Top 10 World Most Famous Photos Ever
01. Afghan Girl [1984]
Photographer: Steve McCurry
And of course the afghan girl, picture shot by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image. She was approximately 12 years old at the time. She made it on the cover of National Geographic next year, and her identity was discovered in 1992.
02. Omayra Sánchez [1985]
Photographer: Frank Fournier
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.
03. Portrait of Winston Churchill [1941]
Photograph from: Yousuf Karsh
This photograph was taken by Yousuf Karsh, a Canadian photographer, when Winston Churchill came to Ottawa. The portrait of Churchill brought Karsh international fame. It is claimed to be the most reproduced photographic portrait in history. It also appeared on the cover of Life magazine.
04. The plight of Kosovo refugees [1999]
Photographer: Carol Guzy
The photo is part of The Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning entry (2000) showing how a Kosovar refugee Agim Shala, 2, is passed through a barbed wire fence into the hands of grandparents at a camp run by United Arab Emirates in Kukes, Albania. The members of the Shala family were reunited here after fleeing the conflict in Kosovo.
05. Stricken child crawling towards a food camp [1994]
Photographer: Kevin Carter
The photo is the “Pulitzer Prize” winning photo taken in 1994 during the Sudan Famine.
The picture depicts stricken child crawling towards an United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.
The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat him. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken.
Three months later he committed suicide due to depression.
06. Segregated Water Fountains [1950]
Photographer: Elliott Erwitt, Magnum Photos
Picture of segregated water fountains in North Carolina taken by Elliott Erwitt.
07. 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.
08. 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.
09. 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.
10.
Finally, a question for you……… ….. Who is this famous guy?
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Marx, and no way are these the top 10 most famous photos in the world.
I thought they were good, I never saw half of these, yeah not the best in the world but its a start for sure….. I still say good job and a good collection.
why must be karl marx?
AFAIK, the most famous photo is Che Guavara
I think the most famous name is stupid Ahmadinejad
im sorry for reza. ahmadinejad is the best man in the world
yea, sure he is mohammad reza, but not for Iranians, maybe for the rest of the world!!!
ill tel u the most famous pic in the world
THE MONA LISA YOU PILLOKZ
DUH
The Che is one of the most famous pics/photographs in the world. How could it miss from this list
People r so stupid. wat r people learning in school these days. the most famous picture is….me lol. jk. it’s the MONA LISA. I have no pity 4 the dumb people in his sad world
Behold the power of stupidity! Mona Lisa is a painting, those are photos. Spot the difference.
why there is not a photo of MONALISA
cause its a painting duh
carl marx is the pic , and the most famouse picture in the world recognisible by any body on this planet is a portrait of adolf hitler .. u dumb mother fuckers
THE MONA LISA IS A PAINTING U DUMB ASSES
First off, yes… these are photographs and the Mona Lisa is a painting. It can not be included on this list. This is a nice collection and I agree with some of the other photos people mention to add to this list. Another that has definitely been overlooked is the first picture of Earth taken after Apollo 11 landed on the moon…
Grabe nakakaiyak naman yung litratong nasa numerong pang-lima.Di ko kakayaning matulad sa batang iyon na siguro’y kinain na ng kwago.Siguro kaya nagpakamatay yung potograpo ay dahil minulto siya nang batang kinuhaan niya ng litrato.Siguro nagalit yung kaluluwa nang batang kinuhaan niya ng litrato kaya dinalaw yung potograpo,minulto at pinatay.
No Tiananmen Square Tank Man?
That guy is Karl Marx
It’s me, bitches!
It’s Mendelejev!
as far as education goes its Albert Einstein, Issac Newton and William Shakespeare.as far as entertainment goes its Charlie Chaplin and Michael
Jackson.as far as religion goes its Jesus Christ and as far as power is concerned the most powerful and infamous position of the world is that of the president of U.S.A.
Come on, what about the famous picture of Che Guevara that’s on all the T-Shirts? What about the Vietnamese napalm girl? What about Saigon Execution? What about the first picture of the earth ever taken from space?
All photoes are impressive
all these photo are the best…
karl marx…!!!
The pic of the child and vulture is shocking!!
Where is Korda’s Che?
Where are the Marines raising the US flag on Iwo Jima?
The Russian infrantyman sticking the Soviet flag on the Reichstag?
The Moon landing???
The burning girl of Vietnam or the execution of a Vietcong?
