Most Famous/iconic photographs in history

[HangingBasketCase]

Does anyone else enjoy photogtaphy? I've been looking at some of the most iconic photographs of all time, and I have a few favourites. I'll share three of them with you now.

Firstly lunch a top a skyscraper. Taken in New York during the building of the Rockerfeller Centre. I can't get my head around how they were able to sit on a metal beam, so high up without anything to secure them! If you ever visit the Rockerfeller centre you can recreate this photo, it's become that famous!

Secondly St Paul's Cathedral taken early in the morning following a devastating air raid on the city of London. All of the buildings around the cathedral were destroyed, yet almost miraculously St Pauls survived. How inspirational this image must have been to people at the time, seeing the dome of the Cathedral rising from the smoke like a Phoenix from the flames.

Finally "The Kiss", taken on VJ Day 1945, in Time Square. I believe the identities of the couple are unknown, but they weren't actually a couple. They were random strangers, he just grabbed hold of her and kissed her in happiness because the war was over. Wonder what we'd make of that now?

I too hate that 'kiss' photo as it looks so intimidating and aggressive.

This one is so much nicer, even though it turned out to be staged - I used to have a huge poster of it on my wall in my 20's :)

I found this story sad and shocking and its awful to see how such a beautiful and majestic creature was reduced to that.

In 1916 Mary the elephant killed her handler, no one really knows how or why she killed him. He apparently jabbed her with a hook and after her death she was found to have had 2 abcessed teeth causing her great pain.

The city officials wanted her dead - they shot her several times to no avail, then tried to electrocute her. Finally agreeing to hang her the next day.

They started to hang her, forgetting that her leg was still chained to the rail, breaking bones and ligaments in her foot. Then the chain snapped, dropping her from a height and breaking her hip. On the last attempt with a stronger chain they succeeded in killing her.

I love this picture of Richard Nixon, to me just sums up politicians all over the world

veganCow I remember reading an article about that and being in floods of tears, how could they be so evil?

katiegee that photo of the murdered soldier haunts me. I was living in Nottingham at the time and driving home from work when I heard about the killings on the news. It's one of those photos that stay with you forever.

The one that haunts me is the still taken from CCTV of James Bulgers killers leading him away in the shopping precinct....he is innocently looking up at them and walking away from his mum, it brings me to tears even now. So utterly horrific.

This is another one I never forget, Ned Parfitt selling papers outside the White Star Line offices, he died only 6 years later, days before Armistice. This one's particularly significant right now given the centenary of WW1.

Here's an iconic snap from the Civil Rights movement, taken by Magnum Photographer Bruce Davidson in a NYC diner in 1962.

blatant public disrespect for his wife and wondered why his daughters allowed themselves to be treated exactly the same way.

Wasn't he supposed to be charming and charismatic etc and maybe they thought that was just how charming and charismatic men behaved. In other words, Jackie married a man "just like Daddy" - even down to the name. Looking at those pictures - by gum Jackie looked like her Dad, didn't she?

I always use Marge Simpson's maiden name being Bouvier as an example to explain irony to my DCs.

A 4-month-old baby girl in a pink bear suit is miraculously rescued from the rubble by soldiers after four days missing following the Japanese tsunami.

I havnt got a pic to add but I've found some of these very moving and welled up a few times (it's not even pmt time - I'm getting worse)

My favourite famous photograph is this one from the 1927 Solvay conference.

Langmuir, Planck, Curie, Lorentz, Einstein, Debye, Bragg, Dirac, Compton, de Broglie, Born, Bohr, Schrodinger, Pauli, Heisenberg and many more all in one conference picture. 19 Nobel prize winners.

The photo that really struck me at the time was the class photo of the children and their teacher in the Dunblane massacre in 1996. All so young and innocent and then tragically so many of them were killed. Desperately sad.

I have always been fascinated with this photo.

ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/mccurry-photography

Moln that link shows the updated picture of Afghan Girl,17 years after the first picture was taken.She's had a hard life

headfairy that's a great photo of Nixon - never seen that one before. as you say, completely sums up politicians attitude to "the people".

I love this photo taken during the Blitz, reminds me of my gran telling me how they just had to 'get on with it'. A cup of tea, the British answer to all problems, including your house being bombed!

Let's try attaching the photo this time!

I wouldn't say that they were my favourites but:

the person falling from the world trade center
the student in Tiananmen square

and one that made me cry, a newborn baby girl's body lying in a Chinese gutter, about 2000/2001. It was on the front page of one of the broadsheet newspapers.

ladymariner - I was too young to remember when it happened, and I'm thankful to have had parents who tried their best to shelter me and my siblings from much of what happened here... I came across the story and the photograph a number of years ago and it has never left me. Apparently, Fr Alec said in an interview that a lady came over and put her coat over the soldier saying 'he's somebody's son'.

The picture of Fr Mychal Judges body being carried from the twin towers site is one that has stuck with me.

Wartime childhood

Evacuees

Carrots on sticks

End of sweet rationing

Seeing as it partly inspired a popular thread on here recently, I'm surprised Abbey Road hasn't been featured? Surely the most famous album cover of all time?

vegancow I'd not heard of it before but I've just read Jodi Picoult's latest and there is a reference to it in there :(

Silent, that's the picture that came to my mind too. I've never forgotten that image.

Not sure what this post will add to the thread but today while thinking of this thread I asked my best friend 'what is the first thing that comes into your mind when I say most famous photograph of all time?'

his reply was 'the one of the Monk setting fire to himself'

I have never heard of it and haven't had chance to look it up yet but thought I would add it in.

Oh dear HildaOgden, how very sad