Power of a Photograph

A click of the shutter is only what pauses the physical ephemeral world around us. To show the world what we JUST saw, is incredible! Perhaps, a photograph so powerful that it could change the world, make the viewer stop for a while and think; travel back in time to re-live it or push it forward in time to bring a change or just stay still in time to admire it. These 10 photographs simply steal the show.

1 The One when the World became a small place

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]1[if supportFields]><![endif] The One when the World became a small place

Starting off with a mere 120 feet coverage, 20 feet off the ground, the Wright brothers changed the course of history with the first ever successful flight in December 1903. As we now live the Wright brothers’ dream, all it takes is a ticket to go out and venture into the world.

Captured by the photographer John Thomas Daniels, this was the only photo that stood out of all the blurry pictures taken because he couldn’t squeeze the bulb that triggered the shutter as he stood there in awe and bewilderment that man has successfully realized how to “fly”!

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]2[if supportFields]><![endif] The One created fear thereafter.

Days after the twin towers were brought down, a cloud of dust silhouetted its powerful presence as a remembrance of September 11, 2001; a day satiated with horrors and heroism. Does it end there? No. Its reactions sprouted gruesome wars in the middle east creating colossal amount of refugees and countries that are now nothing but just rubble stained with blood.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]3[if supportFields]><![endif]. The One where it took a Princess to teach us that it’s okay to touch them

It is true that Princess Diana reigned the hearts of multitudes. A rare photograph, yet incredibly touching, of Princess Diana making a courageous move to shake hands with people suffering from AIDS. So powerful was this picture that it changed the concrete mindset of world that considered patients with AIDS, untouchables. Her gesture showed that there should be nothing stopping us from showing love to people who are suffering and are closer to their end.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]4[if supportFields]><![endif]. The One With the comical pose of the genius!

Taken in 1951, right after his 72nd birthday party, exhausted Sir Albert Einsten was requested to smile for one last photograph before he called it a night. He stuck his tongue out! An iconic picture of a legendary scientist. His theories are unfathomable and baffles us all still today.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]5[if supportFields]><![endif] The One With our home away from home.

We could get used to seeing the sun rise right out of the window, or climb up altitudes to get the perfect viewpoint of the sun rise or maybe even roll up the shutters while flying to catch a glimpse of the first rays. But how often is it that we get to our earth rise? Clicked by the astronauts of the first manned Apollo mission to the lunar orbit, this picture captures the tranquility of our beautiful planet against the pitch black ocean of the endless space beyond.

[if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt; line-height:107%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]6[if supportFields]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-no-proof:yes'><![endif]. The One where neither your children nor the sky are the limits!

This working mother decided to “drive” away into the space! Being a role model to many women and mothers, superbly determined Anna Lee Fischer was among the first women astronauts working for NASA in 1978 and then again in 1984, when she boarded on the space shuttle discovery being the first mother in space.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]7[if supportFields]><![endif]. The One that showed the ultimate miracle

Lennart Nilson, photographer who changed the way of looking through the lens. In 1965, using his background as a scientist, he devised the miraculous endoscopes to photograph human blood vessels. Famously captioned as ‘how life begins’, his photograph religiously justifies the marvel of how human life is created.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]8[if supportFields]><![endif] The One when we become ashamed of our race.

Nature’s fury is inevitable. It lashes onto us taking away many. But we start to realise how benign it is, the moment we compare it to the fury of man. Perhaps, his greed? This famous photograph was taken during the ravaging seal hunting season in Canada. Taken just before a baby seal was ruthlessly beaten to its death in the presence of its mother. Killing seals for its fur is still legal in parts of Canada, although after repeated protests, the hunting of baby seals have been forbidden.

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]9[if supportFields]><![endif] The One that restores faith.

There is still the shining ray of hope through the cracks of humanity. Care worker Anja Ringgren Loven found a malnourished ,scrawny toddler in the streets of Nigeria, shunned by the neighbourhood and called a ‘witch’. Knowing that the toddler wouldn’t survive another day if left on the streets, Anja rescued him. Following which, he has recovered to a healthy little boy!

[if supportFields]> SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <![endif]10[if supportFields]><![endif] The One Where we should change our camera because it looks like a gun!

Treated unfairly, their childhood is snatched away. Adi, a traumatized girl living in the rubble of the war torn Syria mistook the long lens of the camera for a gun, raises her hands and is seen as whimpering in the picture. The world has changed. But we are not sure if it is still a better place for everyone alike.