most iconic/gripping photo's of all time

please post a picture (or link to a pic) which you feel is one of the most iconic or gripping photo's youve seen and why.

it can be about anything you like.
Maybe it was JFK's shooting, or tiananmen square, or saddam's statue falling in iraq that grabbed your attention?



Wiki link

Police chief General Loam executes a VC officer in saigon.

This photo is like a car smash, i just have to look.
Its right at that moment where the decisions is made if the guy lives or dies and you can see the fear in the VC's face a split second before he was shot, and the generals face seems pretty casual like its all in a days work.

its gripping, shocking and sad all in one.




image from wiki link
Abu-Ghraib prison abuse.

Along with the other photo's it was disapointing to see the coalition/US forces not only mistreating prisoners + using torture but also enjoying every bit of it.

Janis Karpinski, the commander of Abu Ghraib demoted for her lack of insight regarding the abuse, estimated later that 90% of detainees in the prison were innocent.

[edit on 29/12/07 by Obliv_au]

i was going to post the very first pic you posted.
that is the one that came to mind first

Originally posted by Boondock78
i was going to post the very first pic you posted.
that is the one that came to mind first

got any others that come to mind?

My offering:

reply to post by LDragonFire


thats a great photo, eh?

if you dont mind me asking, what sort of statement does it make to you that makes it such a profound picture?

Here' a Pulitzer winner. Napalm (that's vaseline and gasoline).



The same little girl (Kim Phuc) in 1995 with her baby.



There's one old, old National geographic one that I really like/am disturbed by of an Afghan girl. It's on the cover and looks at me from behind a bookend when I'm in the living room.



Mira

[edit on 29-12-2007 by Mira_of_lurk0more]

reply to post by LDragonFire


thats what I was gonna post.

Hi all, Here are some pictures i thought that should belong in this thread.









Hope you like...

thanks for the pics people, keep em coming.

we've had a great selection so far i must admit


please feel free to speak up about what makes them so moving to you also.



[edit on 30/12/07 by Obliv_au]

reply to post by Obliv_au


David (Palistinian boy) Vs goliath (israeli Tank)




Guess hate is shown on both sides



This is the most striking picture i have seen and has been shown so many times, what ever happend to that man?

reply to post by bodrul



Good one b'. Unknown rebel or "Wang Weilin" as some British tabloid hypothisized "disappeared". I hope in a good way. I hope his real story is known one day and think this will be one of the enduring pics of all time.

Mira


[edit on 30-12-2007 by Mira_of_lurk0more]

reply to post by Obliv_au


Interesting all the war related photos.

I'm not a crook, Yeah Right!

I think this one of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, taken during the height of the German bombing, meant an awful lot to the Londoners & Brits at the time, a symbol of defiance .... a lucky shot, seemingly, a bomb exploded illuminating the vast cathedral dome as the shutter opened ....




And this is an image of the village of Aberfan, Wales in 1966. It was one of the first news stories I can remember hearing about, the village school was destroyed when a pit bing (huge slag heap) collapsed and fell down on top of the school, killing 144, of whom 116 were school children ... who only minutes before had been singing "All Things Bright And Beautiful". Terribly sad.



The final one is only very recent, a picture of Queen Elizabeth by Annie Leibowitz. I just think it's a beautiful photograph and it's one which our grandchildren will be seeing in a hundred years time whenever the Queen's reign is discussed. A modern classic.

reply to post by bodrul


ive never seen that second photo before, encouraging kids to partake in hate during war time by making something appear fun.

the tiananmen square pic is always at the top of memorable photo's. I think because they were shooting at people previously and then stopped at one lone guy carrying his shopping.

i think when they rounded up more, they probably got him then

reply to post by LDragonFire


thats a good point, i guess war photo's are what grabs peoples reality and gives it a good shake by burning a shocking image in their mind (like the very first pic of general loam shooting a VC in public view)


reply to post by Niall197


that second photo pretty much tells the story on its own, doesnt it?

a school buried up to its roof line in mud, excavators moving in and hundreds of people working frantically.

This one is my entry :