Powerful Photographs of Extraordinary Moments
This is a non conclusive list of photographs which were taken during extraordinary times. Be warned though. You might find some of the following photographs quite disturbing. 
First Powered Flight at Kitty Hawk
Date: December 17th, 1903
Place: Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
Photographer: John T. Daniels
The Shooting of a Loyalist Militiaman
Spanish civil war: Federico Borrell García, was shot to death the instant this photograph was taken.
Date: September 5, 1936
Place: Cordoba Front, Spain
Photographer: Robert Capa
Hindenburg Disaster
Date: May 6, 1937
Place: Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey
Photographer: Sam Shere
Mounting the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag
Date: May 2, 1945
Place: Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Yevgeny Khaldei
Celebrating the end of WWII: Kiss at Time Square
After you’ve had a big fight, you make up with a kiss.
Date: August 14, 1945
Place: Manhattan, New York City
Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt
Hiroshima Aftermath
Date: September 7, 1945
Place: Hiroshima, Japan
Photographer: Stanley Troutman
The Most Beautiful Suicide
Evelyn McHale threw herself from the observation deck of the Empire State Building and died immediately upon landing on a car down below. Before she jumped, she left behind a note: ‘He is much better off without me … I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody,’
Date: May 1, 1947
Place: Manhattan, New York City
Photographer: Robert Wiles
Segregated Water Fountains
Date: 1950
Place: North Carolina
Photographer: Elliott Erwitt
Atomic Explosion Split Nanoseconds after Detonation
Nuclear test site: Because the explosions happened so fast, special ‘rapatronic’ cameras were built to capture the blast immediately after detonation. The last image is from a video to measure the damage done by a blast in an urban setting.
Date: Spring, 1956
Place: Nevada
Photographer: Harold Edgerton
Hans Conrad Shuman Leaping to the West
Date: August 15, 1961
Place: Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Peter Leibing
Monk Sets Himself on Fire
A Buddhist monk protesting the poor reforms of the South Vietnam government of the time, poured gazoline over his body and then set himself on fire.
Date: June 10, 1963
Place: Saigon, South Vietnam
Photographer: Malcolm Browne
Police Chief Executes a Viet Cong Captain
During the Tet Offensive, Viet Cong captain Nguyễn Văn Lém was captured after targeting the families of South Vietnam’s police officers. South Vietnam’s national police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan was caught on film the moment he executed Lém personally.
Date: February 1, 1968
Place: Saigon, South Vietnam
Photographer: Eddie Adams
‘Too Hot! Too Hot!’
The words Phan Thị Kim Phúc screamed as she fled a village that had just been destroyed by a napalm bomb.
Date: June 8, 1972
Place: Trang Bang, South Vietnam
Photographer: Nick Út
Fall of Saigon
Americans and Vietnam citizens who had been loyal to the US were airlifted out of Saigon as the Viet Cong approached the city. This was taken at the US embassy as people scrambled to the roof in the hopes of catching a helicopter out.
Date: April 29, 1975
Place: Saigon, South Vietnam
Photographer: Hubert van Es
Challenger Disaster
This would be the first mission a teacher would go up into space and as such got a lot of attention at school before the Challenger was launched. It was a shock when we say it go up in flames.
Date: January 28, 1986
Place: Cape Canaveral, Florida
Photographer: Unknown
Man Holds off Tanks
This is probably one of the most powerful images of a single man trying to make a difference.
Date: June 5, 1989
Place: Near Tiananmen Square in Bejing, China
Photographer: Jeff Widener
United Colors of Benetton
This photo is the odd one out, it being an advertisement for Benetton, but it defied all rules at the time by carrying a political message instead of just selling clothes. This was one of the first ones in a series of advertisements that tried to break taboos.
Date: 1989
Place: Italy
Photographer: Oliviero Toscani
Highway of Death
Iraqi soldier scorched to death when an escaping convoy was obliviated by attacking US planes. Until then, the first Gulf War had been portrayed as an almost clinical operation with precision bombings and surgical strikes. It was only in the aftermath of the war that another image started to appear.
Date: March, 1991
Place: Kuwait
Photographer: Kenneth Jarecke.
Falling Man
During the 9/11 attacks, many of those on the top floors of the twin towers were trapped. Trying to escape from the heat, many of them had no choice but to jump.
Date: September 11, 2001
Place: Manhattan, New York City
Photographer: Richard Drew
Mourning a relative after the Tsunami
Date: December 28, 2004
Place: Cuddalore, India
Photographer: Arko Datta
After the Bombs have Fallen
One of the strangest pictures here depicting that our times have changed. We’re using to seeing the after math of war as one of suffering and pain. Not of young hipsters driving around driving around tricked out cars and taking pictures of the damage with their mobiles.
Date: August 15, 2006
Place: South Beirut, Lebanon
Photographer: Spencer Platt
Rebel Leader Laurent Nkunda
Date: 2007
Place: Kichanga, Democratic Republic of Congo
Photographer: Cédric Gerbehaye
Enjoy the previous entry: The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello
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Wow, Patrik, very impressive list!
Thx! Even though I’m just the curator. :)
More then half of these photographs were taken before I was even born.
The picture taken in Saigon in not the US Embassy. It is an apartment building were CIA employees lived.
Rob: You’re right. Apparantly, Hubert van Es, the photographer died today and so it’s all over the news now. But I did find this article in the New York Times from a while back explaining why this photo has always been mislabeled as being the US embassy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/23/weekinreview/the-world-getting-it-wrong-in-a-photo.html
great stuff…. had goosebumps throughout… but wanted to make myself go through a few moments where pain is way bigger than we have ever known…. thnq for the collection!!
I had not seen the photo from Lebanon before, it is fascinating. My brother has lived in Beirut for several years now and I just started reading “From Beirut to Jerusalem” a couple weeks ago. I’d love to see the city sometime.
this is amazing
The Hiroshima destruction was indeed extraordinary. Never before had such a powerful weapon been used. In an instant two thirds of the city’s structures were destroyed, leaving at least 70,000 dead and 69,000 injured. Thank you very much for the photograph. This was just a day after a B-29 Superfortress dropped the nuclear bomb.
maybe this image might be a good addition to ur list
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_29567.shtml
Thanks! I hadn’t seen that one before.
How can people look at some of these?
@katie
We can look at them because the represent the unseen truths of the world
Segregated Water Fountains. We don’t have the racial segregation of the 1950-60′s (not at that scale), but isn’t it surprising that with all the social changes we have made over the years,the world is still plagued by racism. I have never seen a perfect mix of the races! Thank you Patrik for the “painful” reminder.
If you google “concentration camp” you will find other powerful images, I will let you choose.
Amazing images, the one of the Iraq solider just sent shivers up my spine
Then I read an interview with the youngsters in that Lebanese town: they came there to see what was left of their house. They were not kind of disaster tourists
nice pics, thnx for sharing
This is truly amazing, you must make some more!!