe-eyed’ portrayals of iconic and innocent characters, a deer is a very striking animal to be associated with the actress and a very ‘Hollywood’ pet to have.
A life-long animal lover, Hepburn was known to support conservation projects through her life.
22. Strict Modesty
Believe it or not, strict modesty laws in early 1900s America limited female bathers to only wearing traditional swimwear garments, This led to many arrests and fines for anyone showing anything shorter than the measurements permitted. But it wasn’t only women who bore the wrath of the modesty police. Men were also susceptible, and it wasn’t until 1937 that males were allowed to go topless on a beach.
Given recent events and cultural shifts, notably in places like France, this photo has started to resurface and has never been more poignant.
23. Porsche Girl
A relatively modern photograph, this image has rapidly become a phenomenon online for its study of the female form and that of the curves of the iconic Porsche 911 car. Taken by Kate Bellm, the photographer often photographs women to show their strength and beauty in all its magnificent incarnations.
With a classic version of the Porsche 911, and the subject holding a polaroid camera, many assume this image is far older than it actually is. None the less, it has rapidly become iconic.
24. A German Soldier Returns Home
In 1946, a German prisoner of war returned to his home city of Frankfurt. Years of battle was behind him, not to mention being held captive by the enemy. Yet, as this picture from the photographer Tony Vaccaro shows, years of war and confinement would pale in comparison to the pain he felt when discovering that his wife and children, people who had no doubt given him hope of a brighter tomorrow, all perished.
Although enemy combatants are often demonized throughout wars and afterward, few moments show that all of humanity suffers, so clearly than this one.
25. Dorothy Stratten Relaxes By The Pool
The Canadian Playboy playmate, model and actress Dorothy Stratten became a sensation through her various modeling shoots, TV shows and films she appeared in throughout the late 70s and was set to have a stratospheric career on screen. Alas, her life was cut short at the age of 20 as her husband killed her, and himself, when they were discussing terms for divorce.
Here, the young model lounges by a pool in Playboy wear in a photo that would become iconic of her youthful and innocent looks, in happier times for her.