6 images with impact

6 images with impact

A picture is worth a thousand words

Iconic photos. You've probably seen them all at some point. As a viewer, you witness the event and are confronted with the facts. Perhaps you recognise yourself in the photo or feel deeply involved. You assume the image speaks for itself, or that everyone interprets it the same way. But behind every iconic image lies a historical story. In what situation did the moment in the photo take place? What is the real story behind all these famous photos? On this page, we take you back in time through the history of these world-famous photographs.

© NASA, William A. Anders (24 December 1968), Earthrise, Apollo 8 above the moon

© Alfred Eisenstaedt (14 August 1945), V-J Day (The Kiss), Times Square, New York City

On 24 December 1968, astronaut William A. Anders took a photo of the Earth from Apollo 8. On its journey to the moon, the crew lost contact with Mission Control on Earth, much to the delight of the team on the ground and on board. So how did that come about?

In New York's Times Square, thousands of kilometres from the devastated battlefields, this picture became the pinnacle of commercial America. But the reality of this photo, like history itself, is far more complicated than it seems.

© Charlie Cole, Tank Man, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China (5 June 1989)

On 5 June 1989, one man brought a column of tanks in Beijing to a standstill. This extraordinary event was captured by four photographers, including press photographer Charlie Cole, who won the World Press Photo award for it in 1990. But what led up to this photo?

© Director Billy Wilder, Marilyn Monroe during a shot from the film The Seven Year Itch (1955)

© McCurry, S. (1984), The Afghan Girl, Nasir Bagh refugee camp, Pakistan, National Geographic cover (1985)

Standing on a ventilation grate, her dress is blown upwards by a subway train passing beneath her. A huge scandal in the prim and proper 1950s, which led to fame and a divorce.

Striking, wide-open green eyes convey a look of uncertainty and doubt. This image became a symbol of the Afghan people in flight, who at the time were living under Soviet occupation.

© Charles Clyde Ebbets (1932), Lunch atop a Skyscraper, New York, Rockefeller Center. Published in the New York Herald Tribune, 2 October 1932

The eleven construction workers calmly enjoying their lunch on a steel beam 250 metres above the streets of Manhattan were surprised by a photographer who wanted to capture the final stage of the construction of the Rockefeller Center.