Photos That Changed the World

by Peter Stepan

The past 100 years was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of mankind. For the first time, the technology existed to allow the events that shaped the century to be recorded and relayed around the globe at increasing speeds. The most impactful photographs ever taken have been selected for this volume. Together they provide a map of the events - from the epic to the intimate, the heroic to the barbaric - that literally changed our world.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, History

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2000

Reviews

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some pictures are real, some recreated in order to be aesthetically better. Nevertheless more drama, more violence (Vietnam, Tutsi) but also pictures of hope (USA moon landing). I didn't know that 90 years ago, USA had child labour, so one can learn a lot by watching classical pictures. My best? Ghadi and his spinning wheel.

[Rgoldenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this oversized catalog of some of the more famous pictures in the history of photo-journalism. The editor not only presents the historical background and significance of each photograph, but offers the reader a compositional analysis as well. One can learn a great deal about history from this book.

[Iris P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my unlikely favourite, for the sense of tranquility, is Portrait of Einstein, by Yousuf Karsh (1948, Princeton, New Jersey). The AIDS Memorial Quilt by Paul Margolies (October 11, 1996, Washington, D.C.) was... hard to describe. I guess it stays in my mind, being the last image in the collection, and it having taken me so long to finish going through the book, which I read from front to end.

[Kricket · Rating 4 out of 5]

sort of a coffee-table book of influential photographs from the last century, with interesting background info. i bumped into it at work and spent a lunch hour feasting my eyes. amazing and horrifying.

[Steven Mahlburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure that they were all "world changing" photos. Some made you stop and think. Some were merely interesting. A great deal of them are familiar photos. Some of the oldest ones were the most interesting to me.

[Tom Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously not much to read in this one but a collection of amazing photos that are icons of that last century or so. This book was a major influence in my life in linking art with life and politics.