a personal favourite Henri Cartier-Bresson's the decisive moment (or gare st. lazare, paris, 1932, man jumping a puddle)
"A photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image), an interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stencilled off the real, like a footprint or a death mask."
- Susan Sontag, US writer
Photographs are not just captured singular moments that serve as reminders of what came to pass. More than this, they are portals to stories that sometimes eloquent words cannot tell - and we walk off somehow different, somehow changed.
Below are some of the most unforgettable and powerful images captured on film. And they, unlike those who view them, shall not come to pass.
loch ness monster
This hoax picture of the mythical Loch Ness monster (or Nessie) first appeared in1934. It is generally attributed to Robert Kenneth Wilson who originally claimed authorship.
migrant mother
One of photojournalist Dorothea Lange's most enduring photographs, this was taken in 1935 during her efforts to document (as commissioned by the US Farm Security Administration) migrant workers' plight amidst the impact of the Great Depression.
raising the flag on iwo jima
This is actually the second photograph taken of the American flag raising on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945 - the first one was taken two hours earlier. This photograph by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shows the Marines with the second, larger flag.
vj day
A sailor kissing a nurse during Veterans Day celebrations in 1945 taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The location has been identified as the small island where Broadway and 7th Avenue meet in New York City.
marilyn monroe
This is one of the many unforgetable photographs taken of Marilyn Monroe on the set of The Seven Year Itch in 1954. Matthew Zimmerman was one of the photographers who went to the corner of Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street, New York City and captured the "billowing skirt over a subway grating" moment.
dorothy counts
Douglas Martin of the Associated Press took this picture of 15-year old Dorothy Counts on her first day of school at the all-white Harry Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1957. The torment suffered by Counts led her family to pull her out of the school four days later.
first view of the earth from the moon
Man got his first glimpse of the the Earth in 1968. Astronauts on the Apollo 8 space mission took this photogtraph as they orbited the moon. A lump formed in my throat when I first saw this image.
abbey road album cover
Arguably the most famous and most copied album cover in the history of music recording, this was taken in 1969 by Iain Macmillan. The location, particularly the zebra crossing, remains to be a popular destination for Beatles fans.
kim phuc now
vietnam girl
This Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of Kim Phuc was taken by Nick Ut in1972. Kim, along with her brothers, was running from her village after a napalm attack.
sharbat gula now
afghan girl
Taken in 1984 by National Geographic's Steve McCurry in a makeshift school within a refugee camp in Nasir Bagh, this photograph has become the most popular symbol of the Afghan conflicts in the 1980s and the publication itself named it as its "most recognized photograph". The girl in the picture is Sharbat Gula.
birhan woldu now (shown with madonna at the live aid 2005)
ethiopian girl
This was taken from a CBC documentary video by Tony Burmanshown at the Live Aid fundraising concerts in 1985. The image of Birhan Woldu as a starving child, near death, became the iconic symbol of the fight against famine. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it changed his life.
demi moore, vanity fair cover
In August 1991, seven months pregnant actress Demi Moore appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair photographed by Annie Leibovitz. The image was both hailed as a celebration of motherhood and empowerment and criticised for promoting sexual objectification.
oklahoma city bombing
This photograph of a fireman cradling a wounded infant was taken in 1995 by amateur photographer Charles Porter. This image won for Porter a Pulitzer Prize.
9/11
A hijacked passenger jet crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 fifteen minutes after another hijacked jet crashed into the north tower. Both the skyscrapers collapsed and about 3,000 were killed. It has been the biggest act of terrorism against the US.
