Photography is a wonderful art form that has the ability to perfectly capture fleeting moments of cultural significance, personal connection, and any aspects of the human condition. It is a strangely impactful moment seeing an image so poignant, or powerful, that it makes you pause and really think about what the image means to you, and to the world around you.
I have gathered here a collection of such images to help bring you into the new decade. So, here are 20 powerful pictures that can stop people in their tracks.
“Wyatt Haas, age 5 from Montana, wanted to ride a unicorn before his brain surgery. So he did.”
Apparently, Wyatt had attended a birthday party for someone in his kindergarten class where there had been unicorns. As a result, Wyatt had asked his mother to take him to a unicorn store. The parents of other kids in Wyatt’s class banded together and helped organize this experience for him before he underwent treatment to remove a medulloblastoma (a cancerous brain tumor).
“A Car In Australia Whose Aluminum Rims Have Melted”
It’s hard to fathom the damage that is being done to Australia right now. There are currently hundreds of charity pages being set up to try and help get aid to those in need across Australia.
“One of the bravest pictures ever taken”
This photo was actually taken on Hanukkah 1932, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, took this photograph just one month before Hitler came to power. According to The World Holocaust Remembrance Centre website, she wrote on the back of the photograph:
“Chanukah 5692 (1932) ‘Death to Judah’ So the flag says ‘Judah will live forever’ So the light answers”
“Med students send message with plantation photo”
According to the post, the message was, “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams”. This photograph was designed to inspire others: “Russell Ledet and classmates from Tulane University planned the trip and photos at the Whitney Plantation in Edgard with the hope that others would be inspired by the images,” reports NBC.
“Nativity 2019”
This nativity scene went viral over the holiday period, and caused a severe reaction from people across the internet. The nativity scene was put up by Claremont United Methodist church and uploaded to Facebook by Rev Karen Ristine.
“This is a drawing. My most challenging project, done in charcoal, graphite, and 145 hours.”
The fact that this is a drawing is absolutely breathtaking. The talent, practice, and time required to execute something of such detail is hard to comprehend.
“Quite literally watching your world burn”
Many people across New South Wales in Australia have had to take shelter from the fire offshore. Hopefully, these people can get the help that they need soon.
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“Fight For Democracy @ Impeachment rally in Times Square”
We’re at the centre of a very turbulent political landscape at present. It is impossible to predict what the future holds at this very moment, and that can be quite a terrifying notion.
“A king in his final days”
This image was captured by Larry Pannell. Pannell and his associates found the lion in its final days, and the encounter moved Pannell to write a moving blog post about the beast:
“We found him lying in the grass, exhausted unable to move. We were no more than five feet from him as he lay dying in the shade of a tree. Dropping my camera we stared at one another locking eyes for what seemed for an eternity. I just wanted him to know that he would not die alone as he struggled to breathe, his chest rising only every so often. Then a last twitch of an ear, his last breath, he was gone. The King was dead.”
“I smoked my last cigarette at this exact spot on 1/1/2019”
This person went on to proudly explain that this is the first time in ten tears that they can say they have been a full year without tobacco. Anyone can quit smoking, it’s just a matter of dedication and a desire to change.
“Hong Kong protest marks it’s half year anniversary”
On its half-year anniversary 800 thousand people took to the streets of Hong Kong, which is roughly 11% of the entire population.
“Giant train sculpture made of ice in Harbin, China”
The scale of this sculpture is truly immense. I can’t say I would particularly fancy riding in it though, you’d end up frozen to the seat and missing your stop.
“Let’s try to change in 2020.”
I think that they may mean that we need to change something other than just the lightbulb in the “s”.
“I wore my grandmother’s wedding dress from 1956 for my own wedding in 2019. Fit like a dream.”
Thank goodness your grandmother had style back in the 50s! It’s a wonderfully timeless dress, and a great way to honor someone’s memory.
“Daughter of a fallen fire fighter wearing dads helmet”
Andrew O’Dwyer died fighting bushfires just before Christmas. According to MSN News, “O’Dwyer was killed when the truck he was in rolled and hit a tree while fighting a bushfire at Buxton, south of Sydney, on December 19.”
This image was captured at his funeral, as his daughter wears his helmet and posthumously awarded medal.
“May the spirit of the woman who hit a neo-Nazi with her handbag guide us all in 2020”
And based upon the amount of boiled sweets elderly women keep in their handbags, this would really have packed a punch!
2005-2020
Explaining the story behind this picture, the person who posted this wrote, “In 2005, my family visited Ninh Binh province of Vietnam and my 4-year-old brother took a pic on a water buffalo with its owner. In 2020 we returned for the first time and met the same man and the same water buffalo”.
“A Cuban doctor waiting for asylum in the United States”
This post went on to explain that this doctor has now become “the only full-time physician at a makeshift encampment for 2,500 migrants in Mexico.”
“It’s a bit hot in Australia today.”
With the picture orientated that way up it looks like they may in danger of falling off the bottom of the planet.
“-41°C. This is our doorknob from inside the house.”
This is making me want to put the heating on just looking at it. It’s almost like something out of Doctor Who.
The Vietnam Lottery
This is a photograph of the Selective Service’s lottery device which would determine those who would be drafted for Vietnam first. Each ball inside contains a day of the year, and the draftees would be sorted by their birthday.
“Wedding under volcanic eruption”
Now I’ve heard of some ludicrously extravagant requests people have for their weddings before, but this is the most breathtaking… and dangerous!
The Pain Of War
This photo was taken in 1946 by Tony Vaccaro and shows a German soldier returning home to find his family no longer there.
“Mother Hides Her Face In Shame After Putting Her Children Up For Sale, Chicago, 1948.”
The children were sold to different houses within two years of this photo having been taken, according to sources . The children did eventually, and thankfully, reunite.
“The winning sand sculpture of 2019’s Texas Sand Sculpture Festival”
I can barely make a single turret sand castle, let alone a life-sized parody political statue!
Smiling In The Face Of Death
This photo, taken in 1944, shows Georges Blind, member of the French Resistance, smiling in the face of a German execution squad.
“Picture before They’ve ordered a Evacuation on the Erupted Volcano on Taal”
These kids must have seen that wedding photo and decided to get in on the action! It does seem a little strange seeing anyone running towards an erupting volcano though!
“Recording The MGM Roar, 1928”
It’s impossible to fathom how much money I would have to be paid to be that close to a lion. I’ll never see the MGM roar the same again.
“King Alfred’s Tower in the UK”
There is something quite haunting about the dimensions of this tower, it seems to loom in an unsettling manner. Also, I wanted to include this because Alfred the Great is one of the most interesting monarchs in British history. He encouraged the spread of the English language and was keen on increasing literacy across the land, and that’s something that should be applauded!
“A message from a refuge camp asking to avoid wars”
What with the severe polarisation of political opinions at present being screamed between strangers on the internet, it can be easy to forget that there is a human element to the decisions that governments make. Real people are impacted every day by the decisions of governments, and it’s time that people in need became the government’s focus, not just winning votes.
