This is a list of photographs considered the most important in surveys where authoritative sources review the history of the medium not limited by time period, region, genre, topic, or other specific criteria. These images may be referred to as the most important, most iconic, or most influential—but they are all considered key images in the history of photography.

19th century

Before 1850

• Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3]}

  Considered the oldest surviving camera photograph.^[1]

• William Henry Fox Talbot, Windows From Inside South Gallery, Lacock Abbey, August 1835.^{[a][3][s 1]}

  The earliest surviving photographic negative and the earliest surviving paper photograph.^[3][4]

• Louis Daguerre, Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 3rd arrondissement, 1838.^{[s 1][s 2]}

  

• Hippolyte Bayard, Self‐Portrait as a Drowned Man (Le Noyé), 1840.^{[s 1]}

• William Henry Fox Talbot, The Haystack, 1844.^{[b][s 1]}

  

1850s

• Nadar, The Mime Charles Debureau as Pierrot, 1854.^{[s 1]}

• Roger Fenton, The Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1855.^{[s 2]}

  

• John Mayall, Sergeant Dawson and his Daughter, 1855.^{[s 1]}

  

• Gustave Le Gray, The Brig, 1856.^{[s 1][c]}

  

• Robert Howlett, Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern,^[d] 1857.^{[s 1]}

  

• Shiro Ichiki, Portrait of Nariakira Shimazu, 1857.^{[s 1]}

  

• Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Two Ways of Life, 1857.^{[s 1]}

  

• Camille Silvy, La Vallée de l'Huisne (River Scene), 1857.^{[s 1]}

  

• Henry Peach Robinson, Fading Away, 1858.^{[s 1]}

  

1860s

• Mathew Brady, Abraham Lincoln, 1860.^{[s 2][s 4]}

  

• James Wallace, First Aerial Photograph,^[11] 13 October 1860.^{[s 2]}

  

• Carleton Watkins, Cathedral Rock, 1861.^{[s 2]}

  

• Alexander Gardner, The Dead of Antietam,^[e] 1862.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

• McAllister & Brothers, Gordon (The Scourged Back), 1863^{[s 3]}

  

• Alexander Gardner, Execution of the Lincoln Conspirators at Washington Arsenal, 1865.^{[s 1]}

  

• Julia Margaret Cameron, Portrait of Sir John Herschel, 1867.^{[s 1]}

  

• Andrew J. Russell, Beckoning West, 1869.^{[s 3]}

  

1870s

• William Henry Jackson, Lower Yellowstone Falls, 1871.^{[s 3]}

  

• Timothy O’Sullivan, Ancient Ruins in the Canyon de Chelly, 1873.^{[s 1]}

  

• Eadweard Muybridge, The Horse in Motion, 1878.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

1880s

• Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, Water Rats, 1886.^{[s 1]}

  

• Jacob Riis, Bandits' Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street, 1888.^{[s 2]}

  

1890s

• Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, The Hand of Mrs. Wilhelm Röntgen, "Hand with ring", 1895.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

• Clarence H. White, Girl with a Mirror, 1898.^{[s 1]}

  

• Louis Boutan, First Underwater Photo, 1899.^{[s 3]}

  

20th century

1900s

• Frederick Evans, A Sea of Steps (Wells Cathedral), 1903.^{[s 1]}

  

• John T. Daniels, First Flight, 1903.^{[s 3]}

  

• Edward S. Curtis, The Vanishing Race, 1904.^{[s 1][s 2]}

  

• Edward Steichen, The Pond—Moonlight, 1904.^{[s 2]}

  

• Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907.^{[s 1][s 2]}

  

• Lewis Hine, Child Laborer in Newberry, South Carolina Cotton Mill,^[f] 1908.^{[s 2]}

  

• Lumiere Brothers, Cactus Hot Air Balloon, 1909.^{[s 3]}

  

1910s

• Lewis Hine, Breaker Boys, 1911.^{[s 3]}

  

• Brown Brothers, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 1911.^{[s 3]}

  

• E.J. Bellocq, Prostitute, New Orleans, 1912.^{[s 1]}

  

• Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, 1912.^{[s 1]}

  

• Paul Strand, Abstraction, Porch Shadows,^[g] 1916.^{[h][s 1]}

  

• Paul Strand, Blind Woman, New York, 1916.^{[s 2]}

  

1920s

• Edward Weston, Armco Steel, 1922.^{[s 1]}

  

• Man Ray, Le Violon d'Ingres (Ingres’ Violin), 1924.^{[s 1]}

  

