1957. The first day of Dorothy Counts at the Harry Harding High School in the United States . Counts was one of the first black students admitted in the school, and she was no longer able to stand the harassments after 4 days. Related : More on this
January 12, 1960. A second before the Japanese Socialist Party leader Asanuma was murdered by an opponent student.
Photo Credits: Yasushi Nagao, Japan, Mainichi Shimbun
1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam , burns himself to death protesting the government’s torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound or moved while he was burning. Photo Credits:Malcolm W. Browne,The Associated Press.
1962. A soldier shot by a sniper hangs onto a priest in his last moments. Puerto Cabello naval base, Venezuela, June 1962. A soldier who has been mortally wounded by a sniper clings onto navy chaplain Luis Padillo. Photo Credits:Héctor Rondón Lovera, Venezuela,Diario La República.
1965. Loc Thuong, Binh Dinh, South Vietnam, September 1965. Mother and children wade across river to escape US bombing. Photo Credits:Kyoichi Sawada, Japan, United Press International.
1966. Tan Binh, South Vietnam, 24 February 1966. American troops drag the body of a Viet Cong soldier to be buried. Photo Credit: Kyoichi Sawada, Japan, United Press International.
February 1, 1968. South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shots a young man, whom he suspects to be a Viet Kong soldier. Photo Credits: Eddie Adams, USA, The Associated Press.
1972. Trangbang, South Vietnam, 8 June 1972. Phan Thi Kim Phuc (center) flees from the scene where South Vietnamese planes have mistakenly dropped napalm. Photo Credit: (Nick) Ut Cong Huynh, Vietnam, The Associated Press.
1973. A few seconds before Chile ‘s elected president Salvador Allende is dead during the coup. Photo: NYT 
1975. Boston, USA, 22 July 1975. A woman and a girl are hurled down as the fire escape of their apartment building collapses. Photo Credits: Stanley Forman, USA, The Boston Herald.
April 1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger with a missionary.Karamoja district, Uganda. Photo Credits: Mike 
Wells, United Kingdom.
February 23, 1981. Colonel Molina ve military police seizes the Parliament building in Spain . The photographer did not expect the scene, and hid the films in his shoe. Photo Credits: Manuel Pérez Barriopedro, Spain, Agencia EFE. 
1982. Palestinian refugees murdered in Beirut , Lebanon . Photo Credits: Robin Moyer, USA 
1987. A mother in South Korea apologizes and asks for forgiveness for her son who was arrested after attending a protest. He was protesting the alleged manipulations in the general elections. Photo Credits: Anthony Suau, USA, Black 
1989. Beijing, China, 4 June 1989. A demonstrator confronts a line of People’s Liberation Army tanks during Tiananmen Square demonstrations for democratic reform. Photo Credits: Charlie Cole, USA, Newsweek. 
1992, November. Bardera, Somalia. Mother lifts up the body of her child, a famine victim, to bring it to the grave.. Photo
Credit: James Nachtwey, USA, Magnum Photos, USA for Libération, France.
1994. Rwanda. Hutu man mutilated by the Hutu ‘Interahamwe’ militia, who suspected him of sympathizing with the Tutsi rebels. Photo Credits: James Nachtwey, USA, Magnum Photos for Time.
1996. Kuito, Angola. Landmine victims in Kuito, a town where many people were killed and traumatized during the civil war. . Photo Credit:Francesco Zizola, Italy, Agenzia Contrasto.
2001. An Afghani refugee kid’s body is being prepared for the funeral in Pakistan . Photo Credits:Erik Refner, for Berlingske Tidende.Denmark,
2002. Soldiers and villagers in Iran are digging graves for the victims of the earthquake. A kid holds his father’s pants before he is buried. Photo Credits: Eric Grigorian, Armenia/USA, Polaris Images.
2003. An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child. Photo Credits: Jean-Marc Bouju, France, The Associated Press
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Vinod, this is a great collection of significant pictures. There is a lot of history behind each photo.
Thanks
These photos are horrifying.. they all hold such spectacular meaning.
heavy stuff…
Vietnam, not a Bomb but american napalm!!
No, the Viet Nam picture is of an errant SOUTH VIETNAMESE Airforce attack that hit civilians. True the weaponry was Napalm but not dropped by US Planes.
Great job trying to blame America. Why dont you show what the “other” governments of the world have done to their people. 900 million dead at the hands of governments other than USA.
Did you LOOK at the other pictures, na? There are pictures from tragic events all around the world. South Viet Nam. Chile. Uganda. Spain. Angola. Afghanistan. Pakistan. South Korea. Lebanon. Iran. Iraq. Somalia. And your comment is “great job trying to blame America?” Get your head out of your butt and try to have some compassion.
Made me cry. Especially: 1980, A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionaries and, 1994. A man who was tortured by the soldiers since he was suspected to have spoken with the Tutsi rebels. How can the human race do this to each other. Make Poverty History
an incredibly moving collection of photographs. the impact of a still image never ceases to amaze me. and as for the silly comments about blame and the US government… i agree with fernad… gain some perspective and take you heads out of your arses!
