20 MOST FAMOUS

PHOTOGRAPHS
HISTORICAL COLLECTION
ALBERTO KORDA
 | GUERILLERO
HEROICO | 1960

LITTLE DID PHOTOGRAPHER 

ALBERTO KORDA REALIZE WHEN IT TOOK
TWO FRAMES OF FIDEL CASTRO’S YOUNG
ASSOCIATE, AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT, THAT IT
WOULD BECOME SUCH AN ICONIC IMAGE.
UPON HIS DEATH 7 YEARS LATER HIS
PORTRAIT OF CHE GUEVARA WOULD
BECOME THE ICONIC IMAGE OF
REBELLION AND REVOLUTION FOR PEOPLE
AROUND THE WORLD. EVEN STILL TODAY
IT IS PREVALENT IN THE CUBAN CULTURE
AND AROUND THE WORLD.
CONTROVERSIAL AS CHE WAS, WHETHER
YOU CONSIDER HIM A HERO OR A VILLAIN,
THE PORTRAIT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME.
HENRI CARTIER-BRES
SON
 | MAN JUMPING THE
PUDDLE | 1930
IN THIS, ONE OF HIS MOST ICONIC
PHOTOS, HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON
 CAPTURED A SCENE THROUGH A FENCE
BEHIND THE SAINT-LAZARE TRAIN
STATION IN PARIS.
THIS IMAGE BECAME THE PERFECT
EXAMPLE OF WHAT CARTIER-BRESSON
REFERRED TO AS 
“THE DECISIVE MOMENT”.
THE FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER IS OFTEN
REFERRED TO AS THE FATHER OF
MODERN PHOTOJOURNALISM.
HE COINED THE TERM “THE DECISIVE
MOMENT” TO REFER TO 
A MOMENT WHEN THE PHOTOGRAPHE
R CAPTURES A FLEETING SECOND
, IMMORTALIZING IT IN TIME.
ALFRED STIEGLITZ’S
FAMOUS PHOTO
 THE STEERAGE | 1907
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS
OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, STIEGLITZ
FOUGHT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY TO BE TAKEN AS
SERIOUSLY AS PAINTING AS A VALID ART FORM.
HIS PIONEERING WORK HELPED TO CHANGE
THE WAY MANY VIEWED PHOTOGRAPHY. HIS
NYC GALLERIES FEATURED MANY OF THE BEST
PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE DAY.
HIS ICONIC IMAGE “THE STEERAGE” NOT ONLY
ENCAPSULATES WHAT HE CALLED STRAIGHT
PHOTOGRAPHY – OFFERING A TRUTHFUL TAKE
ON THE WORLD. IT ALSO GIVES US A MORE
COMPLEX AND MULTI-LAYERED VIEWPOINT
THAT CONVEYS ABSTRACTION THROUGH THE
SHAPES IN THE IMAGE. AND HOW THOSE
SHAPES RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER.
STANLEY FORMAN’S
 FAMOUS PHOTO WOMAN
FALLING FROM FIRE
ESCAPE |1975
FORMAN WAS A WELL-KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER
WORKING FOR THE BOSTON HERALD WHEN HE
ATTENDED THE SCENE OF A FIRE. WHAT BEGAN
AS HIM DOCUMENTING THE RESCUE OF A
YOUNG WOMAN AND CHILD QUICKLY TOOK A
TURN WHEN THE FIRE ESCAPE COLLAPSED.
THE PAIR BEGAN TO FALL AND HE CONTINUED
SHOOTING AS THEY WERE FALLING. HE
CAPTURING THEM SWIMMING THROUGH THE
AIR. FORMAN ONLY LOWERED HIS CAMERA
AND TURNED AT THE LAST MOMENT WHEN HE
REALIZED WHAT HE WAS WITNESSING WAS A
WOMAN PLUMMETING TO HER DEATH.
THIS FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH 
WON FORMAN A PULITZER PRIZE. BUT ITS
INTERESTING LEGACY IS THE ETHICAL
QUESTIONS IT RAISED ABOUT WHEN A
PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD STOP SHOOTING AND
WHETHER IT IS APPROPRIATE TO PUBLISH
DISTURBING IMAGES. IT ALSO CAUSED MANY
MUNICIPALITIES TO ENFORCE STRICTER FIRE-
ESCAPE SAFETY CODES, SO YOU DECIDE.