• Rudolf Koppitz, Movement Study, 1926.^{[s 1]}

  

• August Sander, Bricklayer, 1928.^{[s 2]}
• August Sander, The Pastry Cook, 1928.^{[s 1]}
• Tina Modotti, Woman of Tehuantapec, 1929.^{[s 1]}

  

1930s

• Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930.^{[s 3]}

  

• Man Ray, Glass Tears, 1930.^{[s 1][s 3]}
• Miami police department, Al Capone Mug Shot, 1931.^{[s 3][14]}

  

• Erich Salomon, The Hague, 1930.^{[s 2]}

  

• Henri Cartier-Bresson, Place de l'Europe (Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare), 1932.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brussels, 1932.^{[s 1]}
• James VanDerZee, Couple in Raccoon Coats, 1932.^{[s 2]}
• Wanda Wulz, Io + gatto (I + Cat), 1932.^{[s 1]}
• Lunch atop a Skyscraper, 1932. (Photographer cannot be attributed with certainty - see article) ^{[s 2]}

  

• Alexander Rodchenko, Girl with a Leica, 1934.^{[s 1]}
• Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler at a Nazi Party Rally, 1934.^{[s 2]}
• Ian Wetherell, Loch Ness Monster, 1934.^{[s 2]}
• Madame Yevonde, Lady Milbanke as ‘Queen of the Amazons’, 1935.^{[s 1]}
• Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3][s 5][s 4]}

  

• Margaret Bourke-White, Fort Peck Dam, 1936.^{[s 2]}

  

• Margaret Bourke-White, Fort Peck Dam Liner, 1936.^{[s 3]}
• Robert Capa, The Falling Soldier (Death in Spain), 1936.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  Death of Republican soldier Federico Borrell García in the Spanish Civil War.^[16]

• Herbert List, Goldfish Bowl, 1937.^{[s 1]}
• Margaret Bourke-White, The Louisville Flood, 1937.^{[s 3]}
• Sam Shere, The Hindenburg Disaster, 6 May 1937.^{[s 2][s 5]}

  

• H. S. Wong, Bloody Saturday, 28 August 1937.^{[s 2]}

  

• Henri Cartier‐Bresson, Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, also known as Juvisy, France, 1938.^{[s 1]}
• Horst P. Horst, Mainbocher Corset, 1939.^{[s 1]}
• Margaret Bourke-White, Aerial View of Manhattan, 1939.^{[s 3]}
• Bill Brandt, The Lambeth Walk, c. 1939.^{[s 1]}
• Weegee, Mulberry Street, 1939.^{[s 3]}

1940s

• Edward Weston, Tide Pool, 1940.^{[s 1]}
• Ansel Adams, The Tetons and the Snake River, 1942.^{[s 3]}

  

• Yousuf Karsh, The Roaring Lion, Winston Churchill, 1941.^{[s 2][s 5]}

  

• Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1 November 1941.^{[s 1]}
• Dmitri Baltermants, Grief, 1942.^{[s 2]}
• Gordon Parks, Ella Watson (American Gothic), 1942.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3]}

  

• Frank Powolny, Betty Grable, 1943.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

• George Strock, Three American Soldiers Ambushed on Buna Beach, 1943.^{[s 1][s 3]}
• Unknown, Jewish Boy Surrenders in Warsaw, 1943.^{[s 2]}

  

• Weegee, The Critic, 1943.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Robert Capa, The Magnificent Eleven (collection of 11 photos), 6 June 1944.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Robert F. Sargent, Into the Jaws of Death, 6 June 1944.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

• Bernard Hoffman, Atomic Destruction, 1945.^{[s 3]}
• Carl Mydans, Return to the Philippines, 1945.^{[s 3]}
• Unknown, Inside Buchenwald, 1945.^{[s 3]}
• Joe Rosenthal, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, 23 February 1945.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  

• Yevgeny Khaldei, Raising a Flag over the Reichstag, 2 May 1945.^{[s 2]}

  

• Lieutenant Charles Levy, Mushroom Cloud Over Nagasaki, 9 August 1945.^{[s 2][s 4]}

  

• Alfred Eisenstaedt, V-J Day in Times Square, 14 August 1945.^{[s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  "In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers".^[21]

• Margaret Bourke-White, Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel, 1946.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  Mahatma Gandhi reading beside his spinning wheel.^[22]