Amazing that ‘na’ would fixate on the few pictures about the US and claim the “blame America” foolishness. I’m a proud American and that thought never crossed my mind while looking at these pictures. Just compassion and sadness.
Na has his opinion and it’s valid. Such dramatic images will affect people in different ways.
So much grief and suffering! It’s all too human. So much hate, greed, intolerance, lust for power and self centeredness to bring it all about. Despite the images the more developed nations seem largely insular from this sad reality. Other daily problems fill our lives.
Bravo to the publisher for the reminder!
Wow.
Unfortunately, this pictures are the face of our real world.
It bothers me that these mostly world famous images aren’t credited to the photographers who made them .. come on guys .. it’s just rude . If it were a poem you’d credit the author wouldn’t you ..My guess is that a lot of those images involved a lot of risk and deserve some recognition .. Additionally: why such shoddy reproduction ? The pix have a lot more impact if properly reproduced ..
Ken, thanks. Shall add the credits once gathered correctly.
thanks for the Napalm correction.
Hi these photos are great indeed, however credits have been completely ignored here. Was it too much hassle to credit the photographers of these pictures, the majority being Magnum Photographers?
Wow….
I usually have a heart of stone. These photos were nasty… makes you feel bad about the human race in general.
Thanks for a reminder and eye-opener.
Nice assemblage of powerful images. I also would like to add my USD $.02 for not crediting the photographers, but what is even worse is the shoddy provenance of the images, such as “1962. A soldier shot by a sniper hangs onto a priest in his last moments” and “1975. A woman and a girl falling down after the fire escape collapses” say absolutely nothing about the history of the photo save for the date.
“South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shots(sic) a young man, whom he suspects to be a Viet Kong soldier.”
Wrong. There was no “suspicion”. The person he shot was confirmed to be part of a Viet Cong assassination squad that had earlier in the day targeted and killed South Vietnamese police officers and their families.
The photographer regretted taking the picture, later saying, “The guy was a hero. America should be crying. I just hate to see him go this way, without people knowing anything about him.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Ngoc_Loan
These photos make the viewer present to people operating in extreme circumstances and moments…some transpire in an instant, while others show the culmination of extensive neglect. These psychological and ontological occurances give us a glimpse into ourselves, and who we are for others in the matter of life.
Wow stunning powerful images…..
In the end even when we try to say that we are civilized, made “progress”, call ourselves human (as long as it not equated to “humaness”), this all still exists.
The question is not who killed who or why- the question here is Killing under whatever equations still exists, still causes harm, still leads to repercussions.
The years or who the photographer is not really important- seeing is enough that they have draw the attention of people to such horrific scenes- maybe that is all what the photographers were maybe trying to do- i would dread to be “credited” for such ” great” pictures.
All that would be needed is that people realise how sometimes not taking action or voicing your opinion, or not exercising your voting, can might be the cause somewhere. The flutter of the wings of a butterfly can cause an earthquake someplace so if we as a single human can take some action someplace- maybe such scenes would lessen- why blame govts – the blame squarely rest upon us all!
Real world pictures these, Fa is right in a way, the americans are behind most of the tragedies of war and struggles, their vested interests in oil,timber,and quest to pump in more and more arms to the various warring factions of numerous battles in Africa, mid east.
They conveniently ignore the blatant suppression of civil liberties by the Chinese on one hand while move in with war ships to topple governments with no visible evidence of wrong doings. They have most friendly ties with the Saudies who fund most of the terror world over, while keep a distance from legitimately elected peace loving governments. They ignore the military junta of Burma, while continue to block a small nation like Cuba because they do not agree with them. This is not the end wait the americans are not done yet!
These pictures are a reminder to human kind to stop and take a break, wait and watch carefully, slow things down and understand the disaster that is unfolding.
The planet is being raped please please join in to stop all this.
The inspiration for this post came from a ppt I received from a friend of mine last week. I claim no authorship towards this compilation or the literature on it.
@Robert
And exactly how was it ‘confirmed’ that he was part of the Viet Cong that carried out those executions. There was no trial, no evidence presented or kept on record. Your own linked source says that there is dispute over who the person is in the photo.
As for Loan being a hero, I know nothing about him outside of this photo so I have no real opinion on what type of person he was. The on thing I do know is that there is nothing heroic about shooting an unarmed, bound person in the head.
WoW that was an amazing insight into our history on this planet and all it shows is how damaging us humans really are!!! shame on us!!
I am deeply moved an disturbed by these photographs.
After seeing these pictures I cried for my home land: South Vietnam.
The human population is horrid for what they do to our own race.
I believe after seeing this we should all fight for human rights, world peace, and end of famine.
