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.
Considered the oldest surviving camera photograph.[1]
The earliest surviving photographic negative and the earliest surviving paper photograph.[3][4]
Death of Republican soldier Federico Borrell García in the Spanish Civil War.[16]
"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]
Mahatma Gandhi reading beside his spinning wheel.[22]
X-ray diffraction image providing key to DNA structure.[23]
Hans Conrad Schumann, an East German soldier running away over barbed-wire in Berlin.[25]