Although I can't recall any one specific photo, photographs taken during the Vietnam war era moved and facinated me, whether it be soldiers in Vietnam or protests on the homefront.
You should go over to the International Center of Photography, www.icp.org
Some photographers to put on your list that had shows there I saw:
"Bill Biggart: Final Exposures" -- the only photographer to die on 9/11, they exposed his film and processed his digtal camera pix posthumously. And around the room of the last photos he took before dying, they had his melted camera and camera bag, ID cards, cell phone smashed up. Powerful doesn't begin to describe it.
"Weegee" -- the greatest of all NYC street photographers. His crime photos from 1935-1945 are legend. I particularly like the drunk passed out under a funeral home awning on Amsterdam.
I could go on and on, but ICP is one of my favorite museums in the city.
Chronolically (well, mostly):
A smodering WTC captured current affairs as we now set on the brink of war.
The trapped miners who demonstrated that faith and teamwork can overcome insurmountable odds.
Elian Gonzalez in the closet at gunpoint epitomizes the state of affairs of the country in the waning moments of Bubba's administraion.
The Monica press photo that was ubiquitous and symbolized the cowardice of the leader of the free world.
The falling of the Berlin wall which announced the beginning of the end of communism. (I was there in the summer of '90 chipping away at it using a hammer and chisel rented to me by an East German Army mand)
Challenger
The Iranian Hostages
3-Mile Island
The last US helo out of Saigon
Nixon resigns
Pictures of James Dean and Elvis Presley.
The sailor kissing the girl in Times Square when it was announced that the war was over.
The smiling photo of Truman.
That haunting photo of the Normandy invasion.
A burning Pearl Harbor.
That photo of Hitler on the brink of his invasion of Poland.
Any picture of Auschwitz and the like.
The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression
The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk
Any Civil War battlefield.
And many, many, many more that represent the state of affairs for that era or a turning point in our history.
-JC in Houston
How about the lone student in the white shirt standing in defiance of a 17 tank column in Tiananmen Square.
Taken on a day when 156 innocent people lost their lives for freedom. They weren't carrying guns, they didn't have on military fatigues. Dressed only in Black Slacks, a white shirt with a grocery bag in his hand this one man was able to stop 17 tanks. For what? Freedom.
Excellant point. That picture of the student in front of the tank was powerful stuff.
Nobody mentioned any sports photos, which is funny, considering Katcher is more Cosell than Cronkite.
Babe Ruth leaning on his bat during farewell.
Lou Gehrig giving "luckiest man" speech.
Wille Mays making over-the-back catch in Series.
Jackie Robinson stealing home.
Those are all New York teams and baseball, but that's all that matters to me.
All of these are great events, but I mean great photos, like THE V-J Day Kiss, like THE Kent State pic (view here).
I don't know that there is a defining photo of the Berlin Wall crumbling. I don't know that there is a defining photo from 9/11.
The Tiananmen Square photo (view here)? That's exactly what I'm talking about.
He was recognized as one of the TIME 100 Leaders & Revolutionaries. The Unknown Rebel, he was called. Without that photo, I'm not sure the legend would exist.
That was photography's effect on culture.
Some not yet mentioned:
The Vietnamese girl running down the road naked, burned from napalm;
The very young, beautiful girl in her wedding dress who had just married the future King of England that represented a fairytale come to life;
Martin Luther King, Jr. as he stood before the crowd in DC and gave his famous speech;
Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill at Yalta;
The rows upon rows of graves at Normandy;
The middle-aged man standing at the newly constructed Vietnam memorial;
Rosie the Riveter;
Jackie Kennedy standing next to Johnson, still in her blood stained suit, while he was sworn into office;
could go on and on.....
Wow. Those pulitzer photos are something else. Very cool. Thanks.
Kevin Carter, here is his story:
http://home-4.tiscali.nl/~t892660/msp/time.htm
He won the Pulitzer Prize for taking a photo of a famine stricken child in Sudan, in the background is a vulture waiting for the child's demise. Soon after the photo was taken the child perished. It's a story of tragedy in a world of despair. A Pulitzer prize meant nothing to him in the face of rotten hardship.
i am a certified photo fanatic so here is my list of the most famous photos ever taken (non sports) :1. iwo jima 2. napalm girl 3. sailor kiss in times sq 4. john john salute 5. churchill photo by karsh 6. kent st massacre 7. earthrise fr the moon 1968 8. afghan girl 1985 9. viet cong assass 10. lee harvey gets rubbed out 11-24-63 will work on sports list
i am a certified photo fanatic so here is my list of the most famous photos ever taken (non sports) :1. iwo jima 2. napalm girl 3. sailor kiss in times sq 4. john john salute 5. churchill photo by karsh 6. kent st massacre 7. earthrise fr the moon 1968 8. afghan girl 1985 9. viet cong assass 10. lee harvey gets rubbed out 11-24-63 will work on sports list
the 10 most famous sprots photos ever taken are after years of research :
1. ali anchor punch
2. babe ruth bows out
3. michael jordans last shot 1998
4. vince lombardi carried off the field sb ii
5. wilt scores 100
6. mazeroski mob scene at home plate wins '60 series
7. dwight clarks catch 1981
8. willie mays catch 1954
9. marciano punch rearranges ezzard charles face
10. ben hogan's comeback
apologies to lou gehrig,ty cobb,1980 olympic team, paul henderson and the black fists at the 1968 olympics
I am looking for my choice of the most memorable photo that I have ever seen (I am 80). It was taken, I believe at the Metropliton or Carnegie Hall and was of an old old lady decked out in a Kings ransom of jewels and furs and alongside her was an old bag lady or homeless person giving the rich lady a look that has haunted me ever since. I thought that it was a LIFE cover but I guess it wasn't. The picture was taken in the late 30's because I was a youngster when I saw it. I saw it again years later as the subject of famous photos but don't remember the program. I sure would like to locate a copy of that photo.
Last week, for a work project that chronicles the last 80 years of history, I sought out Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a flag-raising on Iwo Jima in 1945. As a genuinely curious guy who feels that life is wasted if nothing original is left behind, I did a little research on the history of the one of the most impactful photographs ever shot. (C'mon people, and I don't think about sex every minute of the day.)
Although I can't recall any one specific photo, photographs taken during the Vietnam war era moved and facinated me, whether it be soldiers in Vietnam or protests on the homefront.
Posted by Jailbird at February 20, 2003 9:29 AM