Iconic Images Of Photography: Starving Child and Vulture, Kevin Carter, 1993
The most haunting image on the most iconic images of photography, Kevin Carter captured the devastating famine in Sudan with a photograph of a toddler crawling to a UN feeding center while a vulture stalks her as prey. Carter won a Pulitzer Prize for his work but received harsh criticism for both the photograph and for not helping the child. A year later, gripped by the devastation and depression he had seen, Carter committed suicide.
Murder of Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief, Eddie Adams, 1968
This powerful photograph shows General Nguyen Ngoc Loan of the South Vietnamese Army about to kill the captain of a Vietcong squad at point-blank range. The photograph came to symbolize the brutality and harsh reality of the Vietnam War that was often shielded from Americans in the media and galvanized a worldwide anti-war movement.
Cottingley Fairies, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, 1917
The Cottingley Fairies was an elaborate hoax concocted by two British girls, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, that involved a series of five photographs showing the girls next to supposed fairies. When the photographs were first developed, many were convinced that these photographs were proof of fairies.
It wasn’t until 1983 that the girls admitted that the photos were fakes and the fairies were created using cardboards. While these images of fairies may seem like a trivial inclusion, the iconic photos confounded people for decades, raising significant debate and outlining the significance and potential hazards of the ability to manipulate images.
