Which is the most famous photograph in history, in your opinion?

[FrankS]

This topic was raised in another thread on the Che Guevara portrait, which is probably the most reproduced photograph in history. Which photograph is the most important/significant/famous in your opinion?

For me, it is the picture of the earth showing its entirety, shot from space. (The earth-rise above the lunar landscape is pretty cool too.)

 

[ferider]

Forgot where the statistics came from, Frank, but I seem to remember that the 2 most reproduced photos are "Afghan Girl" and "Flag Raising over Iwo Jima". Certainly not the Che Guevara portrait (too small of an audience).

Roland.

 

[FrankS]

How about your pick for most famous/significant/important photo?

 

[thomasw_]

Alberto Korda's "Che" is incredibly significant as well as famous; bear in mind most of the world's population has been under the marxist philosophy in various forms since the 1940s. For me, there are quite a few that stand out as testaments of the human spirit, of which I will mention two: the boys playing and arranged on the war torn wall by HCB and the "Tank Man" after the Tiananmen Square repression on June 4, 1989.

 

[Bleux]

For me it has to be Tiananmen Square 1989. I know it is by not the most reproduced and all the other criteria one might consider in order to bestow such a title, but for me it is just one example of an image we have seen throughout history and will continue to see over and over again; and despite that looses none of its potency. When the people finally have enough and are willing to take on their oppressor regardless of the odds they face.

 

[gns]

If you mean simply seen or recognized by the most people it would probably be an image from some advertisement. Maybe a coca-cola ad. I wouldn't be surprised if it were something like John Travolta posing in the poster from Saturday Night Fever.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Ducky]

The Times Square kiss comes to mind, along with the Iwo Jima flag raising. I suppose it may vary with your generation.

 

[MartinP]

<humour>
Obviously, it was on the roll which didn't go through the camera properly. Or, I haven't taken it yet.
</humour>

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" has had a lot of print space as well

 

[FrankS]

If you mean simply seen or recognized by the most people it would probably be an image from some advertisement. Maybe a coca-cola ad. I wouldn't be surprised if it were something like John Travolta posing in the poster from Saturday Night Fever.

Cheers,
Gary

I wanted to stay away from that interpretation of it. I mean most significant/important rather than most popular/prolific.

Clearly this is totally subjective which is why I included "in your opinion".

 

[JohnTF]

Hindenburg must be in there.

Plenty iconic images to choose from, Capa's Brit soldier at DDay? Hope the soldier made it.

Nasa photos? Earth-rise?

I think there is a much shorter attention span these days.

Regards, John

 

[user237428934]

The burnt little girl in vietnam or the police chief of saigon killing a vietkong. Both had a huge impact on the vietnam war.

 

[MickH]

Important/significant?

Fox-Talbot's Latticed Window being the first negative would surely stand a good chance in that/those categories.

 

[ferider]

How about your pick for most famous/significant/important photo?

Hard to say. My short list includes:

- Phan Thi Kim Phuc by Nick Ut (not sure about the title)
- "Stricken child crawling towards a food camp" by Kevin Carter
- "The Tetons and the Snake River" by Ansel Adams
- "Albert Einstein" by Arthur Sasse
- "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" by CC Ebbets
- "Abbey Road" by Ian MacMillan
- "Omaha Beach" by Robert Capa
- "Rue Mouffetard, Paris" by HCB
- "Charleston, South Carolina" by Robert Frank
- ....

and many others that come to mind when thinking about famous photos that had impact on me - many are not political in nature.

Roland.

 

[Vince Lupo]

How about Karsh's portrait of Churchill?

 

[alistair.o]

For me, still, after all these years:

Eddie Adams - Nguyen Ngoc Loan, police chief of Saigon, firing a bullet at the head of a Vietcong prisoner.

Still gives me a very cold feeling.

 

[punkromance]

Forgot where the statistics came from, Frank, but I seem to remember that the 2 most reproduced photos are "Afghan Girl" and "Flag Raising over Iwo Jima". Certainly not the Che Guevara portrait (too small of an audience).

Maybe in photographic circles Afghan Girl is shown a lot, but outside of it and outside of NG publishing it's nowhere near as big as Che's portrait. Go to any tourist town in the world and you'll be confronted a zillion tshirts, towels, hats, underwear, posters and god knows what else with his mug on it, most likely next to Bob Marley's and a Cannabis leaf.
Iwo Jima is more of an image that's been widely used in the States but nowhere near to the same extent outside.

 

[tombla]

Significant / important photographs should include :

Edwin Hubble's galaxy photographs.
Hubble telescope's deep space galaxy images.
Rosalind Franklin's DNA X-ray diffraction images.

 

[FUJINON]

Most famous photograph in history.

Most famous photograph in history.

I think that Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph

"Raising the flag on Iwo Jima"

would deserve that accolade.It is one of the most reproduced photographs in photographic history.

See:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising...ag_on_Iwo_Jima
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[FrankS]

I think that Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph

"Raising the flag on Iwo Jima"

would deserve that accolade.It is one of the most reproduced photographs in photographic history.

See:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising...ag_on_Iwo_Jima
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My pick would have to transcend political/national bias, unless it is generalized like the man facing off a tank image.