We've all heard the worn-out clich: "a picture is worth a thousand words". It may be an overused expression, but when you see a great photograph, it's impossible to argue with. Photography can be a truly powerful medium, both when it is used purely as an artistic tool, and when it is used to document important events taking place in the world. It is the practice of photojournalism, however, that has produced the most profound, insightful and emotive images. The most powerful shots crystallise moments in history and either open the eyes of the world to suffering and injustice or symbolise hope for the future.
Often, when photographers find themselves in warzones or at scenes of natural disasters, they are thrown into a challenging moral predicament. Their journalistic instinct is to document what they see and bring it to the attention of the wider world, but this often means they are watching terrible things happen and not intervening to prevent the suffering they witness. At the same time, photographers often put their own lives on the line, and many have paid the ultimate price in their efforts to get to the centre of the action.
One image perfectly epitomises the moral dilemma war photographers have to struggle with, whilst also giving some impression of the dangers they face. Taken in Vietnam by Nick Ut in 1972, it shows a group of Vietnamese children running in panic from a US napalm attack. At the centre of the photo is an unclothed girl named Kim Phuc, shrieking in desperation having been severely burned. The photo hit a nerve around the world, displaying the shocking consequences of America's tactics, and giving further impetus to the anti-war movement.
World-changing photos aren't only taken by journalists. In 1941, an SS soldier captured an image now known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Discovered in one of his personal albums after the war, this sickening image shows a gaunt Jewish man sat on the edge of a pit of dead bodies, with a guard stood behind him with a gun to his head. All 28,000 Ukranian Jews from the city of Vinnista were killed during WWII.
Photos like these get their power from their uncompromising portrayal of humanity at its worst, but there also are many images celebrating human achievements that deserve an equal place in history. One example, taken whilst under enemy fire, is US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's unforgettable shot of four American soldiers courageously raising the American flag on Mount Surbachi, Japan, as WWII approached its conclusion. Another photo that beautifully symbolises the human spirit at its best is Buzz Aldrin's 1969 shot of the first human footprint on the Moon. The footprint, which poignantly encapsulates our instinctive fascination with the unknown, will remain there for millions of years.
Often, when photographers find themselves in warzones or at scenes of natural disasters, they are thrown into a challenging moral predicament. Their journalistic instinct is to document what they see and bring it to the attention of the wider world, but this often means they are watching terrible things happen and not intervening to prevent the suffering they witness. At the same time, photographers often put their own lives on the line, and many have paid the ultimate price in their efforts to get to the centre of the action.
One image perfectly epitomises the moral dilemma war photographers have to struggle with, whilst also giving some impression of the dangers they face. Taken in Vietnam by Nick Ut in 1972, it shows a group of Vietnamese children running in panic from a US napalm attack. At the centre of the photo is an unclothed girl named Kim Phuc, shrieking in desperation having been severely burned. The photo hit a nerve around the world, displaying the shocking consequences of America's tactics, and giving further impetus to the anti-war movement.
World-changing photos aren't only taken by journalists. In 1941, an SS soldier captured an image now known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Discovered in one of his personal albums after the war, this sickening image shows a gaunt Jewish man sat on the edge of a pit of dead bodies, with a guard stood behind him with a gun to his head. All 28,000 Ukranian Jews from the city of Vinnista were killed during WWII.
Photos like these get their power from their uncompromising portrayal of humanity at its worst, but there also are many images celebrating human achievements that deserve an equal place in history. One example, taken whilst under enemy fire, is US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's unforgettable shot of four American soldiers courageously raising the American flag on Mount Surbachi, Japan, as WWII approached its conclusion. Another photo that beautifully symbolises the human spirit at its best is Buzz Aldrin's 1969 shot of the first human footprint on the Moon. The footprint, which poignantly encapsulates our instinctive fascination with the unknown, will remain there for millions of years.
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