KEVIN CARTER PULITZER
PRIZE-WINNING
PHOTO STARVING CHILD
AND VULTURE | 1993
IN 1993 SOUTH AFRICAN PHOTOJOURNALIST 
KEVIN CARTER TRAVELED TO SUDAN TO
PHOTOGRAPH THE FAMINE. HIS IMAGE OF A
COLLAPSED CHILD, WITH A VULTURE
STALKING OVER HER, NOT ONLY CAUSED
PUBLIC OUTRAGE BECAUSE OF THE HORRIFIC
SUBJECT. IT ALSO 
STIRRED UP A LOT OF CRITICISM DIRECTED
TOWARD THE PHOTOGRAPHER
, FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE CHILD, RATHER
THAN HELPING HER.
THAT DAY, AND THE ONSLAUGHT THAT CAME
AFTER CONTINUED TO HAUNT CARTER UNTIL 
HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE IN 1994.
FOR THE RECORD, THE MOTHER WAS
APPARENTLY RIGHT NEXT TO THE SCENE AND
THE CHILD WAS NEVER IN DANGER OF BEING
ATTACKED BY THE BIRD. NOTICE THAT IT WAS
ALSO SHOT WITH A LONGER TELEPHOTO LENS
WHICH MAKES A SCENE LOOK MORE
COMPRESSED, MAKING THE BIRD APPEAR
CLOSER TO THE CHILD THAN REALITY.
EDDIE ADAMS |
SAIGON EXECUTION |
1968
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
PHOTOJOURNALIST EDDIE ADAMS WAS
ON THE STREETS OF SAIGON ON THE 1ST
FEBRUARY 1968 PHOTOGRAPHING THE
DEVASTATION OF THE WAR.
BELIEVING HE WAS WITNESSING A
ROUTINE EXECUTION OF A PRISONER. HE
LOOKED THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER OF
HIS CAMERA, TO CAPTURE THE SCENE.
BUT WHAT HE CAPTURED WAS THE
CASUAL ASSASSINATION OF THE
PRISONER.
THIS ICONIC PHOTO BECAME 
ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL IMAGES
OF THE VIETNAM WAR
. IT HELPED FUEL THE ANTI-WAR
MOVEMENT AND END US INVOLVEMENT
IN THE WAR BECAUSE IT BROUGHT TO
LIFE IN A HORRIFIC VISUAL, THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE VIOLENCE
OCCURRING.
YOUSUF KARSH’S
 ICONIC
PHOTO, WINSTON
CHURCHILL | 1941
IN THE WAKE OF THE ATTACK ON PEARL
HARBOR, CHURCHILL ARRIVED IN OTTAWA
, TO THANK THE ALLIES FOR THEIR
ASSISTANCE.
UNAWARE THAT A PHOTOGRAPHER HAD
BEEN COMMISSIONED TO TAKE HIS
PORTRAIT HE REFUSED TO REMOVE HIS
CIGAR. ONCE THE PHOTOGRAPHER WAS SET
UP HE WALKED TOWARDS CHURCHILL,
REMOVED THE CIGAR FROM HIS MOUTH
AND TOOK HIS FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH WITH
THE SCOWL.
OF THE INCIDENT, CHURCHILL TOLD KARSH
“YOU CAN EVEN MAKE A ROARING LION
STAND STILL TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED.”
THIS IMAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY
REPRODUCED POLITICAL PORTRAITS. IT
GAVE PHOTOGRAPHERS PERMISSION TO
TAKE MORE HONEST, AND EVEN CRITICAL,
PORTRAITS OF POLITICAL LEADERS.
NICK UT’S FAMOUS
PHOTO THE TERROR
OF WAR | 1972
25 MILES NORTHWEST OF SAIGON, WAR
PHOTOGRAPHER NICK UT, CAPTURED 
ONE OF THE MOST HARROWING IMAGES IN
THE HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR
. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THE FACES OF
THOSE WHO SUFFER THROUGH THE
COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF WAR ARE NOT
SEEN.
