Most famous Photograph Ever?

This 1 has got to be in the list somewhere?


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Omayra Sánchez [1985]
Omayra Sánchez was one of the 25,000 victims of the Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia) volcano which erupted on November 14, 1985. The 13-year old had been trapped in water and concrete for 3 days. The picture was taken shortly before she died and it caused controversy due to the photographer’s work and the Colombian government’s inaction in the midst of the tragedy, when it was published worldwide after the young girl’s death.


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Segregated Water Fountains [1950]
Photographer: Elliott Erwitt, Magnum Photos
Picture of segregated water fountains in North Carolina taken by Elliott Erwitt.


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Burning Monk – The Self-Immolation [1963]
Photographer: Malcolm Browne
June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government at the time. Buddhist monks asked the regime to lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag, to grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism, to stop detaining Buddhists and to give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion.

While burning Thich Quang Duc never moved a muscle.


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Bliss [~2000]
Photographer: Charles O’Rear
Bliss is the name of a photograph of a landscape in Napa County, California, east of Sonoma Valley. It contains rolling green hills and a blue sky with stratocumulus and cirrus clouds. The image is used as the default computer wallpaper for the “Luna” theme in Windows XP.

The photograph was taken by the professional photographer Charles O’Rear, a resident of St. Helena in Napa County, for digital-design company HighTurn. O’Rear has also taken photographs of Napa Valley for the May 1979 National Geographic Magazine article Napa, Valley of the Vine.

O’Rear’s photograph inspired Windows XP’s US$ 200 million advertising campaign Yes you can.


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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire [1911]
Photographer: International Ladies Garmet workers Union
Picture of bodies at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Company rules were to keep doors closed to the factory so workers (mostly immigrant women) couldn’t leave or steal. When a fire ignited, disaster struck. 146 people died that day.
 
these 2 were made famous more by the edited versions that followed

Mosh Girl

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chinese kid

images


this pic went viral a few years ago too

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For me it has to be the Capa photo of the dying militiaman - plus 2 others:

W Eugene Smith
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and
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I suppose ultimately it is an impossible task, as the "most famous" is inevitably intertwined with "the best" and the best is subjective as it speaks so personally.
 
Dman said:
It's more harrowing because of the story behind it, the fact that Kevin Carter left the girl there after taking the shot. Such a powerful image though, makes you just want to reach through and help the poor girl.

Very disturbing.
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Even more disturbing is that Kevin Carter committed suicide after international criticism of his failure to assist the girl, as well as the death of his friend and photographer colleague Ken Oosterbroek during the run up to the first democratic elections in South Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter
 
To be totally frank, for me there isn't one image I can think of as the one that sums up photography, or what I'd think would be the most famous.

From a personal POV I grew up reading all my folks' National Geographics from the late 70s through to the late 80s so there's a mass of stuff from those that shaped my view of photography.

Some great shots featured so far though :)
 
Dman said:
It's more harrowing because of the story behind it, the fact that Kevin Carter left the girl there after taking the shot. Such a powerful image though, makes you just want to reach through and help the poor girl.

Very disturbing.
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What was he supposed to do? Take her home with him?
You could say the same about Nick Ut's image of the napalmed vietnamese girl above or Don McCullin's shot of the albino Biafran boy.
It was a war - thousands were starving and dying - you can't do a damned thing about it as a photographer other than report it as compassionately as possible in the hope that humanity steps up to prevent it happening again in the future - that it hasn't worked thus far doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying however.

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Carter and McCullin had major difficulties with their respective shots - Carter eventually committed suicide as the pressure over winning a Pulitzer for the image and the surrounding controversy as to whether he had staged it tipped an already unstable man over the edge.
Don McCullin today cites his image as the most harrowing he ever took and the one that continues to haunt him to this day.
 
A couple which might make the grade:

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Ground Zero
Photographer: Thomas E. Franklin

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Oklahoma City Bombing
Photographer: Charles Porter

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Last Jew of Vinnitsa
Photographer: Unknown Soldier

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Omayra Sánchez
Photographer: Frank Fournier
 
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This is the one that sprung to me but a great many of the others might have appeared in time.
 
Tirpitz said:
these 2 were made famous more by the edited versions that followed

Mosh Girl

Mosh-Girl-Orginial.jpg


chinese kid

images


this pic went viral a few years ago too

allisonstokke.jpg
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Love the first 2!

Why did the last one go viral? (apart from the fact its a great photo :LOL: )
 
simonw said:
Not sure why you say forgotten, seared in the memories of anyone alive at the time.
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Born in 1979, never seen the photos before, knew exactly what is was. Tragedy.
 
simonw said:
Not sure why you say forgotten, seared in the memories of anyone alive at the time.
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Say 1966 to most people and you'll get the world cup final. Mention Aberfan and you'll get a blank look. You may remember it, but a lot of people that know all about the England win know nothing about it or the disgraceful behaviour of the coal board and the government afterwards.

That's why I say forgotten.
 
Are these photos famous for being pictures of a moment of history, or are they a moment of history because of the picture?

I ask the question purely to open a debate, not wishing to say one is better than another, or one moment more important than another.
 
Islander said:
Say 1966 to most people and you'll get the world cup final. Mention Aberfan and you'll get a blank look. You may remember it, but a lot of people that know all about the England win know nothing about it or the disgraceful behaviour of the coal board and the government afterwards.

That's why I say forgotten.
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Well I was only 7 at the time, it frightens me how little people know about what is to me the recent past.
 
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