You can argue with the selections and the rankings in Vanity Fair's list of "the best 25 news photos." But there's no argument about how powerful these photographs remain.You can see the whole gallery here, and vote on rankings. Which do you like best? What do you think is missing?
A majority of these photographs have been deemed "best" of whatever for decades and rightfully so. There are likely another 25 that belong in the same category. I would always include W. Eugene Smith's Minamata mother and child in the bath, the Challenger explosion, Stanley Forman's photo of the black man being stabbed by a white man with an American flag, Bill Eppridge's coverage of Robert Kennedy's assassination, Coretta King at MLK's funeral,
ReplyDeletethe Berlin Wall coming down, and any number of 911 photos. Part of what gives credence to exemplary news photos is the context in which the picture was made and how it affected viewers opinions at the time. A few of the VF selections don't quite measure up. Also,
great photojournalists are making equally dynamic and historical photos every day; it's just getting harder of the general public to see them. Callie Shell, Time magazine photographer, is documenting Barack Obama's presidential campaign and these fine images are already incredibly historical. http://digitaljournalist.org/ The top 25 should be reassessed every ten years.
Wow. Still powerful after all these years. Thanks for pointing out this site, Howard.
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