Demi Moore
Annie Leibovitz
1991 This uncommon image by Annie Leibovitz captured Demi Moore as she was 7 months pregnant with her second child. At the time, pregnancy was not seen as beauty and it was something to be ashamed of but once this image was in the media, it surprised many and changed perspectives. Demi Moore was seen as brave for her actions as she showed pregnancy is both empowering and sexy. This picture was controversial as it sexualizes pregnancy but this single idea changed the world's culture and broke stereotypes. Pregnancy is a beautiful concept and Annie Leibovitz along with Demi Moore set a wonderful example to the world. This is a stunning image that captures the strength of women. This image caught my attention as it portrays the beauty of life despite the rest of the world's opinion. This image deserves to be in the 100 most influential photos since it symbolizes the resilience of women. Society labeled creating life as something that should be private instead of celebrating it and these women helped change that mentality. |
Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter
Robert Mapplethorpe
1979 Homosexuality was not accepted at this time but Robert Mapplethorpe continued to celebrate gay sexuality through his art. He spent 10 years photographing lives that were unable to express their love. In this image, both Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter and wearing submissive leather outfits with chains. The setting is in a rather common living room as a way to show society that this relationship is no different than the ones they accept. This image allowed many other artists to take pride in exploring gay life. This image is very powerful without having any knowledge on the artist or concept. The message that Robert Mapplethorpe is portraying is clear. It is clear that the goal of this image is to normalize homosexuality as it is no difference from heterosexuality. Mapplethorpe took a common living space that Americans were familiar to add normality to something they did not accept. This image made a great impact and broke barriers for many. I believe this image deserves to be in the 100 most influential images since it helped changed perspectives and helped break stereotypes. |
Behind Closed Doors
Donna Ferrato
1982 In this image, Garth cornered his wife Lisa and beat her. This situation is not uncommon but it often happens in private. The significance of this photo is that Donna Ferrato was present in the room with them. As a photographer, she knew witnessing was not enough so she capture this image. To promote awareness on domestic-violence she wanted this image to spark conversations and make a change. Despite magazine editors declining her idea, she published them herself in her book, Living With the Enemy. She then went onto educating herself by visiting women's shelters and police stations. Her determination helped bring light to this ongoing issue which lead to the Congress passing the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. Since Donna Ferrato stood up for those in dangerous and unhealthy situations, private situations now have the attention of the public. This image speaks great volume as it is a look into this woman's everyday life. It shows that domestic abuse is everywhere both in public and in private. It is incredibly powerful that Donna took a huge problem into her own hands and was determined to help those that are unable to use their voice. This is an emotional photo that is bound to catch society's attention and spark conversations. I find it is important for this image to be one of the top in the world as it promotes awareness for abuse that could be happening around us without us knowing. Donna made a bold decision that saved many lives. |
Albino Boy, Biafra
Don McCullin
1969 Photographer, Don McCullin witnessed this young orphan dying from starvation in Biafra, a western nation of Africa. Despite this young boy being of awful health, he was a victim of ostracism from his friends. As a photographer is understood that the rest of the world hears of crisis through images as are they are often more powerful than words. Once these images reached governments and people of high power, they were pressured to take action. As human necessities such as food and medicine were flown over, the creation of Doctors Without Borders took place. It is powerful that Don McCullin used his understanding of society to changed their perspectives. He wanted to bring awareness by making people who possess power to feel poorly for people in crucial need. It is extremely upsetting that this method is the way to make others take action, but in the end it resulted in the launch of an amazing organization. This situation proves that images are really more powerful than words as this photo promotes the want and need for change. I have a hard time looking at this image because you can see the emotion and pain this child is feeling and to think that he is being insulted is awful. No one should have to live in conditions such as these and now that there is more awareness, changes can be made and lives can be saved. For these reasons, it is important for this image to be one of the top in the world. |
The Falling Man
Richard Drew
2001 Richard Drew started to take images right after the attack on September 11, 2001. As the buildings were burning, he started to see people falling out of the building. It was published in newspapers after the attack but received hate as it is difficult to understand and overall morbid. It depicts a man falling to his death out of a skyscraper during one of the worst attacks in history. This image speaks loudly that humankind is capable of horrendous actions. This was the first time I saw this image and the first time I was a person in this attack that was not a firefighter. It upsets me to know that people in this world go to great lengths to cause suffering, grief and death. People decided and thoroughly planned this attack which caused people to lose family and caused people to take their own life before they died in the fire. This image has a sense of silence as if the world is paused as the man is falling although that is far from what was happening. The word sonder comes into my mind when looking at this image, the understanding that this man along with thousands of others had their own lives and aspirations they were living through. This image is very powerful for countless reason and should be top in the world for these reasons. It shows that a single human is able to change the lives of the entire word. |
You are cared for.