# 40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken



## The Shaktus (Apr 19, 2010)

I came across this page yesterday. It has some very poignant and amazing photos taken throughout history.
40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken


*Warning: Eyes may get misty and/or may get choked up*


Which photos stood out to you/ make you think/etc?

Any photos you think should have made this list but didn't?


----------



## Vin The Dreamer (Mar 21, 2012)

No. 10 is beautiful. If only more people could put aside their differences like this.


----------



## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

Ever taken, eh? I doubt that. Maybe only the most powerful ones seen. Lemme go through this list:

1. The pictures aren't powerful, they just look like two random pictures. Only the explanation before made it be anything interesting, but the pictures themselves were not powerful in any way. Seriously.

2. Again, without a caption it looked sort of like an old guy repairing the vehicle. 

3. The first one ACTUALLY HAD AN AFFECT ON ME. See, that picture showed the stark contrast between the dark, faceless policemen and the optimistic, happy image of the child with the heart. The second picture was alright, but showing the polices' faces ruined the effect for me. 

4. Before reading the caption... okay, it's a policeman arresting a policeman? That's kind of funny but not powerful.

5. I thought he was just shaking the guy's hand before I read the caption. Seriously, try some ACTUALLY powerful pictures please.

6. This is one that actually could have an affect on me and is good, but it didn't pang me, it did leave at least a little feeling, more of one of "look at all these people who died and the innocent dog" one though.

7. Fist pumps? This is getting lamer and lamer.

8. The mom looks slightly embarrased. Not powerful. Next.

9. The little kid added a little bit, but I did not get the intended meaning. Not super powerful.

10. Two guys holding hands to navigate through a tough crowd? THIS FAILS.

11. Okay, guy's crying, not too impactful... WHY IS THAT GUY SMILING WHAT THE HELL MAN. Not the intended meaning.

12. Wait, it's a dog? I thought it was a fox. 

13. This one falls under "actually leaves an impact on me" like 3 did, just the way they are all lined up and having to march forward and the innocent child trying to follow.

14. What is it? Is he tackling him? The guy standing up looks nervous. *reads* Oookayyyy...

15.  why are you doing that there. *reads* That explains things.

16. The posture of the guy with the blue shirt actually gets to me, he looks so devastated.

17. WOAH HE HAS A HOOK THAT'S SO COOL. The other guy looks like he's crying while Captain Hook is smirking rather evilly...

18. They are hugging. Wooh.

19. Yay, another good one! The guy looks so pained, and the pink just contrasts with the muddiness so well, it makes me sad. 

20. His face is funny.

21. Love how the fence divides it. You can see that look of utter loathing on the gaunt man's face. Makes me hate how caviler the healthy men look. 

22. This is cute!

23. His pose looks like superman.

24. I like the random phone.

25. Is this a funny race kinda thing?

26. There's a nun sitting at a wet window playing with a dog. Alright then...

27. Whatever the guys did it must have been evil. *reads caption* That's not what I thought of...

28. Is he playing or crying? Can't tell. 

29. Another good one. It's like the flower is a desperate plea.

30. Remote controlled toy tanks! What does this have to do with powerful pictures, again?

31. Racing eachother? 

32. He must be listening to something really scary in his cheap headphones.

33. Why is she looking so eagerly through that window? Is she trying to jump in the car? 

34. D-day. O-kay.

35. What is that man doing to the poor girl? 

36. Is he crowning the kid the king of a new count-someone just explained to me that that flag is only given at funerals. I understand this picture a lot more now. 

37. ...?

38. Nice hat. His eyes are really orangey red, its kinda scary.

39. The dog looks really smug like "I planned this totally."

40. Only impactful when Carl Sagan narrates "pale blue dot" over it, but then its _really_ impactful, the only one that affects me for more than a minute or two. A good one to end on.


----------



## DarwinsBastard (Apr 27, 2012)

number 30 is one of my favourite pictures of all time

15 doesn't belong on that list.


@*Owfin*


----------



## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

DarwinsBastard said:


>


I was serious. I'm not affected by a picture because of what it's about, I'm affected by intense framing, colors, composition, expressions... To me few of these pictures are powerful in and of themselves, and are only made powerful because of what's in the caption.


----------



## DarwinsBastard (Apr 27, 2012)

Owfin said:


> I was serious. I'm not affected by a picture because of what it's about, I'm affected by intense framing, colors, composition, expressions... To me few of these pictures are powerful in and of themselves, and are only made powerful because of what's in the caption.



That's fair enough, the list had to do with the humanity and emotional content in the pictures, and their power in that respect, not their value as artistic statements... I think we can both agree a lot of them aren't very good photos from the criteria you mention.


----------



## Where Love Died Laughing (Jan 5, 2012)

Owfin said:


> Ever taken, eh? I doubt that. Maybe only the most powerful ones seen. Lemme go through this list:
> 
> 1. The pictures aren't powerful, they just look like two random pictures. Only the explanation before made it be anything interesting, but the pictures themselves were not powerful in any way. Seriously.
> 
> ...


So interesting. I thought #1 was the most powerful picture out of them all. Most of the other ones surely capture historic or revolutionary moments, but they don't have much raw emotion about them. I thought #1 had this sort of melancholic tone to it that just made it that much more powerful.


----------



## RoughEstimate (Mar 10, 2012)

I guess, in order for them to reign powerful, you have to have some sense of humanity and take them for what they are, rather than what they've been coined in the title.
"40 reasons there's still hope for humanity" should be the title. As you can see, those numbers are dwindling before our very eyes; See a few posts above for details. 
Maybe someone can photoshop the concentration camps into vivid tie-dye, or accentuate the brilliant red that Miss Kennedy's adorning...Seriously? Shame on you.