BUT THE HARROWING IMAGE OF 9-YEAR-OLD 
PHAN THI KIM PHUC FORCED THE WORLD TO
SEE. A VICTIM OF MISTAKENLY DROPPED
NAPALM, SHE WAS LATER HELPED BY UT AND
RECEIVED LIFESAVING TREATMENT.
AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION IN 1972 MANY
NEWSPAPERS HAD TO RELAX THEIR POLICIES
ON NUDITY. THE IMAGE REMAINS
CONTROVERSIAL TO THIS DAY, RECENTLY IT
WAS BRIEFLY REMOVED FROM FACEBOOK FOR
THE SAME REASONS.
NICK UT WON A PULITZER PRIZE FOR THIS
FAMOUS IMAGE IN 1973.
MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE
’S
 FAMOUS
PHOTOGRAPH – GANDHI AND
THE SPINNING WHEEL | 1946
IN 1946 MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE,
LIFE MAGAZINE’S FIRST FEMALE
PHOTOGRAPHER, WAS OFFERED A RARE
OPPORTUNITY TO PHOTOGRAPH
MAHATMA GANDHI. THIS DREAM
OPPORTUNITY QUICKLY TURNED INTO A
NIGHTMARE. SHE WAS MADE TO
OVERCOME MANY CHALLENGES BEFORE
GAINING ACCESS TO INDIA’S
IDEOLOGICAL LEADER. INCLUDING TO
SPIN GANDHI’S FAMOUS HOMESPUN.
AFTER TWO FAILED SHOOTS, THANKS TO
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, IT WAS THIRD
TIME LUCKY FOR BOURKE-WHITE.
THIS ICONIC IMAGE OF GANDHI AT HIS
SPINNING WHEEL WAS CAPTURED LESS
THAN TWO YEARS BEFORE HIS
ASSASSINATION.
LEWIS HINE | COTTON
MILL GIRL | 1908
ESTABLISHED IN 1904, THE NATIONAL CHILD
LABOR COMMITTEE, EXISTED TO FIGHT FOR
THE RIGHTS OF CHILD WORKERS IN THE USA.
THEY REALIZED THAT THE MOST POWERFUL
TOOL THEY HAD WAS TO SHOW THE REAL FACE
OF THESE CHILDREN. THEY BELIEVED THAT 
SEEING THESE IMAGES OF CHILD LABOR
 WOULD AWAKEN THE CITIZENS TO DEMAND
CHANGE.
WHEN LEWIS HINE, AN INVESTIGATIVE
PHOTOGRAPHER, CAME ACROSS SADIE
PFEIFER, ONE OF THE SMALLEST CHILDREN AT
WORK. STANDING AT JUST 48 INCHES, HE KNEW
HE HAD A SHOT THAT WOULD CHANGE
PEOPLES VIEWS.
THIS PHOTOGRAPH ALONG WITH OTHERS WAS
A CRUCIAL PART OF THE CAMPAIGN 
WHICH LED TO A CHANGE IN LEGISLATION.
THE OUTCOME OF WHICH WAS A 50% CUT IN
THE NUMBER OF CHILD LABORERS OVER A 10
YEAR PERIOD.
BLIND BEGGAR BY
PAUL STRAND | 1916
PAUL STRAND’S
GROUNDBREAKING IMAGE OF A
BLIND WOMAN WAS A CANDID
PORTRAIT 
THAT DEPARTED FROM THE MO
RE FORMAL POSED PORTRAITS
OF THAT TIME
.
STRAND NOT ONLY CAPTURED A
MOMENT IN TIME, WHEN A
COUNTRY WAS CHANGING
RAPIDLY, DUE TO AN
IMMIGRATION SURGE. BUT HE
ALSO TOOK THE FIRST IMAGE
THAT PAVED THE WAY FOR A NEW
STYLE – STREET PHOTOGRAPHY.
THE ICONIC 
V-J DAY IN TIMES SQUARE
 BY ALFRED
EISENSTAEDT | 1945

ALFRED EISENSTAEDT’S MISSION

THROUGH THIS PHOTOGRAPH
WAS TO “TO FIND AND CATCH THE
STORYTELLING MOMENT.” IN THIS
POST-WWII PHOTOGRAPH IN
TIMES SQUARE, HE DID JUST THAT.
