100 Photos that Changed the World

LIFE: 100 Photographs That Changed The World is a collection of photographs accumulated by the editors of LIFE.

The project began with an on-line question posted on Life's website and The Digital Journalist: Can photographs create the same historical effect as literature? Based on the responses, the editors compiled 100 photographs that they felt portrayed technological photographic achievements, documentation of historic events and accomplishments, or have achieved iconic cultural and symbolic status. The book was edited by Robert Sullivan, and published by Time Inc. Home Entertainment, New York, New York, in 2003. ISBN 1-931933-84-7 The work is divided into four major chapters and three accompanying subsections. The major quarters: The Arts (concentrating on photography’s evolution throughout the 19th Century, and its later application to cultural exploitation); Society (documenting images that captured moments that shifted public acquaintance with political, social, cultural, and environmental issues); War (pivotal moments of conflict and associated violence); and Science and Nature (capturing technological triumphs, defeats, and horrors). The three subsections: Photographic Art (early works of artists whose primary medium was photography); Trick Photography (infamous scams perpetrated through photographs); and Stop Action (photos that are in fact captures taken from film).

Some of the included photos are identified with larger events, such as H.S. Wong’s 1937 photograph of a lone child crying at a demolished train station on "Bloody Saturday" as representative of the entire bombing of Shanghai. Other photographs are excerpts from larger historic collections, such as Roger Fenton's and Alexander Gardner's respective groundbreaking documentations of the Crimean War and American Civil War. Margin notes document the circumstantial background of many photographs, as well as instances where the images have been accused of being staged.

External links

* [http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm_index.html 100 Photos that Changed the World by LIFE]