----------



## Bast (Mar 23, 2011)

I'm in agreement with @Owfin; if I had no prior knowledge of the photos (some of them are pictures I had seen before and thus knew the context) and did not have the captions available to me, I don't think these pictures would be "moving" or "powerful" at all.


----------



## Juan M (Mar 11, 2011)

I think that the essence and beauty of a photography its not in the rough appareance(nice coloros, good shot) of it but in the significate of a moment frozen in time attached to a symbolism, i liked the half of the pictures, the ones that didint need captcha to explain itselves (or atleast for me) truly good photos and take a lot of significance when you certainly know the context around them. 

Not powerful enought to move my heart but are more interesting than the clowny photos with a lot of colors and 0 significance, crap that you can shoot with your iphone and put a filter on them.


----------



## Ryosuke93 (Feb 29, 2012)

i cried.


----------



## nakkinaama (Jun 20, 2012)

I think that 21.,27.,28.,30.,33.,37.,7.,8. and 10. brought tears to my eyes, almost. But I think that the Tank man was the best picture. The fact that he is standing all alone in the way of those war machines is just incredible, because, I dont know its just so epic.


----------



## Misha (Dec 18, 2011)

Didn't make the list, but I like this one better:










_Famine in Niger_ by _Vega Omar_.


----------



## HonestThief (May 28, 2012)

3. First one that stood out to me. Just the small innocence of the child standing up to the riot police, it's powerful to me.

15. I just thought this one was cool. In the middle of all that chaos they're focused on none of it but each other.

21. I love the defiance on his face. Even without the description it's a very powerful photo to me

24. The photo itself doesn't hold a lot of power but after reading the description it gives me a lot of respect for Mrs Kennedy

30. I don't know how you can say this isn't powerful. Like picture 21, just the defiance and standing up for what you believe in inspires me. Even if it's a hopeless fight.

If I really wanted to be a critic I could go on about the flaws on all of these photos. But why can't we look past those and pay attention to all the powerful aspects? I don't see how you can't be moved by these. Some of the photos in of themselves may not be as moving, but when you know the background story to it it gives them a whole lot more meaning. After looking at these and then seeing @Owfin pick them apart and degrade them, idk I just can't grasp why. Have some respect for these photos at least. These are real people in these photos and if you look at it from an aspect besides just critiquing the photographers skill, they are very powerful photos.


----------



## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

HonestThief said:


> These are real people in these photos and if you look at it from an aspect besides just critiquing the photographers skill, they are very powerful photos.


I thought 3 and 21 were powerful, too! Especially 21. That one panged.

But I see no aspect of most of these pictures that are powerful in and of themselves. They look just like a guy leading another across the street. Some of these would create powerful stories, yes, but pictures are a different medium. Maybe you see it a different way. Pictures have a lot of subjective reaction involved. But for me, they were largely underwhelming. I didn't feel anything with most of them. My post was, in a way, an explanation of _why _I didn't feel anything with them.


----------



## FaveteLinguis (Mar 5, 2010)

This should have been in there, but it's a bit redundant. The 40 most powerful pictures? Maybe, but I wanted others in there out of personal preference and experience.


----------



## HonestThief (May 28, 2012)

Ok, I think I understand now. @Owfin. No hard feelings haha?


----------



## Misha (Dec 18, 2011)

HonestThief said:


> Ok, I think I understand now. @_Owfin_. No hard feelings haha?


 @_Owfin_ and @_HonestThief_:

This is such a classic case of the clash between INFJ & ENFP. And I can really understand from both sides P.O.V.

What HonestThief felt probably isn't entirely about how Owfin didn't take her time to read the background story from each photo but her subjective bluntness on criticizing the aesthetics in photography. It's all about the delivery that may dim as harsh and cold toward the effort among the contributors (aka photographers).

I think for most INFJs, when it comes to judging, we do seem to be pretty harsh critics toward others (probably due to Fe) without much consideration on one's effort as we prefer to offer our honest opinions toward a subject. 

Personally, I would agree with Owfin that most of the photos that made the list didn't deserve the spot. Sure, if you read all of the context of the background story, perhaps all selections are all worthy of praise. However, in my opinion, a good photography has to do with the _instant_ emotional impact just based on visual stimulation. After all, we're not judging the content itself as most of the photos seem to work better in newspaper format by attaching a controversial or touching story behind it.

When it comes to judging a photograph as a quality piece, personally I would consider other aesthetic and technical appeal as these are the most important elements that help to capture a defying moment. If a photograph relies on the background story for enhancing its appeal, I would consider it as an epic failure. And that's what I see in most of the selections failing to achieve my subjective personal standards. The image itself should speak louder than words, and to me, that's a great photography.


----------



## Erudis (Jan 23, 2011)

Here are some photos that I believe that should be on that list. I consider them to be powerful with or without the captions:


* *













_The lynching of two young black men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, by a mob of 10,000 people. They were accused by a teenager of raping his white girlfriend.










The Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức sets himself ablaze in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.










A stricken child crawls towards an United Nations food camp in Sudan, located a kilometer away, while a vulture is waiting for the child to die so it can eat him.










Phan Thị Kim Phúc, a 9-year-old girl Vietnamese girl, runs naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack during the Vietnam War.










Victims of the Hiroshima bombing._


----------



## lek373 (May 25, 2012)

Erudis said:


> Here are some photos that I believe that should be on that list. I consider them to be powerful with or without the captions:
> 
> 
> * *
> ...


I am crying. There is so much we take for granted.


----------

