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

[porktaco]

agreed about gandhi and it is kind of weird. also, i think all the mao pix are supposed to look similar and that in itself is the iconography. it's not a glamour thing, it's a one billion people look at this thing.

again, though, i don't think a whole lot of rural indian or chinese have even seen che. what's superfascinating about that photo is how a symbol of agrarian/communist revolution has become an urban/capitalist icon.

 

[mto'brien]

i'm pretty sure that the mao t-square image is taken from a painting, as are most propaganda images. so the most famous photo may be a picture of a picture, which is an interesting concept. painting after all was the original photoshop for the discerning dictator.

 

[mto'brien]

Shepherd Fairey's hope poster using Mannie Garcia's photo of Obama. Sure, it's very western-centric but it would probably be recognized by most people on the planet that have been exposed to the media or have an internet connection.

 

[Roger Hicks]

agreed about gandhi and it is kind of weird. also, i think all the mao pix are supposed to look similar and that in itself is the iconography. it's not a glamour thing, it's a one billion people look at this thing.

again, though, i don't think a whole lot of rural indian or chinese have even seen che. what's superfascinating about that photo is how a symbol of agrarian/communist revolution has become an urban/capitalist icon.

Point fully taken about iconography, but this is, after all about 'the most famous photo'.

Probably more rural Indians (and maybe even Chinese) than you think have seen Che T-shirts, though, on tourists. Or even worn them...

Cheers,

R.

 

[mto'brien]

That is just downright disturbing, Matt.....😱

thank you. 😀

 

[Sparrow]

I must have been thinking of Teddy Roosevelt's little escapade just before WWI, Raisouny (sp) ... " the last of the Barbary pirates"

 

[degruyl]

The Che photo is definitely known in China, Europe and the Americas. I expect it is well known in Africa, but have no evidence.

I am pretty sure that (aside from the image itself) the most important aspect of that image is the fact that there was no copyright exercised on it. Because it was taken in Cuba, by a Cuban (Korba) for a Cuban publisher, it did not have any international copyright.

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> I am pretty sure that (aside from the image itself) the most important aspect of that image is the fact that there was no copyright exercised on it. Because it was taken in Cuba, by a Cuban (Korba) for a Cuban publisher, it did not have any international copyright.

Korda, a true socialist, never made any attempts to limit reproduction of the image except when Smirnoff used it in an ad. He disapproved of it being used for capitalist purposes, sued and got $50,000 which he donated to the Cuban government.

I believe international copyright law exists in Cuba. I know Cubans are very respectful of each others artistic endeavors. US software is a different story. Since they cannot buy it because of the trade embargo, everyone (including the government) simply pirates it.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Ron, I think I agree with you and others here who say that the Che photo is the most famous, and I guess that fame can be measured, for example, how many reproductions are out there... I really don't think that stamps count and I'm not too sure whether George Washington ever had his photo taken 😀.

Significance and importance are subjective judgements. I was going for the fact that WH Fox Talbot was the first to use a negative to produce one/many 'prints'. No doubt Niepce was a pioneer who managed to 'fix' an image although others had made images before him that were not fixed.

This is just my opinion.

Thanks MickH, your opinion is highly regarded and appreciated, in fact I am very glad you pointed at the picture by Talbot, and there are others who mentioned it as well: can do no harm to honor the old masters/inventors!

 

[arunrajmohan]

Famous or not depends on the audience

Famous or not depends on the audience

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.

Whether an image is famous or has historical significance or not depends on whom you ask. The present day American audience cares very little for Che's portrait (I've seen a few kids at Canadian Univ. wearing t-shirts with Che's portrait but not a single on in USA, at least since 2001). If you approach an audience in a socialist or some of the developing countries, Che's portrait might be immediately recognized (just walk around with a copy of Che's photo and a copy of Iwo Jima Flag Raising and quiz a few high school students in Mexico or India or Egypt). History books in Asian schools often carry the photograph of soviet flag being erected in Berlin rather than the photo from Iwo Jima (personnaly I consider both to be very important images ever made withe respect to World War II). For these reasons, famous photographs that have made an impression with a wider audience would not be a singular image but many.

 

[MikeL]

The present day American audience cares very little for Che's portrait (I've seen a few kids at Canadian Univ. wearing t-shirts with Che's portrait but not a single on in USA, at least since 2001).

Some wear modified t-shirts these days (at least the rational thinkers familiar with the amount of evidence for the theory)

 

[Al Patterson]

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.

Thank you. The "Flag Raising Over Iwo Jima" shot and the "Afghan Girl" shot are iconic pictures for sure. Che deserves to be ignored. The picture may be iconic, but I have iconic shots of Hitler and Stalin in books that I would NEVER wear on a shirt...

 

[splitimageview]

I was wondering how long it would be before that was mentioned. Thanks Al.

 

[FrankS]

Please don't turn this into a political discussion, or I will close my own thread. Politics is not the topic, nor is the goodness/evilness of any particular person.

Forget it, this has run its course anyway. Thank you to the contributors who stayed on topic.