Long before Instagram, before the 24-hour news cycle, before the algorithm pulled the attention strings, there were photographers who walked into hell on earth with a camera and a commitment to truth. Some of these images changed policy. Some started movements. Some are so deeply embedded in collective memory that you already know them before you see them.
Here are ten of the most important photojournalism images of the past century — what they captured, why they matter, and what they cost the people who made them.
For current work in this tradition, read our companion piece: The 2025 World Press Photo Awards.
1. Migrant Mother (1936) — Dorothea Lange
Taken in a pea-pickers’ camp in Nipomo, California, during the Great Depression, Lange’s portrait of Florence Owens Thompson — a 32-year-old mother of seven, exhausted and hollow-eyed, children burying their faces in her shoulders — became the defining image of the Depression era. Published in newspapers across the country, it prompted emergency food aid to be sent to the camp within days. Thompson herself remained largely uncredited and received nothing from the photograph’s widespread use for most of her life. The image is in the public domain and belongs to all of us.
Apparel in this spirit: Depression-era labor movement prints, New Deal-era graphic art, and “workers of the world” imagery from independent artists. Look for union-made apparel with vintage labor movement aesthetics.
2. The Falling Soldier (1936) — Robert Capa
Taken during the Spanish Civil War, Capa’s image of a Republican soldier at the apparent moment of being shot — arms flung back, body falling — became one of the most reproduced war photographs in history and one of the most debated. Its authenticity has been questioned for decades. What’s not in question is what it did: it put a human face on a conflict that much of the world wanted to ignore, and it established the template for frontline war photography that still defines the genre.
Apparel in this spirit: Anti-fascist apparel — ANTIFA-derived graphic art, Spanish Civil War imagery in the public domain, “No Pasarán” prints from independent political artists.
3. The Decisive Moment — Henri Cartier-Bresson (1930s–1950s)
Cartier-Bresson didn’t take one iconic image — he took hundreds, across decades, across continents. His philosophy of the “decisive moment” — the split second when composition, light, and meaning align — defined modern photojournalism. His images of post-war Europe, Gandhi’s funeral, the liberation of Paris, and everyday life in China, Mexico, and the American South constitute one of the most important bodies of work in the history of the medium.
Apparel in this spirit: Photography culture tees, darkroom-era aesthetics, and “shoot film” apparel from independent camera culture artists on Redbubble.
4. Napalm Girl (1972) — attributed to Nick Ut
Nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phúc, naked, screaming, running toward the camera after a napalm attack on her village in South Vietnam. The photographer traditionally credited — AP photojournalist Nick Ut — put his camera down after taking the shot and drove her to the hospital. She survived. The image contributed significantly to turning American public opinion against the Vietnam War.
However, the attribution has been seriously contested. In 2023, a BBC investigation raised substantial doubt about whether Ut actually took the photograph, pointing to evidence that it may have been taken by Vietnamese photographer Nguyen Thanh Nghe, who was also present at the scene that day and has laid claim to the image. AP has defended Ut’s credit, but the investigation prompted a wider conversation about how photojournalism’s history has sometimes credited Western wire agency photographers over local ones who were doing the same work, in the same place, at the same moment — and whose names history quietly dropped.
Whoever pressed the shutter, the image changed the world. That the question of credit remains unresolved is its own kind of story.
Apparel in this spirit: Anti-war apparel, Vietnam-era peace movement artwork, and “War Is Not the Answer” prints. The peace symbol remains the most universally recognized activist symbol on earth.
5. The Man in Front of the Tank, Tiananmen Square (1989) — Multiple photographers
On June 5, 1989, an unidentified man stepped in front of a column of tanks moving through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the day after the Chinese government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. He was photographed simultaneously by at least four photojournalists from hotel windows above the square. His identity has never been confirmed. The image is banned in China to this day.
Apparel in this spirit: Pro-democracy and human rights apparel, Chinese dissident art prints, and Tiananmen-era imagery from independent artists. Look for artists based in the Chinese diaspora for the most authentic work.