HIS FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH OF THE
SOLDIER AND DENTAL NURSE HAS
BECOME ONE OF THE MOST
ICONIC IMAGES OF THE 20TH
CENTURY, SIGNIFYING THE
JOYOUS END TO YEARS OF WAR.
THIS IS THE FIRST
PHOTOGRAPH EVER TAKEN,
IT WAS MADE BY JOSEPH
NICÉPHORE NIÉPCE | 
VIEW FROM THE WINDOW A
T LE GRAS
 CIRCA 1826
INTERESTINGLY THE 
FIRST PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPH EVER TAK
EN
 WAS NOT BY AN ARTIST, BUT BY INVENTOR
JOSEPH NICÉPHORE NIÉPCE. HIS FASCINATION
WITH PRINTING LED HIM TO SET UP A CAMERA
OBSCURA AT HIS STUDIO IN FRANCE IN 1826.
THE WINDOW SCENE WAS CAST ON A PEWTER
PLATE AND PRESENTED A CRUDE COPY OF THE
SCENE OUTSIDE HIS WINDOW. IT WAS 
AN 8-HOUR EXPOSURE AND THERE IS ONLY
ONE COPY
, A POSITIVE IMAGE. THIS IS WHY THE IMAGE
IS SOMEWHAT CONFUSING BECAUSE THE SUN
HAD MOVED ACROSS THE COURTYARD
DURING THE EXPOSURE, CAUSING SHADOWS
ON BOTH SIDES TO APPEAR.
HIS GROUNDBREAKING WORK PAVED THE
WAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN
PHOTOGRAPHY.
PHILIPPE HALSMAN
 SHOT THIS FAMOUS
PHOTO DALÍ
ATOMICUS IN 1948
PHILIPPE HALSMAN’S LIFE’S WORK WAS TO CAPTURE THE
ESSENCE OF THOSE HE PHOTOGRAPHED. KNOWING A
STANDARD PORTRAIT OF THE FLAMBOYANT SALVADOR
DALI WAS NOT GOING TO WASH, HE SET OUT TO CREATE
SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY.
HALSMAN EVEN ROPED IN HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER TO
ASSIST IN THROWING THE CATS AND WATER INTO THE
FRAME. AFTER 26 SHOTS THEY FINALLY CAPTURED THIS
IMAGE THAT HAS ECHOES OF DALI’S OWN ARTWORK IN IT.
NOTE: REMEMBER THAT WAS ALL FILM SO HAD TO BE DONE
IN A SINGLE FRAME, THERE WAS NO PHOTOSHOP!
HALSMAN AND DALI BOTH HAD AN UNUSUAL SENSE OF
STYLE AND CREATIVITY – SOME MIGHT EVEN SAY BIZARRE.
THEY COLLABORATED ON MANY PROJECTS TOGETHER
 INCLUDING HALSMAN RECREATING ONE OF DALI’S
PAINTING OF A SKULL USING HUMAN NUDE FIGURES.
HALSMAN HELPED TO SHAPE MODERN-DAY PORTRAIT
PHOTOGRAPHY. HIS IMAGES OF DALI, ALBERT EINSTEIN,
MARILYN MONROE AND ALFRED HITCHCOCK BROKE THE
MOLD AND 
ENCOURAGED PHOTOGRAPHERS TO COLLABORATE WIT
H THEIR SUBJECTS
.
DOROTHEA LANGE
 | MIGRANT MOTHER |
1936
ON ASSIGNMENT FOR THE RESETTLEMENT
ADMINISTRATION, DOROTHEA LANGE
 WAS TASKED TO CAPTURE THE PLIGHT OF
THOSE MOST AFFECTED BY THE GREAT
DEPRESSION IN 1936.
LANG TIGHTLY FRAMED 32-YEAR-OLD
THOMPSON AND HER YOUNG CHILDREN
DRAWING THE VIEWER INTO THE PAIN
AND EXHAUSTING ETCHED ON HER FACE
WHICH APPEARS AGED BEYOND HER
YEARS.
UPON HER RETURN, LANGE’S, NOW
FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH, BECAME THE
MOST ICONIC IMAGE OF THE 160,000
TAKEN TO DOCUMENT THIS DESPERATE
TIME.
