40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken

BuzzFeed ^ | May 30, 2012 | Jack Shepherd

[EveningStar]

A moving collection of iconic photographs from the last 100 years that demonstrate the heartbreak of loss, the tremendous power of loyalty, and the triumph of the human spirit.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Yeah, it seemed like it got better as the list wore on.

I have never heard of the the Himmler/POW incident.

[mrpotatohead]

The picture with Margaret Thatcher at Reagan’s casket still brings a tear to my eye.

[FlingWingFlyer]

That’s my all time favorite. VP Cheney reminds me of Father Merrin (The Exorcist) who knows what we’re dealing with here.

[al baby]

Maureen Dowd is one fine looking women

[al baby]

Yes indeed he knew like most of us knew

[dfwgator]

Stalingrad

Polish AK soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising

[Revolting cat!]

Sentimentalism. Maybe cheap, maybe not.

[Mears]

Baloney.

Near the end of the photos is one of an 8 year old accepting the flag at the funeral of his dead Marine father. It tore me apart.

Not liberal,not conservative,just heartbreaking.

[Kartographer]

Have we forgotten?

[cajungirl]

my favorite too, Cheney would have been agreat President.

[LaRueLaDue]

Best one is number 40: Earthrise. Puts a bit of perspective on things...

[cajungirl]

Did you look before popping off?

[Lazamataz]

No, that is not Maureen Dowd. This is the woman Maureen Dowd lost her fiance, Michael Douglass, to.

[Kartographer]

And this one didn't make it?

[GeorgeWashingtonsGhost]

Good catch.. Those are powerful indeed.

[little jeremiah]

Cheney knew exactly what 0mugabe is. Bush looks ss though he’s holding in laughter. Why didn’t any of them say anything.

[RansomOttawa]

For a collection of the most iconic photos of the last 100 years, I thought it was pretty biased in favour of only the last few years. And I don't recall seeing anything from the Vietnam era, apart from the one "flower power" one. No burning Kim Phuc running down the road? No evacuation of Saigon? Like or hate Vietnam-era politics, there's no denying the visual impact of those photos.

For that matter, where were the mushroom clouds? Astronauts on the moon?

[KarlInOhio]

Lots of American ones I would have included, but I can think of a few foreign ones that I would have picked long before most of those. Among those are Yeltsin standing on the tank during the Soviet coup attempt, the pictures of Neda Agha-Soltan dying after being shot by the Iranian paramilitary and any number of pictures of people escaping over the Berlin Wall (or even one of the shots of the Wall being torn down).

Far too many of the forty were people weeping at coffins or graves, and I think they lost some of their power from repetition. And three of the forty were dogs being reunited with their owners? Pick one (or none) and that opens up two more slots.

[JoeProBono]

[oldfart]

Sentimentalism? Maybe, but there comes a time in most lives when sentimental memories invoked by timely photos becomes a major part of life. When you can no longer go out and make new memories you tend to value the old ones more.

You’ll see — if you live long enough.