List of photographs considered the most important

This is a list of photographs considered the most important in surveys where authoritative sources review the history of the medium not limited by time period, genre, topic, or other specific criteria. These images may be referred to as the most important, most iconic, or most influential—but they are all considered key images in the history of photography.

19th century[]

Before 1850[]

• Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras, 1827.^{[s 1][s 2]}

  The oldest surviving camera photograph.^[1]
• 

  Original

• 

  Enhanced

• William Henry Fox Talbot, Windows From Inside South Gallery, Lacock Abbey, August 1835.^{[a][3][s 1]}

  The earliest surviving photographic negative and the earliest surviving paper photograph.^[3][4]
• 

  Original paper negative

• 

  Enhanced positive

• Louis Daguerre, Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 3rd arrondissement, 1838.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  

  The earliest surviving photograph depicting a person.^[5]
• Hippolyte Bayard, Self‐Portrait as a Drowned Man (Le Noyé), 1840.^{[s 1]}
• 

  Original

• 

  Enhanced

• William Henry Fox Talbot, The Haystack, 1844.^{[b][s 1]}
  

1850s[]

• Nadar, The Mime Charles Debureau as Pierrot, 1854.^{[s 1]}
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• Roger Fenton, The Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1855.^{[s 2]}
  
• John Mayall, Sergeant Dawson and his Daughter, 1855.^{[s 1]}
  
• Gustave Le Gray, The Brig, 1856.^{[s 1][c]}
  
• Robert Howlett, [Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern],^[d] 1857.^{[s 1]}
  
• Shiro Ichiki, Portrait of Nariakira Shimazu, 1857.^{[s 1]}
  
• Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Two Ways of Life, 1857.^{[s 1]}
  
• Camille Silvy, La Vallée de l'Huisne (River Scene), 1857.^{[s 1]}
  
• Henry Peach Robinson, Fading Away, 1858.^{[s 1]}
  

1860s[]

• Mathew Brady, Abraham Lincoln, 1860.^{[s 2][s 3]}
  
• Carleton Watkins, Cathedral Rock, 1861.^{[s 2]}
  
• Alexander Gardner, The Dead of Antietam, 1862.^{[s 2][e]}
  
• Alexander Gardner, Execution of the Lincoln Conspirators at Washington Arsenal, 1865.^{[s 1]}
  
• Julia Margaret Cameron, Portrait of Sir John Herschel, 1867.^{[s 1]}
  

1870s[]

• Timothy O’Sullivan, Ancient Ruins in the Canyon de Chelly, 1873.^{[s 1]}
  
• Eadweard Muybridge, The Horse in Motion, 1878.^{[s 2]}
  

1880s[]

• Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, Water Rats, 1886.^{[s 1]}
  
• Jacob Riis, Bandit's Roost, 59½ Mulberry Street, 1888.^{[s 2]}
  

1890s[]

• Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, The Hand of Mrs. Wilhelm Röntgen, 1895.^{[s 2]}
  
• Clarence H. White, Girl with a Mirror, 1898.^{[s 1]}
  

20th century[]

1900s[]

• Frederick Evans, A Sea of Steps (Wells Cathedral), 1903.^{[s 1]}
  
• Edward S. Curtis, The Vanishing Race, 1904.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  
• Edward Steichen, The Pond—Moonlight, 1904.^{[s 2]}
  
• Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  

  Passengers on steerage decks on the SS Kaiser Wilhelm II.^[11]

• Lewis Hine, Child Laborer in Newberry, South Carolina Cotton Mill,^[f] 1908.^{[s 2]}
  

1910s[]

• E.J. Bellocq, Prostitute, New Orleans, 1912.^{[s 1]}
  
• Jacques‐Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, 1912.^{[s 1]}
  
• Paul Strand, Abstraction, Twin Lakes, Connecticut,^[g] 1916.^{[h][s 1]}
  
• Paul Strand, Blind Woman, New York, 1916.^{[s 2]}
  

1920s[]

• Edward Weston, Armco Steel, 1922.^{[s 1]}
  
• Man Ray, Kiki: le violon d'Ingres, 1924.^{[s 1]}
• Rudolf Koppitz, Movement Study, 1926.^{[s 1]}
  
• August Sander, Bricklayer, 1928.^{[s 2]}
• August Sander, Pastry Cook, Cologne, 1928.^{[s 1]}
• Tina Modotti, Woman of Tehuantapec, 1929.^{[s 1]}
  

1930s[]

