Photography holds the power to immortalise a moment, awaken emotions and breathe life into a static image far removed from the observer’s situation. These images use the mastery and precision of the camera through a mesmerising approach, all having individually captured the attention of the world. In no particular order, (it would be impossible to do so), here are 12 of the most iconic photographs of all time…
1. Helmut Newton, Yves Saint Laurent, French Vogue, Rue Aubriot, Paris, 1975
A defining moment in fashion history captured on a dimly lit Parisian street. The woman portrayed sports a manly tuxedo, hair slicked back as a cigarette hangs from her fingers. Deviating from the norm of sexuality, we see a new direction of trend and changing attitudes towards femininity.
2. Sally Mann, Candy Cigarette, 1989
The normally harmonious combination of naivety and youthfulness is challenged here by the striking confidence of Mann’s daughter, Jessie, as she is captured casually holding a sweet cigarette. Her compelling demeanour confronts us with her stance and nonchalant attitude, yet the child on stilts and the adjacent young girl remind us of her age.
3. Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City, 1962
A juxtaposition of childhood tomfoolery mixed with a violent undertone is portrayed as this young boy grips tightly onto a toy hand grenade. What Arbus has done so well throughout her photographic oeuvre is to comment on society through her intuitive attitude, remarking here on the sociopolitical turmoil of Sixties and Seventies America, demonstrating a deep understanding of the world around her.
4. Man Ray, Le Violon d’Ingres, 1924
Objectification of the female body is seen in this image of Kiki de Montparnasse as she has been transformed into a musical instrument through the painting of sound-holes on her back. As a pioneer of the Surrealist movement, Man Ray intertwines surrealism and photography.
5. Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936
A heart-rending image of Florence Owens Thompson and her children at a migrant camp taken in California during the Great Depression, where a sheer uninhibited sense of desperation exudes from the photograph. Lange was employed by the Farm Security Administration programme to increase awareness of the impoverished state of farmers, which she successfully achieved through the wide circulation of this image.
6. Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Place de L’Europe, 1932
A serendipitous moment captured exquisitely in this image of a man leaping into a flooded area, where the reflection of his outstretched figure is duplicated in the water below. It is mirrored simultaneously by the similarly shaped prancing body on the poster behind him. Time magazine heralded this image as “The photo of the century”, and Cartier-Bresson is often referred to as the founding father of street photography.
7. William Henry Fox Talbot, The Open Door, c. 1843
A revolutionary image in photography, Fox Talbot invented the calotype process that allowed multiple positive images to be printed from one negative image. It is celebrated as the first-ever photograph to be arranged purposefully for artistic effect.
8. Unknown (credited to Charles C Ebbets in 2003), Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, 1932
During the construction of the Rockefeller Center in New York, 11 men are casually suspended on a metal pole, 256m from the ground. Although this scene is thought to have been staged, it is still recognised across the world as being a truly iconic image (although those who suffer from vertigo may not agree).
9. Iain Macmillan, Beatles Abbey Road Cover, 1969
Taken outside the Beatles’ Abbey Road studios in London, it only took Macmillan six shots to capture this image. It was chosen due to the rhythmical symmetry of their legs and was the last ever cover of an album recorded by the band.
10. Philippe Halsman, Dali Atomicus, 1948
Inspired by Dali’s painting, Leda Atomica, featured on the flying easel, this image explores the concept of weightlessness, where three cats, a chair, a stool, thrown water and Dali himself have been suspended in mid air for this meticulously timed photograph. It took 28 attempts until Halsman was satisfied.
11. Alberto Korda, Guerrillero Heroico, 1960
This image of Argentinian revolutionary fighter and political activist Che Guevara has become an iconic symbol of rebellion, having been reproduced countless times in pop culture. A Leica M2 camera was used to capture this painstakingly memorable photo where the sheer emotion and power bursts from its black and white confines.
12. Steve McCurry, Afghan Girl, 1985
Taken for National Geographic magazine, this breathtakingly striking image is dominated by the piercing green eyes of this young girl who stares directly, with no inhibitions, at the camera lens. It became the most popular cover image in the history of the magazine.
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