Einstein sticking his tongue out?
Chill out people. Everyone of us have our own choice of top 10 photos, the author has his own and he can’t please everybody. From what I see the author must be from America or Europe, his idea is limited but not a bad collection.
Most famouse picture ever, painted, taken, photshoped or what ever is the picture of the Earth called the blue marble http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg
the man is Carl Marx
Where is the flag raising on Iwo Jima
It is one of the wonderful things which i have seen on the net, it is most extra ordinary collection i am realy impressed with the effort.
How can these photographers let them people die? They’re heartless.
No wonder why Kevin Carter killed himself.
Nobody can ever be ok after what he did.
it is a strong list but the most obvious oversigths that could never, ever be off of anyones list are:
1. the iwo jimo flag-the most famous of all time/bar none
2. viet cong exection-everyone know about this one
3. napalm girl being torched-many people insist this is #1
those 3 are the most glaring oversights but the thing about lists is that they are designed to created discussion
also shd include 2 more , woops that really shdnt be left off of anyone s list are
john john at jfk’s salute
lyndon johnson being sworn in on air force one with jackie
I agree with ed m on his last 2 suggestions
And as for the marines raising the flag, I think that that is more of a famous AMERICAN photograph. I’m doubtless that it has much significance to the international community…. so no.
And i think the photos shown are very representative of famous WORLDWIDE photographs. Many of you commenters are thinking critically in context of U.S. photographs
I really thought tiananmen would have been up there. Not only is it a picture not of a striking person, but it has a remarkable story alongside it. One man, stood up to a line of tanks in defense of his country’s people. Really. I can’t believe that isn’t on the list.
your all idiots, the topic is famous PHOTOS not paintings, the Mona Lisa is not a photograph.
these are all good photoes, but some are very shocking………………
i am shocked how could one take the photograph and not save the girl leave her to die …obviously he couldn’t bear what he did ,may god bless both souls.
why is hiroshima on the top 10? Every one has seen the nuke go off>
sorry i meant why “isnt it” on the top 10
The man is George W. Bush.
Pictures of the 1906 San Francisco earhquake were shattering, but very significant to the cause and efffect of natural disasters such as earthquakes which are now not only occurances on the west coast of the United States, but worldwide and need I mention disasterous!
The best pic is Muhammed ALI Phantom Punch Sonny Liston…. So much enery and inspiration in that pic… looks like the price conquoured the BULLY :)
I thought the Migrant Woman would be on here for sure
What about the photos from the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What about the naked Vietnamese girl running in agony burnt all over?
What about Kerteszs fork?
What about the photos from the first moon landing?
I agree with the above being famous, but not the MOST famous. At least most of them…
that photo about taken in Albania is the best one
tiananmen square
The African boy crawling with the Vulture in the background is the Most Disturbing Picture and Sticks Out more than any of the others.. And it says nobody knew what happened to the child.? Wouldnt u think a photographer might drop his 30-40 pound CAMERA to carry a dying child 1 Kilometer?? If the photographer didn’t do that it should be called — “The Most Selfious Act A Human Could Make” photograph” and if he left the child with the Vulture, which would have cetainly eaten the kid maybe before the child was even completly dead.. We”ll let GOD judge that..
The Mona Lisa? Sorry dude thats a painting, I could go take a picture of the Mona Lisa with a disosable Camera….
OMG people everyone knows that Lindsay Lohans SNATCH picture is the most famous of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good photos; nay, excellent! I really can’t believe some comments made here.
the african boy and columbian girl pictures should be on the list of the worlds most fucked up situations…mercy me
trapped and hungary
You forgot the tienimen tank man.
wheres the hindenburg?
I found this site due to me looking for the photo of the girl who died in the Colombian volcano disaster. Her eyes have haunted me for a long time, even though I had only seen it once.
My understanding is that the family and others had tried to get her out, but her body was trapped and crushed, and she was very near death. What the photographer did, in photographing her, was capture the humanity of the girl, painful and recognizable to us all. The inhumanity had to do with the anemic response to the disaster by her own country.
The same can be said for Kevin Carter. We don’t know that he had no response whatsoever, and the action of him to photograph the child had more to do with chronicling a tragic human situation that wasn’t just happening to that child, but COUNTLESS others. He was not responsible for the famine in the Sudan, and the people who could do something about it needed to be shamed into action.
