16 Of The Most Powerful Photos Ever Taken in History

Pictures can be powerful mediums of depicting a situation because as they say a picture speaks a thousand words. Since the time of photography, photos vintage and new have spoken out to us  conjuring up emotions that make us feel an event or an incident even though on celluloid. Current events, disasters, moments of joy, happiness and sadness can all be described through a photo shot at the precise moment freezing it in a game. One also needs to give credit to the excellent photographers who have given us some of the most powerful pictures in history. Here are 16 such photos that have stood the test of time as the most famous photos in past and recent history.

1The only war survivor of a unit

Belarus Konstantin Pronin was 86 when this photo was taken. A World War II veteran, he would come every year to Moscow to participate in the parade along with his mates. But on May 9th 2011, He was seen sitting in Gorky Park alone waiting for them to turn up but none showed up and they were presumably deceased. Pronin was the only surviving member of his unit.

Belarus Konstantin Pronin The only war survivor of a unit

2The crying veteran marching alone

Like Pronin, this photo was taken during the victory day parade in St Petersburg Russia in 2007. It showed a WWII veteran walking alone in the wiping tears from his eyes. The picture was a powerful one that became viral over the internet. Later major tabloids found that the picture was taken by photographer Aleksandr Petrosyan but he was unable to identify who the man was as he had randomly clicked the photo. The identity of the crying man is still a mystery.

The crying veteran marching alone

3Girl devastated during Tsunami tragedy in Japan

The Massive Tsunami that devastated Japan shocked people worldwide as what seemed to be a disaster movie unfolded on news across the world. The devastation was vast and unimaginable where many photos like these aptly summed up the Heart wrenching tragedy.

This photo of Akane Ito 29 became a symbol of the cruel disaster. Ito had just gone out to buy batteries and emergency supplies after the magnitude 9 earthquake struck Japan. She left her 10 pet dogs in her second floor apartment but when she returned the tsunami had destroyed the building whose rubble can be seen behind her. She was reunited with two of her dogs in the next few weeks but never ever found the others.

Girl devastated during Tsunami tragedy in Japan