• Amit Shabi, Dead Sea Scrolls, 1947.^{[s 3]}
• Andreas Feininger, Route 66, 1947.^{[s 3]}
• Eric Hosking, Barn Owl with Vole, 1948.^{[s 1]}
• Nat Fein, The Babe Bows Out, 1948.^{[s 2]}

  

• Philippe Halsman, Dalí Atomicus, 1948.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3]}

  

• W. Eugene Smith, Country Doctor, 1948.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Leonard McCombe, Career Girl, 1948.^{[s 3]}
• Willy Ronis, Provençal Nude, 1949.^{[s 1]}
• Ralph Morse, Nuns Watching Television, 1949.^{[s 3]}
• Leonard McCombe, Clarence Hailey Long, 1949.^{[s 3]}

1950s

• Robert Doisneau, The Kiss at the Hôtel de Ville (Les Amants de l'Hôtel de Ville), 1950.^{[s 1]}
• Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, X-ray diffraction, 1951.^{[s 3][s 4]}

  X-ray diffraction image providing key to DNA structure.^[23]

• Arthur Sasse, Albert Einstein, 1951.^{[s 5]}
• J.R. Eyerman, Trouble in Lakewood, 1952.^{[s 3]}
• Dmitri Baltermants, The Announcement of Stalin's Death, 1953.^{[s 1]}
• Hy Peskin, Camelot, 1953.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Alfred Gregory, Atop Mount Everest, 1953.^{[s 3]}
• Matty Zimmerman, Monroe, 1954.^{[s 5]}

  

• David Jackson, Emmett Till, 1955.^{[s 2][s 4]}

  

• Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, 1955.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Robert Frank, Trolley – New Orleans, 1955.^{[s 2]}
• O. Winston Link, Hot Shot Eastbound at Iaeger Drive‐In, 1956.^{[s 1]}
• Charles Trainer, The New King, 1956.^{[s 3]}
• Harold E. Edgerton, Milk Drop Coronet, 1957.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Russell Kirsch, First Digital Photo, 1957.^{[s 3]}
• Will Counts, Elizabeth Eckford, 1957.^{[s 3][s 6]}

  

• Ansel Adams, Aspens, Northern New Mexico, 1958.^{[s 1]}

1960s

• Alberto Korda, Guerrillero Heroico (Che Guevara), 5 March 1960.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  

• Julius Shulman, Case Study House no. 22, Los Angeles, 1960.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Peter Leibing, Leap into Freedom, 15 August 1961.^{[s 2]}

  Hans Conrad Schumann, an East German soldier running away over barbed-wire in Berlin.^[25]

  

• Charles Moore, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Malick Sidibè, Nuit de Noël (Happy Club), 1963.^{[s 2]}
• Malcolm Browne, The Burning Monk (Thích Quảng Đức self-immolation), 11 June 1963.^{[s 2][s 3][s 6]}

  

• NPS, "I Have a Dream", 28 August 1963.^{[s 3]}
• Abraham Zapruder, Zapruder film of the John F. Kennedy assassination, 22 November 1963.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Robert H. Jackson, Lee Harvey Oswald, 24 November 1963.^{[s 3][s 5]}

  

• Harry Benson, Pillow Fight, 1964.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Hugo van Lawick, Jane Goodall Greets Baby Chimp, 1965.^{[s 6]}
• Lennart Nilsson, New View of Life, Fetus 18-Weeks, 1965.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Neil Leifer, Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston, 1965.^{[s 2][s 3][s 6]}
• Hou Bo, Chairman Mao Swims in the Yangtze, 1966.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• Larry Burrows, Reaching Out, 1966.^{[s 3]}
• Mary Quant, Twiggy, 1966.^{[s 3]}
• Bernie Boston, Flower Power, 21 October 1967.^{[s 3]}
• D.A. Pennebaker, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967.^{[s 3]}
• Eddie Adams, General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon, 1 February 1968.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3][s 5][s 4][s 6]}

  

• Ronald L. Haeberle, Massacre of Villagers in My Lai, 16 March 1968.^{[s 1]}

  

• Joseph Louw, Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., 4 April 1968.^{[s 3][s 6]}
• Bill Eppridge, Assassination of Robert Kennedy, 5 June 1968.^{[s 3][s 6]}
• Josef Koudelka, Invasion of Prague, 1968.^{[s 2]}
• John Dominis, Black Power Salute, Mexico City Olympics, 16 October 1968.^{[s 2][s 3][s 5][s 6]}

  

• William Anders, Earthrise, 24 December 1968.^{[s 2][s 3][s 4]}

  

