Favourite Historic Image

[Hexavalent]

One can interpret "Historic" in several different ways:

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce : generally considered to be the first "photograph".



A photograph depicting an event that forever changed the world:



Neither of these are "pretty" by any means, but are of profound historical significance.

 

[winger]

The OP asked for our favorite historical image. I think this or another by her might be mine - http://www.geh.org/fm/cunningham/htmlsrc/m197707600063_ful.html#topofimage

I do like a large number of Weston's as well, though.

 

[zsas]

He looks as if he is wearing a period disguise while he is checking his communicator to see when the wormhole is going to open. Every time I pull it out of its storage box I wonder if he will still be in the photo.

I love this story!

 

[smieglitz]

George Seeley's "Firefly"

http://www.geh.org/taschen/htmlsrc15/m197807080008_ful.html

 

[charlief64]

Ansel Adams Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941

http://www.afterimagegallery.com/featureadams.htm

 

[Two23]

Being a "train" guy, and also a user of very early lenses, my vote is for Andrew J. Russell's photo of the driving of the golden spike.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...=fvL_Tp-AOYmIgwf6oryQAg&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQ9QEwAw


Kent in SD

 

[EASmithV]

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Here's a favorite that I wrote about on my blog - Dead Link Removed

It's a CDV by Alexander Gardner. I suspect it was taken by the master himself, and not just one of his studio assistants, because of the compositional skill - everyone's face is looking a different direction, and the head clamp stand is off in the corner, conspicuously, as if to call attention to the fact that it wasn't needed.

 

[lxdude]

Why were they in jail?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

That's just a window in the studio, not prison bars

 

[lxdude]

Are you sure? I mean, were you there?

'Course, it looks like most of them weren't there either.

 

[Marc B.]

Ditto the "Golden Spike" at Promontory Point/Summit.
H.S.Truman holding the "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline comes to mind.
The flag raising by U.S.Marines on Mt. Suribachi, on the isle of Iwo Jima, WWII.
Many of the several images from the U.S.Civil War in the 1860's. Not the dawn of photography, but pre-Kodak.

 

[JohnMeadows]

My favourite is this image by W. Eugene Smith:

http://www.pixiq.com/article/minamata

Heartbreaking, personal, and universal all at the same time.

 

[hoffy]

many things by atget... some pictorialist things but

ok, not as famous, or even well crafted, or historically significant,
but one of mine is this image of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it
implies a lot about the modern industrial world, to me at least...

View attachment 43601

I was thinking of that one as well, not because of the artistry of the picture, but more about what it is showing. Relatively new technology, depicting one of the greatest engineers of all time (and certainly his era).

I am suprised that no one has mentioned Capa's Omaha beach shot. That would have to be one of the strongest historical images in my mind.

 

[Vaughn]

Took me awhile to find an online copy. And the link below mislabels it as being in Yosemite Valley! Other images of this I have found on the net are a cropped version. The titles given it seem to be all over the place.

http://images.rgs.org/imageDetails.aspx?barcode=16087

Carleton Watkins' image of two locomotives and carriages stopped at Cape Horn above the American River, California. I grew up with a print of this always on the wall -- fortunately it was hung for years in a long dark hallway. It is about 16x20, mammoth plate, and I still own it. Next time I re-mat my copy, I'll have to photograph it. I put it and its companion on the walls every once in a while.

Vaughn

 

[tomalophicon]

Pelletan by Nadar. Apparently made around 160 years ago. Amazing.

 

[X. Phot.]

A couple three from the collection. These might be considered historically significant, if only for the scarcity of finished signed works by either photographer. Lange has demonstrated that she was an outstanding Pictorialist, early on.

1. Dorothea Lange 1921
2. Dorothea Lange 1921
3. Olive. M. Potts - Philadelphia. She can be found listed as Associate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo-Secession

This is one of the few opportunities I'm given to display images of these works. So, enjoy.

 

[removed-user-1]

Tough to pick just one "historic" image but my vote goes to Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on V-J Day, August 14, 1945.

 

[keithwms]

Now that I think of it, Lange's Migrant Mother comes to mind...

 

[holmburgers]

A lot of amazing pictures...

Here's my pick for historically signficant.

Some of the (if not the) earliest color photographs by Louis Ducos Du Hauron

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Duhauron1877.jpg
Dead Link Removed

They look even better in person, in your hands...

 

[ajmiller]

I could look at this one for ages - fascinating photograph (daguerreotype).

"Boulevard du Temple", taken by Daguerre in 1838 in Paris.

 

[X. Phot.]

A sampling of some albumen prints I've been able to put together, these being of more interest. I have not taken the time to accurately date them, but my guess is 1870 to 1890, somewhere right in there.

Once downloaded, clicking on them again may be required to see the largest version (~1366 pixies wide).

1. Jean Gilletta - Nice - Jette Promenade - 10.5"x8"
2. ?? - Firenze - Piazza di S. Maria Novella - 9.75"x7.25"
3. ?? - Firenze - Ponte Vecchio - Taddeo Gaddi - 9.5"x7.25"
4. Edizioni Brogi - Milano - Piazza della Scala col Monumento a Leonardo - 9.75"x7.5"
5. X. Phot. - Paris - L'Avenue des Champs-Élysées - 10.5"x8.25"
6. X. Phot. - Paris - La Place de la Concorde - 10.75"x8"

 

[tom_micklin]

This one from Clarence White

 

[dasBlute]

This one from Clarence White

Someone I know has a actual print of this, simply stunning
-Tim

 

[Edward_S]

I do like Atget's 'Organ Grinder':

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atget_organ_grinder.jpg

Quoting from a book of his photographs:

"...as John Fraser, author of an important essay on Atget remarked, 'the expression of radiant, exultant happiness and pride on the woman's face is unequalled by anything I can recall in art.' "