6. The Vulture and the Little Girl (1993) — Kevin Carter
South African photojournalist Kevin Carter photographed a skeletal Sudanese toddler collapsed on the ground while a vulture waited nearby during the 1993 famine. Published in The New York Times, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. It also destroyed Carter — the public’s response to the image, demanding to know what happened to the child (she survived, barely) and attacking Carter for not intervening, contributed to a severe depression. He died by suicide three months after receiving the Pulitzer, aged 33.
Apparel in this spirit: Famine relief and African aid organization apparel, anti-hunger movement prints, and “Feed the World” artwork — look specifically for artists donating proceeds to World Food Programme or Action Against Hunger.
7. Earthrise (1968) — William Anders
Taken from Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968, Anders’ photograph of the Earth rising over the lunar surface is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. Seeing the planet as a single, fragile object suspended in darkness — what the astronauts called the “overview effect” — made the case for environmental protection more powerfully than any written argument. It directly influenced the first Earth Day in 1970 and the creation of the EPA.
Apparel in this spirit: Climate activism and environmentalist apparel. “There Is No Planet B” prints, earthrise-inspired artwork, and indigenous land rights imagery from independent artists.
8. The Burning Monk (1963) — Malcolm Browne
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc sat down at a busy Saigon intersection, was doused in petrol by fellow monks, and self-immolated in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam’s Diem government. Malcolm Browne’s photograph ran on the front page of newspapers worldwide the next day. President Kennedy reportedly said it was the most horrifying image he had ever seen. The Diem government fell within months.
Apparel in this spirit: Buddhist peace activist apparel, Tibetan freedom prints, and “another world is possible” artwork from independent artists.
9. Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (1945) — Joe Rosenthal
Six US Marines raise the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Rosenthal’s photograph became one of the most reproduced images in history, was used on a postage stamp, and formed the basis of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington. It also raises enduring questions about photojournalism’s relationship with propaganda — the image depicted a flag replacement rather than the original raising, though the battle and its costs were absolutely real.
Apparel in this spirit: Veterans’ rights apparel, anti-war imagery, and “war is a racket” prints — drawn from Major General Smedley Butler’s famous anti-militarist speech, a perennial favorite among independent political artists.
10. Alan Kurdi (2015) — Nilufer Demir
The photograph of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean along with his mother and brother when their boat capsized attempting to reach Greece, was published on September 2, 2015. Within 24 hours, it had been seen by an estimated 20 million people. It prompted immediate pledges of increased refugee intake from Canada, Germany, and the UK, and remains the most potent single image of the European refugee crisis.
Apparel in this spirit: Refugee solidarity apparel — “Refugees Welcome” prints, Mediterranean rescue awareness artwork, and imagery supporting the UNHCR. Banksy’s own Louise Michel rescue boat, featured in our piece on his activism, operates in exactly this space.
Photography doesn’t start revolutions on its own. But it has, repeatedly, captured moments impossible to look away from — and that’s where change begins. These photographers gave everything to make sure you couldn’t scroll past.
SHOP THE RESISTANCE
The photographers in this piece gave everything to bear witness. Below, independent artists whose work carries the same conviction — protest prints, activist apparel, and gear for people who haven’t forgotten. Every purchase goes directly to a creator.
Labor & Anti-War
- Vintage Labor Movement Prints — Union-made aesthetic artwork
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- “War Is Not the Answer” Peace Movement Tees
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- Anti-Fascist “No Pasaran” Prints
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Human Rights & Refugee Solidarity
- “Refugees Welcome” Solidarity Tees
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- “Will Trade Racists for Refugees” Shirt
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- Mediterranean Rescue Awareness Apparel
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Climate & Environmental Justice
- “There Is No Planet B” Climate Activism Tee
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- Indigenous Land Rights Artwork
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Pro-Democracy & Free Speech
- Human Rights Activist Art Prints
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- Browse full protest art collection
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All links go to independent artists on Redbubble. We earn a small affiliate commission if you buy — at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure [here].
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