4 Most Influential Photos of All Time to Inspire your Photography

by Grecy Charls Blogger

Photography has been around for close to two centuries now and boy have cameras changed? The quality of Instagram pics today is so much better than pics from the 60s and 70s. However, there are some shots from times long forgotten that have influenced society and the photography world significantly. If you are looking for inspiration for your free photo competitions submissions, these pics might just be what you need to see.

1. Latticed Window at Lacock Abbey- Henry Fox Talbot, 1835

Shot in August 1835 by Henry Fox Talbot, this photograph is the oldest existing camera negative. At about this period, photographs were ridiculously expensive and difficult to produce. So, Talbot created the calotype process which basically involved creating negatives that could then later be used to create several positives. It is only recently with the introduction of digital photography that negatives have basically ceased to exist. However, during Talbot’s time, producing negatives made photography so much cheaper and accessible to ordinary people. This is why the Latticed Window is a one of a kind pic. It was among the history-makers.

2. Hubble’s Extreme Deep Field Composite

The first image of the Hubble Deep Field image was taken about two decades ago. By pointing at a blank patch of sky and collecting single photons for days on end, the Hubble telescope was able to reveal what lies beyond. Farther than the human eye can see and way beyond what the human brain could conceive, in the vast cosmic abyss; billions upon billions of galaxies. This photograph is the mother of innumerable research studies. Thanks to this, more than 5,000 galaxies are now known to the human race and confidently named by scientists from around the globe. This photo revolutionized space exploration even farther. It has also inspired other space photos that have won been a subject of discussion in photo competitions like the Pale Blue Dot.

3. Earthrise' by William Anders, 1968

Wilderness photographer, Galen Rowell describes Earthrise as one of “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken”. Another author characterized its appearance as the beginning of the environmental movement. It is a subject of a lot of inspiration to a lot of wildlife photo competitions. Years after taking the photo William Anders observed “we set out to explore the moon but instead rediscovered earth.”

4. Death of Alan Kurdi- Nilüfer Demir, 2015

Alan Kurdi was a three year old Syrian boy of Kurdish descent whose image made global headlines. This was after he drowned on 2^nd September in the Mediterranean Sea near Bodrum, Turkey. His family members were Syrian refugees who were trying to reach Europe during the European refugee crisis. This photograph of his body was taken by Turkish Journalist Nilüfer Demir and spread across the world and prompted immediate international responses and even became an issue in the Canadian Federal Election. The photo also raised the amount of money charities helping migrants and refugees.

Photos can be a tool of inspiration to many people. They have changed people’s views regarding earth and space, and policy actions. You can influence the way people view different things you care about by getting into free photo competitions.