• Don McCullin, Albino Boy, Biafra, 1969.^{[s 2]}
• Bill Eppridge, Woodstock, 1969.^{[s 3]}
• Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 21 July 1969.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3]}

  

• Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 bootprint, 21 July 1969.^{[s 1][s 2][s 3]}

  

• Unknown, Altamont, 6 December 1969.^{[s 3]}

1970s

• John Paul Filo, Kent State Shootings, 1970.^{[s 2][s 3][s 5][s 4]}
• Ollie Atkins, Elvis Meets Nixon, 1970^{[s 3]}
• Ron Galella, Windblown Jackie, 1971.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Harrison Schmitt, The Blue Marble. Earth from Apollo 17, 1972.^[27]

  

• Ollie Atkins, Nixon in China, 1972.^{[s 3]}

  

• Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, Napalm attack, 1972.^{[i][s 1][s 2][s 5][s 4][s 6]}

  

• Kurt Strumpf, Munich Massacre, 1972.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Harold E. Edgerton, Bullet Passing through a Candle Flame, 1973.^{[s 1]}
• Luis Orlando Lagos, Allende's Last Stand, 1973.^{[s 2]}
• Bernd and Hilla Becher, Water‐Towers, 1974.^{[s 1]}
• Rolls Press, Nixon Resignation, 1974.^{[s 6]}
• Mervyn Bishop, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Pours Soil into the Hand of Traditional Gurindji Landowner Vincent Lingiari, 1975.^{[s 1]}
• Stanley Forman, Fire Escape Collapse, 1975.^{[s 2]}
• Sam Nzima, Soweto Uprising (Hector Pieterson), 1976.^{[s 2]}
• Viking 1, The Red Planet, 1976.^{[s 3]}
• Jim Britt, Sisters, 1976.
• Eddie Adams, Boat of No Smiles, 1977.^{[s 2]}

  

• Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Stills, 1977–1980.^{[s 2][s 4]}
• Jahangir Razmi, Firing Squad in Iran, 1979.^{[s 2]}
• Robert Mapplethorpe, Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter, 1979.^{[s 2]}
• Susan Meiselas, Molotov Man, 1979.^{[s 2]}

1980s

• Annie Leibowitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1980.^{[s 1]}
• Heinz Kluetmeier, Miracle on Ice, 1980.^{[s 6]}
• Helmut Newton, Self‐Portrait with Wife and Model, 1981.^{[s 1]}
• Patrick Lichfield, Diana with Bridesmaids in Buckingham Palace, 1981.^{[s 3]}
• Donna Ferrato, Behind Closed Doors, 1982.^{[s 2]}
• Nancy Burson, Androgyny (6 Men + 6 Women), 1982.^{[s 2]}
• Co Rentmeester, Michael Jordan, 1984.^{[s 2]}
• Steve McCurry, Sharbat Gula, Afghan Girl, 1984
• NASA, Hole in the Ozone, 1985.^{[s 3]}
• Alon Reininger, Ken Meeks, Patient with AIDS, Being Cared for by a Friend, San Francisco, California, 1986.^{[s 6]}
• Andres Serrano, Immersions (Piss Christ), 1987.^{[s 1][s 2]}
• James L. Stanfield, The First Heart Transplant in Poland, 1987.^{[s 6]}
• National Enquirer, Monkey Business, 1987.^{[s 3]}
• Walter Iooss Jr., Air Jordan, 1988.^{[s 3]}
• Jeff Widener, Tank Man, 1989.^{[s 2][s 3][s 6]} Man confronting column of tanks.^[29]
• Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy), 1989.^{[s 2]}
• Robert Maass, The Wall Falls, 1989.^{[s 3]}

1990s

• Therese Frare, The Face of AIDS, 1990.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Annie Leibovitz, Demi Moore, 1991.^{[s 2]}
• David Turnley, Operation Desert Storm, 1991.^{[s 6]}
• Steve McCurry, Camels in the Oil Fields, 1991.^{[s 6]}
• James Nachtwey, Famine in Somalia, 1992.^{[s 2]}
• Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk, 1992.^{[s 1]}
• Ron Haviv, Bosnia, 1992.^{[s 2]}
• Kevin Carter, The Vulture and the Little Girl, 1993.^{[s 2][s 5][s 6]}
• Charles Porter, Oklahoma City Bombing, 1995.^{[s 5][s 6]}
• Hubble Space Telescope / NASA, Pillars of Creation, 1995.^{[s 2][s 3]}

  

