10 Viral Photos That Will Become Iconic In The Next 50 Years
This World Photography Day, here are 10 photos from the last few years already on their way to becoming iconic.
There are iconic photographs we’ve all seen: the Amerian soldier kissing a girl in Times Square, a lone Chinese man protesting in front of a row of tanks in Tiananmen Square, 1989, a prisoner at Abu Gharib and the list goes on.
But there’s something to be said about photographs that now go viral on social media: the process of public distribution has become instantaneous and the verdict on whether a photo is iconic or significantly symbolic in any way is instantaneous.
This World Photography Day, here are 10 photos from the last five years, from among a pool of others, which especially captured the attention of millions on social media and are well on their way to becoming iconic repositories of history.
The image of 5-year-old Omar Daqneesh in shock, as he sits dazed and silent in an ambulance after an airstrike in Aleppo on Wednesday, 17 August 2016. The image went viral within hours as it captured the horror of the continuing Russian attacks on the people of Syria.
This photograph of Usain Bolt looking at the photo gallery with a big smile, leaving his as he goes on to win the semifinal for the 100-meter dash before winning a record third Olympic gold medal in the event in August 2016. Bolt has become an icon, a phenomenon and this photograph captures that in a split second.
This photograph was captured in Baton Rouge during the nationwide violent protests against the arbitrary killing of black people by police forces in the USA. A protestor, Lishia Evans, is stands in peaceful resistance in front of two riot control police advancing towards her in Louisiana on 9 July, 2016.
The photograph of Ms Chaphekar, (right) an Indian air stewardess, lying injured at the airport caused a stir. Not only did it capture the devastation caused by the Brussels terror attack in March 2016, thousands debated the ethics of publishing this photograph at a clearly vulnerable moment.
An image of Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old refugee who drowned off Turkey’s Bodrum coast in September 2015 became iconic and went viral in a matter of hours. The heart-breaking image shook the masses into protests against the fatalities of illegal immigration.
4-year-old Hudea raises her hands in surrender, as Osman Sağırlı points his camera at her. The image was taken at the Atmeh refugee camp, Syria, in 2012, and went viral when it was shared on Twitter in March 2015. It’s an image which captures the destruction of innocence in the wake of the Syrian crisis.
The jury is split on this one. This photograph of celebrity Kim Kardashian on Paper Mag’s Winter 2014 issue went viral on the internet in an attempt to ‘break it’. Though, some say this photograph is like the current-day version of the famous Marilyn Monroe’s white dress photograph.
This selfie clicked by Ellen DeGeneres during the 2014 Oscars is the most retweeted picture on Twitter and is valued for between $800 million and $1 billion dollars based on its popularity. The photo received 1,30,000 retweets in less than an hour.
During one of his first public appearances after becoming pontiff in 2013, Pope Francis blesses a man troubled with a genetic disease. This photograph was widely shared across the world as a symbol of peace and love.
The Getty Images photo which travelled all over the world, featured Scott Jones trying to comfort his girlfriend Alex Thomas as they were surrounded by police forces during the Vancouver riots in 2011.
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