Photographs are more than just pictures; they are moments in time captured in memory, feelings, and experiences. They take us back to the instant they were photographed or to when we first laid eyes on them. This is the strong emotional attraction that photographs possess.
It is amazing how well this technologically infused art form captures and preserves moments. We frequently pay attention to the narratives and occasions that accompany the images, but we hardly ever give the photographer or the camera any thought.
Every famous picture has a camera and a photographer who chose to capture that particular moment forever behind it. Someone decided to record it on film, whether it was a classic magazine cover, a well-loved album cover, or a momentous occasion like D-Day.
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We decided to present some of the most famous images in history alongside the cameras that took them, because of how these pictures take us back in time. Even in a world where millions of photos are taken every day, these unique shots have an enduring influence.
Check out these old pictures that document important moments in human history by scrolling down, along with the cameras that took them. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below regarding the pictures, the settings, and the cameras.
#1 “Earthrise” Created in 1968 by William Anders / Modified Hasselblad 500 El
On December 24, 1968, astronaut William Anders captured this image, dubbed “Earthrise,” while on the Apollo 8 mission. The astronaut made use of an electric-drive Hasselblad 500 EL camera that had been substantially modified. On specially made 70 mm Kodal Ektachrome film, the picture was taken.
#2 Lyle Owerko, 2001 / Fuji 645zi
Using a Fuji 645zi camera, photographer Lyle Owerko documented the horrific events of 9/11. He even had a picture from that day featured on the cover of TIME magazine.
#3 “The Hindenburg Disaster” Captured by Sam Shere, 1937 / Speed Graphic
Sam Shere used a Graflex Speed Graphic camera to record the events of the May 6, 1937 Hindenburg airship tragedy near Manchester Township, New Jersey. Thirty-six of the ninety-seven passengers on the airplane perished.
#4 “Burning Monk” By Malcolm Browne, 1963 / Petri
Malcolm Browne took the famous picture of Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who committed suicide by setting himself on fire in Saigon on June 11, 1963, using a basic Petri rangefinder camera.
#5 “Afghan Girl” By Steve McCurry, 1984 / Nikon Fm2
Photojournalist Steve McCurry used a Nikon FM2 camera to take the famous picture of Sharbat Gula, the Afghan girl, back in 1984. Despite being featured on the cover of National Geographic’s June 1985 edition, the girl’s true identity remained unknown until 2002.
#6 “Tank Man” By Jeff Widener, 1989 / Nikon Fe2
The unidentified Chinese man, nicknamed Tank Man, that stood in front of a line of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, was captured by photographer Jeff Widener on a Nikon FE2 camera.
#7 “Migrant Mother” By Dorothea Lange, 1936 / Graflex Super D
On March 6, 1936, photographer Dorothea Lange took this striking picture of Florence Owens Thompson and her kids. The image was captured within a pea-pickers’ camp on Nipomo Mesa following crop destruction by freezing rain, which left laborers jobless and unpaid.
#8 Abbey Road Album Cover By Iain Macmillan, 1969 / Hasselblad
The legendary photo of The Beatles on Abbey Road was captured by photographer Iain Macmillan back in 1969. The photographer used a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm wide-angle lens.
#9 “V-J Day In Times Square” By Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1945 / Leica IIIa
On August 14, 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took this picture of a US Navy sailor kissing an unknown person in Times Square, New York City. The true subjects of the shot are unknown, despite the claims of many that they are the ones in them.
#10 “D-Day” By Robert Capa, 1944 / Contax II
Using his Contax II camera, photographer Robert Capa documented the events of D-Day. As one of the first soldiers to land on Omaha Beach, he took 106 photos while under enemy fire. Unfortunately, because of a processing error in the London picture studio of Life magazine, only 11 of them made it out alive.
#11 “Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima” By Joe Rosenthal, 1945 / Speed Graphic
This image shows six US Marines raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi was taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Tragically, during the course of the next few days, three of the six troops lost their lives in combat.
#12 “Invasion 68: Prague”, By Josef Koudelka, 1968 / Exacta Varex
In 1968, photographer Josef Koudelka took pictures of the occupying armed forces in Prague. Under the letters P. P. (Prague Photographer), his negatives were secretly released in The Sunday Times Magazine after being smuggled out of Prague.
#13 Paul Goresh / Minolta Xg-1
Just hours before the renowned Beatle was shot close to his New York City home, photographer Paul Goresh took this terrifying picture of John Lennon and would-be killer Mark David Chapman.
#14 “Raising A Flag Over The Reichstag” By Yevgeny Khaldei, 1945 / Leica III
Using a Leica III camera, photographer Yevgeny Khaldei captured this image of Russian forces flying a flag over the Reichstag on May 2, 1945, during the Battle of Berlin.
#15 “The Terror Of War” By Nick Ut, 1972 / Leica M3
Vietnamese American photographer Huỳnh Công Út (Nick Ut) captured this eerie photograph of a 9-year-old girl Phan Thị Kim Phúc running away from a South Vietnamese napalm strike that hit the Trảng Bàng village on June 8, 1972.
#16 “Tokyo Stabbing” By Yasushi Nagao, 1960 / Speed Graphic
On October 12, 1960, 17-year-old Otoya Yamaguchi killed Japanese politician Inejiro Asanuma. Yasushi Nagao, a photographer, witnessed the murder. The image was named World Press Photo of the Year and earned the photographer a Pulitzer Prize.
#17 “The Shooting Of Lee Harvey Oswald” By Robert Jackson, 1963 / Nikon S3
Two days after his crime, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot US President John F. Kennedy’s killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, on live television in the Dallas Police Headquarters basement. Robert Jackson, a photographer, took the picture with a Nikon S3.
#18 “Guerillero Heroico” By Alberto Korda, 1969 / Leica M2
On March 5, 1960, photographer Alberto Korda captured this image of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in Havana, Cuba. Guevara was thirty-one years old at the time of the photo.
#19 “The Soiling Of Old Glory” By Stanley Forman, 1976 / Nikon F
On April 5, 1976, photographer Stanley Forman took this image, which is named “The Soiling of Old Glory.” It depicts Joseph Rakes, a white adolescent, utilizing a flagpole bearing the American flag to attack Ted Landsmark, a black civil rights activist. Later on, the image was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
#20 “Fire Escape Collapse” By Stanley Forman, 1975 / Nikon F
Photographer Stanley Forman used a Nikon F camera on July 22, 1975, to take the tragic picture of 19-year-old Diana Bryant and her 2-year-old goddaughter Tiare Jones plunging over a collapsing fire escape.
