The most famous photographs in history
The top 3 according to 157 votes from people: Migrant Mother — Dorothea Lange · Guerrillero Heroico — Alberto Korda · Tank Man — Jeff Widener. (Updated Dec 16, 2022.)
The images that changed how we see the world, as chosen by TIME's curators and historians for its 100 most influential photographs, plus a few more that every list includes.
Top 20
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1
Migrant Mother — Dorothea Lange
1936. The face of the Great Depression.
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2
Guerrillero Heroico — Alberto Korda
1960. Che Guevara; one of the most reproduced images ever.
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3
Tank Man — Jeff Widener
1989. A man facing a column of tanks in Beijing.
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4
V-J Day in Times Square — Alfred Eisenstaedt
1945. A sailor's kiss on the day the war ended.
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5
Earthrise — William Anders
1968. The Earth rising over the Moon, from Apollo 8.
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6
The Terror of War — Nick Ut
1972. Children fleeing a napalm attack in Vietnam.
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7
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima — Joe Rosenthal
1945. Six Marines and a flag.
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8
View from the Window at Le Gras — Nicéphore Niépce
c. 1826. The oldest surviving camera photograph.
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9
Saigon Execution — Eddie Adams
1968. A street execution during the Tet Offensive.
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10
Pale Blue Dot — Voyager 1
1990. The Earth as a speck from six billion kilometres away.
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11
The Burning Monk — Malcolm Browne
1963. Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation in Saigon.
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12
A Man on the Moon — Neil Armstrong
1969. Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface.
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13
The Falling Man — Richard Drew
2001. A man falling from the World Trade Center.
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14
Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare — Henri Cartier-Bresson
1932. A man leaping over a puddle: the "decisive moment".
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15
Pillars of Creation — Hubble
1995. Towers of gas in the Eagle Nebula.
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16
Lunch atop a Skyscraper
1932. Eleven workers eating on a beam over New York.
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17
Starving Child and Vulture — Kevin Carter
1993. A famine image from Sudan that won the Pulitzer.
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18
Afghan Girl — Steve McCurry
1984. The green eyes on a National Geographic cover.
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19
Abraham Lincoln — Mathew Brady
1860. The portrait that helped make Lincoln president.
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20
Milk Drop Coronet — Harold Edgerton
1957. A splash frozen in time; it laid the groundwork for electronic flash.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (2)
Some of these are really hard to look at, but they belong on the list
Earthrise is the one for me. Whole planet in one picture