Top 100 Photos

Photo #1

I chose to include this image because it is very powerful. The fact that it is in black and white caught my eye, but also the story that the photo is telling is interesting. The photographer of this photo, James Nachtwey, is American and went to Somalia where there is a famine taking place. This photo and many others that Nachtwey took on this trip opened people's eyes to what is happening to people across the globe. Because of these photos, more than one and a half million people were saved from the famine. I learned that in this picture, the subject, the woman, is waiting to be taken to a feeding center in a wheelbarrow. These pictures are important for people to see so that we're not oblivious to what's happening to people around the world. If people know there is a problem, they could contribute and help those in need.

This photo is also by James Nachtwey. This photo shows the "Deeds of War". I think this is a powerful image because it shows the disasters of war.

About the Photographer:

James Nachtwey was born March 14th 1948 and is still alive at 69 years old. James grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Dartmouth college where he majored in history and political sciences. He has since won many awards for his photos and continues to photograph.

Photo #2

I picked this pictures because it's very eye-catching and I wanted to read about why this was considered one of the most influential pictures ever taken. This photo was taken in 1999 and was so popular because it was originally multiple picture that had been digitally stitched together to form a seamless end product. This was ground breaking because at that time, not many people had done that before. From additional reading, I learned that this picture sold at an auction for $2.3 million. Andreas Gursky is the photographer of this image.

This photo is also by Andreas Gursky. You could assume this photo was digital stitched also.

About the Photographer:

Andreas Gurksy was born January 15th, 1955 and is still alive at 62 years old. He was born is East Germany and get up in West Germany. He went to Folkwangschule which is an Arts University. 

Photo #3

I chose this photo because it raises awareness of domestic abuse. It caught my eye because I wasn't quite sure what was happening in the photo, but once I looked at it closer, it was clear. This is a picture of a man slapping or punching his wife in 1982. It wasn't that uncommon back then, but it was rare that it was captured. Because of the photographer, Donna Ferrato, this photo raised awareness of violence against women. 

This photo is also by Donna Ferrato. It shows women's rights again, like the first photo.

About the Photographer:

Donna Ferrato was born June 5th 1949. She is still alive at 68 years old. She was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Ohio. She attended Garland Junior College in Boston. 

Photo #4

I chose this picture because it caught my eye since it is so up close to the subject. I was also interested in why this was such a revolutionary picture. This photo was taken in 1982 when there hadn't yet been much technological revolution. The person in this photo is a combination of six men and six women all in one. This was groundbreaking because, before then, photography was only good for recording the past, but because of Nancy Burson, the photographer, people could "predict the future" in the sense that they could predict how someone might look rather than the way they look now. In my additional reading, I learned that Nancy Burson's discovery helped find a missing boy, Etan Patz. He disappeared when he was young. Nancy altered a photo they had of him to see what he would look like when he was a couple years older. Because of that photo, they found him. 

This photo is also a digitally altered photo by Nancy Burson.

About the Photographer:

Nancy Burson was born in 1948 and is still alive. She was a professor at Harvard.

Photo #5:

I picked this image because it stood out against the other photos because of the element of simplicity shown by the photographer, Co Rentmeester. This photo is one of the most iconic silhouettes ever photographed. This outline has since been used for an entire brand, "Air Nike", which uses this outline on the sides of the shoes. I also learned that the photographer, Rentmeester, has tried to sue Nike for copyright infringement because of the similarity of the outline they've used on their shoes.

This image is also by Co Rentmeester. Obviously, this photo is quite different than his Michael Jordan photo.

About the Photographer: 

Co Rentmeester was born in 1936 in Amsterdam and is still alive at 81 years old. He moved to the United States and went to college at The Art Center College in Los Angeles for Photography.