• Dirck Halstead, Bill Clinton hugs Monica Lewinsky, 1996.^{[s 3][s 5]}
• Charles O'Rear, Bliss, 1996.
• Philippe Kahn, First Cell-Phone Picture, 1997.^{[s 2]}

  

• Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon, 1999.^{[s 2]}
• Carol Guzy, Kosovo Refugees, 1999.^{[s 6]}
• Robert Beck, World Cup Winners, 1999.^{[s 3]}

21st century

2000s

• Alan Diaz, Elian Gonzalez Federal Raid, 2000.^{[s 5][s 6]}
• Michael Nichols, Surfing Hippos, 2000.^{[s 2]}
• Doug Mills, President George W. Bush Learns of the September 11th Attacks, 2001.^{[s 6]}
• Patrick Witty, New Yorkers watch the collapse of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 2001.^{[s 3][s 6]}
• Richard Drew, The Falling Man, 2001.^{[s 2][s 5][s 6]}
• Shannon Stapleton, Father Judge, 2001.^{[s 6]}
• Thomas E. Franklin, Raising the Flag at Ground Zero, 2001.^{[s 5][s 6]}
• Marcus Bleasdale, Sakura Lisi, 2004.^{[s 6]}
• Sgt. Ivan Frederick, The Hooded Man, 2004.^{[s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  

• Tami Silicio, Coffin Ban, 2004.^{[s 2]}
• Chris Hondros, Iraqi Girl, 2005.^{[s 2][s 6]}
• Eric Gay, Hurricane Katrina Evacuation, 2005.^{[s 6]}
• Robert Galbraith, Hurricane Katrina, 2005.^{[s 6]}
• David Phillip, Hurricane Katrina, 2005.^{[s 3]}
• Todd Heisler, Jim Comes Home, 2005.^{[s 6]}
• Brent Stirton, Gorilla in the Congo, 2007.^{[s 2]}
• John Moore, Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, 2007.^{[s 6]}
• Louie Favorite, Homecoming, 2007.^{[s 6]}
• Oded Bality, The Power of One, 2007.^{[s 6]}
• Heinz Kluetmeier, Photo Finish, 2008.^{[s 3]}
• Marcio Sanchez, Married at Last, 2008.^{[s 3]}
• Win McNamee, The New First Family, 2008.^{[s 3]}
• Barbara Davidson, Funeral of Edwin Cobbin, 2009.^{[s 6]}
• Marcos Tristao, Diego Frazão Torquato, 2009.^{[s 6]}
• Pete Souza, Hair Like Mine, 2009.^{[s 6]}

  

• Unknown, The Death of Neda, 2009.^{[s 2]}

2010s

• Kevin Systrom, First Instagram Photo, 2010.^{[s 3]}
• Justin Lane, 9/11 Memorial, 2011.^{[s 6]}
• Pete Souza, The Situation Room, 2011.^{[s 2][s 3][s 5]}

  

• Jessica Hill, Newtown Massacre, 2012.^{[s 6]}
• Lucas Jackson, Fashion Week, 2012.^{[s 6]}
• Rodrigo Abd, Aida, 2012.^{[s 6]}
• Shannon Hicks, Sandy Hook, 2012.^{[s 3][s 5]}
• AFP, China Social Suicide, 2013.^{[s 6]}
• David Guttenfelder, North Korea, 2013.^{[s 2]}
• John Tlumacki, Boston Marathon Bombing, 2013.^{[s 5][s 6]}
• Taslima Akhter, Final Embrace, 2013.^{[s 6]}
• Tyler Hicks, Nairobi Mall Attack, 2013.^{[s 6]}
• Bradley Cooper, Oscars Selfie, 2014.^{[s 2][s 3]}
• Bülent Kiliç, Turkey Mine Blast, 2014.^{[s 6]}
• UNRWA, Yarmouk Refugees, 2014.^{[s 6]}
• Nilufer Demir, Alan Kurdi, 2015^{[s 2][s 3][s 6]}
• Emin Menguarslan, Turkish Coast Guard Rescue, 2016.^{[s 6]}
• Sergio Pitamitz, Climate Change, 2018.^{[s 3]}
• David Nadlinger, Single Atom in an Ion Trap, 2018.^[32]

2020s

• Tayfun Coskun, Capitol Under Attack, 2021.^{[s 3]}
• United States Air Force, Out of Afghanistan, 2021.^{[s 3]}

  

• Donald Trump mug shot, 2023 booking photograph of Donald Trump