• Man Ray, Glass Tears, 1930.^{[s 1]}
• Erich Salomon, The Hague, 1930.^{[s 2]}
  
• Charles Clyde Ebbets, Lunch atop a Skyscraper, 1932.^{[s 2]}
  
• Henri Cartier-Bresson, Place de l’Europe (Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare), 1932.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brussels, 1932.^{[s 2]}
• James VanDerZee, Couple in Raccoon Coats, 1932.^{[s 2]}
• Wanda Wulz, I+Cat, 1932.^{[s 1]}
• Alexander Rodchenko, Girl with a Leica, 1934.^{[s 1]}
• Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler at a Nazi Party Rally, 1934.^{[s 2]}
• , Loch Ness Monster, 1934.^{[s 2]}
• Madame Yevonde, Lady Milbanke as ‘Queen of the Amazons’, 1935.^{[s 1]}
• Bill Brandt, The Lambeth Walk, 1936.^{[s 1]}
• Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936.^{[s 1][s 2][s 4][s 3]}
  

  Florence Owens Thompson, a destitute mother in Great Depression.^[13]
• Margaret Bourke-White, Fort Peck Dam, 1936.^{[s 2]}
• Robert Capa, The Falling Soldier (Death in Spain), 1936.^{[s 1][s 2][s 4]}

  Death of Republican soldier Federico Borrell García in the Spanish Civil War.^[14]

• Herbert List, Goldfish Bowl, 1937.^{[s 1]}
• Sam Shere, The Hindenburg Disaster, 6 May 1937.^{[s 2][s 4]}
  

  Zeppelin on fire at the mooring mast of Lakehurst.^[15]
• H. S. Wong, Bloody Saturday, 28 August 1937.^{[s 2]}
  

  Baby in bombed-out ruins in Shanghai.^[16]
• Henri Cartier‐Bresson, Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1938.^{[s 1]}
• Horst P. Horst, Mainbocher Corset, 1939.^{[s 1]}
• Bill Brandt, The Lambeth Walk, c. 1939.^{[s 1]}

1940s[]

• Edward Weston, Tide Pool, 1940.^{[s 1]}
• Yousuf Karsh, The Roaring Lion, Winston Churchill, 1941.^{[s 2][s 4]}
  
• Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1 November 1941.^{[s 1]}
• Dmitri Baltermants, Grief, 1942.^{[s 2]}
• Gordon Parks, Ella Watson (American Gothic), 1942.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  
• Frank Powolny, Betty Grable, 1943.^{[s 2]}
  
• George Strock, Three American Soldiers Ambushed on Buna Beach, 1943.^{[s 1]}
• Unknown, Jewish Boy Surrenders in Warsaw, 1943.^{[s 2]}
  
• Weegee, The Critic, 1943.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Robert Capa, D-Day, 6 June 1944.^{[s 2]}
• Lieutenant Charles Levy, Mushroom Cloud Over Nagasaki, 1945.^{[s 2][s 3]}
  
• Joe Rosenthal, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, 23 February 1945.^{[s 1][s 2][s 4]}
  

  Raising U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.^[17]
• Yevgeny Khaldei, Raising a Flag over the Reichstag, 2 May 1945.^{[s 2]}
  

  Raising Soviet flag during Battle of Berlin.^[18]
• Alfred Eisenstaedt, V-J Day in Times Square, 14 August 1945.^{[s 2][s 4]}

  "In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers".^[19]

• Margaret Bourke-White, Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel, 1946.^{[s 2]}Mahatma Gandhi reading beside his spinning wheel.^[20]
• Eric Hosking, Barn Owl with Vole, 1948.^{[s 1]}
• Nat Fein, The Babe Bows Out, 1948.^{[s 2]}
  
• Philippe Halsman, Dalí Atomicus, 1948.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  
• W. Eugene Smith, Country Doctor, 1948.^{[s 2]}
• Willy Ronis, Provençal Nude, 1949.^{[s 1]}

1950s[]

• Robert Doisneau, The Kiss at the Hôtel de Ville (Les Amants de l'Hôtel de Ville), 1950.^{[s 1]}
• Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, X-ray diffraction, 1951.^{[s 3]}

  X-ray diffraction image providing key to DNA structure.^[21]

• Arthur Sasse, Albert Einstein, 1951.^{[s 4]}
• Dmitri Baltermants, The Announcement of Stalin's Death, 1953.^{[s 1]}
• Hy Peskin, Camelot, 1953.^{[s 2]}
• Matty Zimmerman, Monroe, 1954.^{[s 4]}
  
• David Jackson, Emmett Till, 1955.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, 1955.^{[s 2]}
• Robert Frank, Trolley – New Orleans, 1955.^{[s 2]}
• O. Winston Link, Hot Shot Eastbound at Iaeger Drive‐In, 1956.^{[s 1]}
• Harold E. Edgerton, Milk Drop Coronet, 1957.^{[s 2]}
• Will Counts, Elizabeth Eckford, 1957.^{[s 5]}

  First black students to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School.^[22]

• Ansel Adams, Aspens, 1958.^{[s 1]}

1960s[]

