52 Most Influential Photographs

afafa Published 04/18/2008

52 photographs that shaped a technology, an art form, and the world.

List View
Player View
Grid View

1.
Nicephore Niepce View from the Window at Le Gras (1827) - earliest surviving photograph
2.
Louis Daguerre - Boulevard du Temple (1837)
3.
James Clerk Maxwell - Tartan Ribbon (1861) - First Color Photograph
4.
Mathew Brady - Federal Dead on the Field of Battle of First Day (1863)
5.
Thomas Annan - Glasgow, Close No. 80, High Street (1868) - perhaps the first to document the urban poor
6.
The Daily Graphic - Steinway Hall (1873) - First printed Photograph
7.
Eadweard Muybridge - The Horse in Motion (1878)
8.
Unknown - Wright Brothers First Flight (1903)
9.
Edward Steichen - The Pond - Moonlight (1904)
10.
Edward S. Curtis - Red Hawk at an Oasis in the Badlands (1905)
11.
Lewis W. Hine - Breaker Boys (1910)
12.
Eric Enstrom - Grace (1918)
13.
Man Ray - Solarization (1929)
14.
Unknown - Lynching (1930)
15.
Christian Spurling - Loch Ness Monster (1934)
16.
Unknown - The Nuremberg Rally (1934)
17.
Robert Capa - Death of a Loyalist Soldier (1936) - Spanish Civil War
18.
Dorothea Lange - Migrant Mother (1936)
19.
Murray Becker - Hindenburg (1937)
20.
20th Century Fox - Betty Grable (1942)
21.
Ansel Adams - The Tetons - Snake River (1942)
22.
Robert Capa - Omaha Beach (1944)
23.
Joe Rosenthal - Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (1945)
24.
Alfred Eisenstaedt - The Kiss (1945)
25.
Margaret Bourke-White - Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel (1946)
26.
Philippe Halsman - Dalí Atomicus (1948)
27.
Alberto Korda - Che Guevara (1960)
28.
Charles Moore - Birmingham (1963)
29.
Malcolm W. Browne - Burning Monk (1963)
30.
Abraham Zapruder - JFK Assassination (1963)
31.
Lennart Nilsson - How Life Begins (1965)
32.
William Anders - Earthrise (1968)
33.
Eddie Adams - Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla (1968)
34.
Neil Armstrong - Apollo 11 Moon Landing (1969)
35.
Don McCullin - Biafra (1969)
36.
Duncan Cameron - Canadian Seal Hunt (1969)
37.
Dwight Hooker - Lenna (1972)
38.
Huynh Cong Ut - Napalm Strike (1972)
39.
W. Eugene Smith - Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath (1972)
40.
Stanley J. Forman - Fire on Marlborough Street (1975)
41.
Mike Wells - Uganda (1980)
42.
Steve McCurry - Afghan Girl (1984)
43.
Frank Fournier - Omayra Sanchez
44.
German Press Agency - Oil-Contaminated Bird at the Coast of Alaska (1989)
45.
Stuart Franklin - Tiananmen Square (1989)
46.
Matuschka - Beauty Out of Damage (1993)
47.
Kevin Carter - Vulture & Child
48.
Charles Porter - Oklahoma City (1995)
49.
NASA - Pillars of Creation (1995)
50.
Various - Abu Ghraib Prison Photos (2004)
51.
Andreas Gursky - 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) - most expensive photo ever sold, for $3,346,456 in a February 2007

1.
Nicephore Niepce View from the Window at Le Gras (1827) - earliest surviving photograph
2.
Louis Daguerre - Boulevard du Temple (1837)
3.
James Clerk Maxwell - Tartan Ribbon (1861) - First Color Photograph
4.
Mathew Brady - Federal Dead on the Field of Battle of First Day (1863)
5.
Thomas Annan - Glasgow, Close No. 80, High Street (1868) - perhaps the first to document the urban poor
6.
The Daily Graphic - Steinway Hall (1873) - First printed Photograph
7.
Eadweard Muybridge - The Horse in Motion (1878)
8.
Unknown - Wright Brothers First Flight (1903)
9.
Edward Steichen - The Pond - Moonlight (1904)
10.
Edward S. Curtis - Red Hawk at an Oasis in the Badlands (1905)
11.
Lewis W. Hine - Breaker Boys (1910)
12.
Eric Enstrom - Grace (1918)
13.
Man Ray - Solarization (1929)
14.
Unknown - Lynching (1930)
15.
Christian Spurling - Loch Ness Monster (1934)
16.
Unknown - The Nuremberg Rally (1934)
17.
Robert Capa - Death of a Loyalist Soldier (1936) - Spanish Civil War
18.
Dorothea Lange - Migrant Mother (1936)
19.
Murray Becker - Hindenburg (1937)
20.
20th Century Fox - Betty Grable (1942)
21.
Ansel Adams - The Tetons - Snake River (1942)
22.
Robert Capa - Omaha Beach (1944)
23.
Joe Rosenthal - Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (1945)
24.
Alfred Eisenstaedt - The Kiss (1945)
25.
Margaret Bourke-White - Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel (1946)
26.
Philippe Halsman - Dalí Atomicus (1948)
27.
Alberto Korda - Che Guevara (1960)
28.
Charles Moore - Birmingham (1963)
29.
Malcolm W. Browne - Burning Monk (1963)
30.
Abraham Zapruder - JFK Assassination (1963)
31.
Lennart Nilsson - How Life Begins (1965)
32.
William Anders - Earthrise (1968)
33.
Eddie Adams - Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla (1968)
34.
Neil Armstrong - Apollo 11 Moon Landing (1969)
35.
Don McCullin - Biafra (1969)
36.
Duncan Cameron - Canadian Seal Hunt (1969)
37.
Dwight Hooker - Lenna (1972)
38.
Huynh Cong Ut - Napalm Strike (1972)
39.
W. Eugene Smith - Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath (1972)
40.
Stanley J. Forman - Fire on Marlborough Street (1975)
41.
Mike Wells - Uganda (1980)
42.
Steve McCurry - Afghan Girl (1984)
43.
Frank Fournier - Omayra Sanchez
44.
German Press Agency - Oil-Contaminated Bird at the Coast of Alaska (1989)
45.
Stuart Franklin - Tiananmen Square (1989)
46.
Matuschka - Beauty Out of Damage (1993)
47.
Kevin Carter - Vulture & Child
48.
Charles Porter - Oklahoma City (1995)
49.
NASA - Pillars of Creation (1995)
50.
Various - Abu Ghraib Prison Photos (2004)
51.
Andreas Gursky - 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001) - most expensive photo ever sold, for $3,346,456 in a February 2007