THE GOVERNMENT ACTED UPON SEEING
THE SUFFERING AND SENT 20,000 POUNDS
OF FOOD.
EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE
| THE HORSE IN MOTION |
1878
EMBARKING ON A TASK TO DISCOVER
WHETHER A HORSE TAKES FLIGHT WHEN
GALLOPING. 
PHOTOGRAPHER EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE
 WAS COMMISSIONED BY CALIFORNIA
GOVERNOR LELAND STANFORD TO PROVE HIS
THEORY.
MUYBRIDGE DEVELOPED A TECHNIQUE TO
CAPTURE THE HORSE USING AN EXPOSURE
LASTING JUST A FRACTION OF A SECOND. HE
HAD 12 CAMERAS LINED UP THAT WERE
TRIGGERED TO PHOTOGRAPH IN RAPID
SUCCESSION BY THE GALLOPING HORSE.
THE SERIES OF IMAGES MUYBRIDGE CAPTURED
DIDN’T JUST PROVE THAT A HORSE DOES
INDEED TAKE FLIGHT. THEY ALSO LED THE WAY
FOR A NEW WAY OF USING PHOTOGRAPHY WITH
OTHER TECHNOLOGY TO CAPTURE THE TRUTH.
THIS METHOD LED THE WAY FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMATION AND MOTION
PICTURES.
W. EUGENE SMITH
 | COUNTRY DOCTOR |
1948
SMITH’S AIM WAS TO SEE THE WORLD
FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HIS
SUBJECTS AND FOR THE VIEWERS
LOOKING AT HIS WORK TO DO THE SAME.
THIS IMAGE IS 
TAKEN FROM HIS PHOTO ESSAY “COUN
TRY DOCTOR”
 WAS TAKEN AFTER SMITH HAD SPENT 23
DAYS WITH THE SUBJECT.
FOLLOWING THE DOCTOR AROUND AND
REALLY GETTING TO KNOW HIM, SMITH
WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF
HIS SUBJECT THROUGH A SINGLE FRAME.
THIS IMAGE AND ACCOMPANYING ESSAY
BECAME A TEMPLATE FOR THE FORM
WHICH MANY HAVE EMULATED SINCE.
BUT THE IMAGE WAS PART OF THE
LARGE PHOTO ESSAY WHICH SET A NEW
STANDARD FOR THIS GENRE OF
PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTOJOURNALISM.
ROBERT CAPA | THE
FALLING SOLDIER |
1936
CAPA’S IMAGE OF A SPANISH MIL
ITIAMAN BEING SHOT
 WAS TAKEN WITHOUT HIM EVER
LOOKING THROUGH HIS
VIEWFINDER.
CAPTURED BY HOLDING HIS
CAMERA ABOVE HIS HEAD WHILE
IN THE TRENCHES THIS IMAGE
TOOK WAR PHOTOGRAPHY TO A
DIFFERENT LEVEL. SOON AFTER,
JOURNALISTS BEGAN TO BE
FORMALLY EMBEDDED INTO
ARMY UNITS AS THEIR
IMPORTANCE IN CAPTURING AND
DOCUMENTING THE HORRORS OF
WAR WAS REALIZED.
HAROLD EDGERTON
 | MILK DROP
CORONET | 1957
ELECTRICAL-ENGINEERING PROFESSOR
EDGERTON BEGAN A SERIES OF
EXPERIMENTS IN HIS MIT LAB, INVENTING
A CAMERA THAT WOULD 
PHOTOGRAPH A FLEETING MOMENT IN T
HE DARK
.
COMBINING HIGH-TECH STROBE LIGHTING
AND A CAMERA SHUTTER THAT WOULD
ENABLE THE PHOTOGRAPHER TO CAPTURE
A MOMENT INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE.
HE SET UP A MILK DROPPER NEXT TO A
TIMER ALONG WITH HIS CAMERA.
HIS STOP-MOTION PHOTOGRAPH WAS ABLE
TO 
FREEZE THE IMPACT OF A DROP OF MILK
ON A TABLE
 AND CEMENTED PHOTOGRAPHY’S
IMPORTANCE IN THE WORLD OF
ADVANCING THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING
OF OUR PHYSICAL WORLD.