Photographers are known to put down their cameras to help, but sometimes the most important thing that they can do is document the atrocities, so the rest of the world can see what is going on, too, and the people truly responsible can be pressured or shamed into action.
OMG you people are so dumb. the mona lisa is not PHOTOGRAPHY its a PAINTING
Incredibly great selection! You have a very good memory. Maybe you don’t watch TV either. I find that people who watch TV more than once a week remember last week’s photos, events, films,and opinions and very little else.
Imagine in 2010 to find Churchill and Kevin Carter’s black child both on the same page!
Maybe the only picture that I would miss here is Einstein’s. I think his is the 20th century most famous face.
the mona lisa iz va PAINTING vat iz vrong wif vu ppl? tiz a list uv pictures not paintings!!!!!
so the most famous pictures are the most tragic moments in history thats very interesting these photo are showing so much truth and evil in this world and yet they are famous world wide why is this?
Elisa on December 14th, 2009 6:31 am: you’re are clearly not a photographer, or at least not a photojournalist or you may understand.
untill you’ve been in that situation as many times as they, and when you know the full story- then comment, until then, i believe your the heartlrss one posting things like “no wander he killed himself”. that man had a mum and dad, a family, he did his job, he did it well. He actually did scare the vulture away, he watched her the whole way back to her village until she was safe, even at that he allowed himself to get to personal with his subject. He took the image to show the rest of the world what bad things happen so we can all help. and hell- it did help, how many people think of that image now when someone says sudan and then want to help!
and as for you others who keep suggesting all other journalistic photos- there’s about 500 that could be said, personally I’d probably have mentioned max dupains the sunbaker. but im an aussie so im biased.
News is no news when a dog bites a man but its news when a man bites a dog,so dnt blame the photo abt the de boy & vulture bt try to undstnd de ethics of photoj allow ur emotions & passion decide ur bst picture.
Mona Lisa is a painting. But where is che guerrara? (or something;)
kevin carter’s photo is the most tremendous and heart-breaking pic of all..;-(
None of you see the meaning, the passion, or the wicked ness of the world I look at these pictures and say oh my god, do you see that child. When that is happening and all we do is take a picture it makes me sick. Or the workers in that factory that died for no reason, And you sit there and make jokes. Sometimes people make me sick sometimes this world makes me sick, but sometimes there is beauty, I know it I’ve seen it, so please for the sake of your own self respect the photos
y r u saying the mona lisa should be on this list? thats a painting, and this is clearly a list of the most famous PHOTOGRAPHS.
i think these photos are amaxing
amazing
The most Famous Photo in the world is ‘Guerrillero Heroico’ or in other words Ernesto Che Guevara i know this is correct as it is the single most photo to be reproduced worldwide
What about the nurse kissing the navy man – how could that be missing?
What about the picture of the Chinese student standing in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square. I feel that’s one of the most famous photos ever.
KARL MARX BITCHES!!!!!!
Tianamen square was actually a video with a still taken from it. why do people have to get abusive on posts? Its a forum for intelligent thought not ignorant comments, get a life people! I think that maybe Ansell Adams photo of the missing President Teddy Roosevelt is very iconic, I agree with Che missing out. So many to choose from but probably the most iconic to miss out is Robert Doisneau’s Paris street kiss. What about the burned child in Vietnam?
Photographers risk their own lives to show to the rest of the world what is happening there. In many cases they are let in country with terms, one of being not to interfere.
That sudanese child is a girl. Story tells that she survived at least untol the foodcamp, but most likely she was too sick to live very long. Kevin Carter didnt cause her situation.
Many of you people here should go to school and study. Im schocked by the pictures, but so many times im also shocked that many of you who speak english as your mothertongue, you cant write it. Like what is this: “the mona lisa iz va PAINTING vat iz vrong wif vu ppl? tiz a list uv pictures not paintings!!!!!” What language is that? (Im from FInland)
And how come someone doesnt know the difference between painting and photo? How come someone doesnt know Che Guevaras name? How so many of you americans think US is the centre of the world?
But excellent list! Though i have to agree about Einstein, Blue Marble and Hitler.
to BLAHNESS ::
the mona lisa is not a photograph, it’s a painting.
DUH!
i think that ansel adams is one of the best photographers….when i think photography i think of him
Very truly amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all the were hard breaking.THESE GIVE ME LOT TO THING!
The famous man in the world IS Michael JAckson And Albert Einstain.!
the picture of george washington on the one dollar bill