This is the real world, this is earth. Our home is full of beauty greater than we can ever imagine, as well, it’s home to some tragic times. These are moments captured we should all review. It’s part of the history of our home, Earth.
The fact that the USA was involved or allowed such things to happen, shames all Americans. We should not pretend moral superiority because other did worse. Do we judge ourselves by a standard of Hitler? Now I know why the aliens havened visited earth.Why bother….
this is an absolutely amazing collection of pictures you have here. Im almost in tears looking at some of them.
Thanks Sarah. I have a few more to share. Trying to figure out how to post them without any copyright issues here.
Fingers crossed.
the February 23, 1981 in Spain. It was not Coronel Molina, i dont know who this was, but Tenient Colonel Antonio Tejero.
i viewed the pictures, i read the comments…..all of them. i was filled with sadness with both. sadness that these things happened on this earth, for whatever the reasons…..that someone felt they had to go to that extreme for “their” cause….not matter what country they were from. i was also filled with sadness when i read the comments because to this day there are people who still have to criticize someones effort, people who think that their opinion is more important than some one else… this is the very basis of what starts the horror we see in the pictures. someone felt that what they believed was sooo much more important, more correct, more valid than someone else. it’s all just sad and it just keeps going.
i can’t say a word
it just kill my day
hope we find a way to stop all that shit
The video of many of these images ran on the nightly news when I was young, and it still runs inside my head when I see the photos. More than one Buddhist monk or nun burned to death, silent and unmoving in their protest, until they lost consciousness and fell over. The soldier shooting the bound prisoner pulls the trigger again and again, and the obnoxious white boys taunt the black schoolgirl endlessly in my memory. It’s all hideous, and somewhere, in some benighted place, the same evil, pointless things are happening all over again. Scrape off a few layers of civilization, and there are plenty of replacements for the vicious brutes who were behind these events, ready to do their worst, often with utmost relish. Only the names and the faces and the specific lies they use to excuse their brutality are different. But not much.
multiple symbols displayingthe essence of the human race. we are evil creatures
Humbled
Horrifying collection. The Iraqi POW shot is so, so tragic. Very moved.
Once we get past the knee-jerk. and in most cases, visceral reaction that these photos will cause – It should inspire us to seek the same truths and share them with the world. Regardless of false patriotisms or revisionist historians, we have a responsibility to ourselves and our children.
beautiful yet painful gallery… i’m praying for world peace and the evolution of human being’s consciousness tonight… good night
Vinod,
Thnaks for the pictures, though they show the cruelty of men.
:(
I am shocked as i haven’t seen them before.
It hurts just watching these pictures….
The world need to do something before more of these apear
I also find the Iraqi POW image so tragic. Mainly because I have a small daughter myself and also that it shows that nothing has happened over the years. We humans are still so very cruel to each other.
I would like to thank you for this graphic reminder of what the human race needs to leave behind. I myself am a proud american and veteran, I do not see anyone being blamed for anything other than humans showing our propensity for suffering. I believe that we all need these sort of reminders. To those who felt slighted by certain pictures, look beyond nationalities to see the suffering is universal. It will not end in nations. It can only end by humanity growing…… A mind is like a parachute it only functions when open!
Nice collection but…
Where are the Abu Ghraib photos???
Please blame America, I feel ashamed of being American.
Ofcourse everybody are bound to blame America for everything that goes wrong. I would.
“February 1, 1968. South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan shots a young man, whom he suspects to be a Viet Kong soldier. Photo Credits: Eddie Adams, USA, The Associated Press.”
It’s never mentioned that the man who was shot had tortured and killed hundreds of people and Nguyen Ngoc who shot him never got peace. The photographer apologized to him and his family for ruining his life.
“Oh My Lord”, God gave us “EARTH” to enjoy, to love and work to the best of our abilities. These picture are the prove of hate, betrayal, and anger. We are in a new Era, “STOP”. WE CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST, BUT WE CAN MAKE BETTER CHOICES IN THE FUTURE FOR OUR LITTLE ONES. It is time to reflect on what we can do to HELP and LOVE OTHERS. Let’s open our heart to JESUS and let him lead us with his WORD. HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP YOU UNCONDITIONALLY.
JESUS WENT THROUGH A LOT TOO, and he did it for us!!!! We need to be closer to him and learn about his word. I don’t go to church every sunday, but I see how sick and evil some people are. (I call it HUMAN DECAY)I want to look for my God. “PRAY WITH YOUR HEART AND HE WILL LISTEN”. WE NEED TO BE SPIRITUAL. THAT IS MY ANSWER. LOVE AND PEACE BE WITH YOU :)
All of these photos I have seen before but as I grow older, I feel them more than I used to. Is this the onset of old age or perhaps wisdom. The fact that I am angry at seeing them and that the overall response is one of outrage bodes well (I hope) for our future. Perhaps these images and others like them should be standard viewing for younger folk who, it would be hoped, will feel sick inside.
Touching, thought provoking, shocking reality – YES. Civilised – NO.
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