• Alberto Korda, Guerrillero Heroico (Che Guevara), 1960.^{[s 1][s 2][s 4]}
  

  Che Guevara at funeral for victims of La Coubre explosion.^[23]
• Julius Shulman, Case Study House no. 22, Los Angeles, 1960.^{[s 2]}
• Peter Leibing, Leap into Freedom, 1961.^{[s 2]}

  Hans Conrad Schumann, an East German soldier running away over barbed-wire in Berlin.^[24]

• Abraham Zapruder, JFK Assassination, Frame 313, 1963.^{[s 2]}
• Charles Moore, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.^{[s 2]}
• Malick Sidibè, Nuit de Noël (Happy Club), 1963.^{[s 2]}
• Robert H. Jackson, Lee Harvey Oswald, 1963.^{[s 4]}
  
• Malcolm Browne, The Burning Monk (Thích Quảng Đức self-immolation), 11 June 1963.^{[s 2][s 5]}
  

  John F. Kennedy said "No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one." Malcolm Browne went on to win the 1964 Pulitzer Prize.^{[s 2]}
• Hugo Van Lawick, Jane Goodall Greets Baby Chimp, 1965.^{[s 5]}
• Lennart Nilsson, Fetus, 18 weeks, 1965.^{[s 2]}
• Neil Leifer, Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston, 1965.^{[s 2][s 5]}
• Hou Bo, Chairman Mao Swims in the Yangtze, 1966.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Bill Eppridge, Assassination of Robert Kennedy, 1968.^{[s 5]}
• John Dominis, Black Power Salute, Mexico City Olympics, 1968.^{[s 2][s 4][s 5]}
  
• Josef Koudelka, Invasion of Prague, 1968.^{[s 2]}
• Joseph Louw, Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968.^{[s 5]}
• Ronald L. Haeberle, Massacre of Villagers at My Lai, 1968.^{[s 1]}
  
• William Anders, Earthrise, 1968.^{[s 2][s 3]}
  

  Earth and Moon's surface from Apollo 8.^[25]
• Eddie Adams, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon, 1 February 1968.^{[s 1][s 2][s 4][s 3][s 5]}
  
• Don McCullin, Albino Boy, Biafra, 1969.^{[s 2]}
• Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 1969.^{[s 1][s 2]}
  

1970s[]

• John Paul Filo, Kent State Shootings, 1970.^{[s 2][s 4][s 3]}

• Ron Galella, Windblown Jackie, 1971.^{[s 2]}
• Huynh Cong “Nick” Ut, Napalm attack, 1972.^{[i][s 1][s 2][s 4][s 3][s 5]}
  

  This image shows a Vietnamese girl running from napalm.^[26]

• Kurt Strumpf, Munich Massacre, 1972.^{[s 2]}
• Harold E. Edgerton, Bullet Passing through a Candle Flame, 1973.^{[s 1]}
• Luis Orlando Lagos, Allende's Last Stand, 1973.^{[s 2]}
• Bernd and Hilla Becher, Water‐Towers, 1974.^{[s 1]}
• Rolls Press, Nixon Resignation, 1974.^{[s 5]}
• Mervyn Bishop, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Pours Soil into the Hand of Traditional Gurindji Landowner Vincent Lingiari, 1975.^{[s 1]}
• Stanley Forman, Fire Escape Collapse, 1975.^{[s 2]}

• Sam Nzima, Soweto Uprising (Hector Pieterson), 1976.^{[s 2]}

• Eddie Adams, Boat of No Smiles, 1977.^{[s 2]}
• Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Stills, 1977–80.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Jahangir Razmi, Firing Squad in Iran, 1979.^{[s 2]}
• Robert Mapplethorpe, Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter, 1979.^{[s 2]}
• Susan Meiselas, Molotov Man, 1979.^{[s 2]}

1980s[]

• Annie Leibowitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1980.^{[s 1]}
• Heinz Kluetmeier, Miracle on Ice, 1980.^{[s 5]}
• Helmut Newton, Self‐Portrait with Wife and Model, 1981.^{[s 1]}
• Donna Ferrato, Behind Closed Doors, 1982.^{[s 2]}
• Nancy Burson, Androgyny (6 Men + 6 Women), 1982.^{[s 2]}
• Co Rentmeester, Michael Jordan, 1984.^{[s 2]}
• Alon Reininger, Ken Meeks, Patient with AIDS, Being Cared for by a Friend, San Francisco, California, 1986.^{[s 5]}
• Andres Serrano, Immersions (Piss Christ), 1987.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• James L. Stanfield, The First Heart Transplant in Poland, 1987.^{[s 5]}
• Jeff Widener, Tank Man, 1989.^{[s 2][s 5]} Man confronting column of tanks.^[27]
• Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1989.^{[s 2]}

1990s[]

• Therese Frare, The Face of AIDS, 1990.^{[s 2]}
• Annie Leibovitz, Demi Moore, 1991.^{[s 2]}
• David Turnley, Operation Desert Storm, 1991.^{[s 5]}
• Steve McCurry, Camels in the Oil Fields, 1991.^{[s 5]}
• James Nachtwey, Famine in Somalia, 1992.^{[s 2]}
• Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk, 1992.^{[s 1]}
• Ron Haviv, Bosnia, 1992.^{[s 2]}
• Kevin Carter, Vulture Stalking a Child – Sudan Famine, 1994.^{[s 2][s 4][s 5]}
• Charles Porter, Oklahoma City Bombing, 1995.^{[s 4][s 5]}
• Hubble Space Telescope / NASA, Pillars of Creation, 1995.^{[s 2]}
  

  Region of star formation.^[28]
• Dirck Halstead, Bill Clinton hugs Monica Lewinsky, 1996.^{[s 4]}
• Philippe Kahn, First Cell-Phone Picture, 1997.^{[s 2]}
• Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent, 1999.^{[s 2]}
• Carol Guzy, Kosovo Refugees, 1999.^{[s 5]}
• Alan Diaz, Elian Gonzalez Federal Raid, 2000.^{[s 4][s 5]}

21st century[]

2000s[]

• Michael Nichols, Surfing Hippos, 2000.^{[s 2]}
• Doug Mills, President George W. Bush Learns of the September 11th Attacks, 2001.^{[s 5]}
• Patrick Witty, New Yorkers watch the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 2001.^{[s 5]}
• Richard Drew, The Falling Man, 2001.^{[s 2][s 4][s 5]}

  This photo depicts a man falling from World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.^[29]

• Shannon Stapleton, Father Judge, 2001.^{[s 5]}
• Thomas Franklin, Raising of the American Flag at Ground Zero, 2001.^{[s 4][s 5]}
• Marcus Bleasdale, Sakura Lisi, 2004.^{[s 5]}
• Sgt. Ivan Frederick, The Hooded Man, 2004.^{[s 2][s 4]}
  

  Ali Shallal al-Qaisi an Abu Ghraib prisoner, being subjected to torture.^[30]

• Tami Silicio, Coffin Ban, 2004.^{[s 2]}
• Chris Hondros, Iraqi Girl, 2005.^{[s 2][s 5]}
• Eric Gay, Hurricane Katrina Evacuation, 2005.^{[s 5]}
• Robert Galbraith, Hurricane Katrina, 2005.^{[s 5]}
• Todd Heisler, Jim Comes Home, 2005.^{[s 5]}
• Brent Stirton, Gorilla in the Congo, 2007.^{[s 2]}
• John Moore, Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, 2007.^{[s 5]}
• Louie Favorite, Homecoming, 2007.^{[s 5]}
• Oded Bality, The Power of One, 2007.^{[s 5]}
• Barbara Davidson, Funeral of Edwin Cobbin, 2009.^{[s 5]}
• Marcos Tristao, Diego Frazão Torquato, 2009.^{[s 5]}
• Pete Souza, Oval Office Meeting, 2009.^{[s 5]}
• Unknown, The Death of Neda, 2009.^{[s 2]}

2010s[]

• Justin Lane, 9/11 Memorial, 2011.^{[s 5]}
• Pete Souza, The Situation Room, 2011.^{[s 2][s 4]}
  
• Jessica Hill, Newtown Massacre, 2012.^{[s 5]}
• Lucas Jackson, Fashion Week, 2012.^{[s 5]}
• Rodrigo Abd, Aida, 2012.^{[s 5]}
• Shannon Hicks, Sandy Hook, 2012.^{[s 4]}
• AFP, China Social Suicide, 2013.^{[s 5]}
• David Guttenfelder, North Korea, 2013.^{[s 2]}
• John Tlumacki, Boston Marathon Bombing, 2013.^{[s 4][s 5]}
• Taslima Akhter, Couple Found in Rubble of Bangladesh Factory Collapse, 2013.^{[s 5]}
• Tyler Hicks, Nairobi Mall Attack, 2013.^{[s 5]}
• Bradley Cooper, Oscars Selfie, 2014.^{[s 2]}
• Bülent Kiliç, Turkey Mine Blast, 2014.^{[s 5]}
• UNRWA, Yarmouk Refugees, 2014.^{[s 5]}
• Nilufer Demir, Alan Kurdi, 2015.^{[s 2][s 5]}

  Three-year-old Syrian refugee lying drowned on beach.^[31]

• Emin Menguarslan, Turkish Coast Guard Rescue, 2016.^{[s 5]}

See also[]

• People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph
• Lists of photographs
• List of most expensive photographs
• World Press Photo of the Year

Notes[]

Sources[]

These surveys of the history of photography determine which images are included in the list.

Additional references[]

External links[]

• Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential Images of All Time"
• CNN's "25 of the most iconic photographs"