These photographs of Peking, now known as Beijing, taken by Thomas Child in the 1870s and 1880s are a window of the old China. In May of 1870, Thomas Child was hired by the Imperial Maritime Customs Service to be a gas engineer in Peking (Beijing). The …
Long before the age of computerized printing presses and journalists being able to file stories via computer, the process of creating the day’s newspaper was a much more arduous, hand-made process. In September 1942, Office of War Information photograph…
After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Americans took on the task of occupying Japan and reforming the militaristic nation into a modern country that would never again threaten its neighbors. On 29 August 1945, MacArthur was ordered to exercise autho…
This emotional picture shows a rather astonished little boy: he isn’t sure what’s happening, or how it’s happening. From a world of silence, he has suddenly been transported to a world of rich, vibrant sound. It is new, it is strange, and it’s also a li…
The Falling Soldier became famous for the way it seems to capture, with terrifying immediacy, the moment when a bullet fatally strikes a Spanish Loyalist militiaman; later, it became famous for allegations that the photograph was "faked", or at least (thou…
Members of the French Resistance are photographed in the midst of a battle against German troops during the Liberation of Paris. We see a man in makeshift army fatigues to the left and a young man on the right. Then, most strikingly, we see a woman in s…
The photo of a German prisoner of war returning to his hometown of Frankfurt to discover his house bombed and his family no longer there, shows the kind the depressing moments of dejected subjects we associate with images of war. No stranger to scenes o…
The boy did in fact survive the war and became a truck driver. In the photo he's sitting outside where his house used to be. Photographer Toni Frissell regarding this picture: “I was told he had come back from playing and found his house a shambles—his …
Long before modern society began challenging ideas about gender and sexuality, the women of the Ouled Naïl tribe in Algeria lived by a set of values that gave them remarkable independence. They earned their own fortunes, chose their partners freely, and eng…
There’s a quiet power in old photographs—especially when they capture women who lived through times that demanded more than they were ever given credit for. These portraits hold more than just expressions; they reflect strength, depth, and the unspoken weig…
In the 1980s, Italy moved to its own rhythm—unhurried, sun-soaked, and rich with everyday beauty. The country had not yet been swept up in the fast pace of globalization. Instead, its cities and towns carried a lived-in elegance, where life unfolded in piaz…
In the early 1990s, Cuba entered a period of profound transformation and economic hardship, a chapter in its history remembered as The Special Period in Time of Peace. Triggered by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Comecon trade al…
For over a century, women have been told what their bodies should look like—and just as importantly, what they shouldn’t. Among the most enduring expectations has been the removal of body hair. While many women still follow this unwritten rule, others have …
The year 1990 marked the beginning of democracy in Romania, a time of social unrest and political struggles that would shape the country’s trajectory for years to come. It was a period of newfound freedom but also deepening divisions, some of which still re…
In 1945, the residents of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, were stunned to learn the true purpose of their work. Most of the 75,000 people who lived in this tightly controlled “Secret City” had no idea they were helping to process uranium for the atomic bomb until new…
In the early 20th century, Antarctica became the ultimate proving ground for human endurance and ambition. It was a time when explorers risked everything to unlock the mysteries of the frozen continent, venturing into its icy expanse with little more than s…
The 1980s saw the AIDS epidemic surge to catastrophic levels, leaving communities devastated and countless lives hanging in the balance. Across the U.S. and beyond, people were dying at an alarming rate, while others were gripped by fear of a mysterious dis…
In 1939, photographer Dorothea Lange passed through Oregon’s Willamette Valley, documenting life during the Great Depression. While traveling, she paused to observe a string bean harvest, where a large influx of temporary workers had arrived to pick crops f…
At a time when most children were running from the chaos, a small figure with a camera around his neck was running towards it. Lo Manh Hung, barely 12 years old amidst the turmoil of the Vietnam War, was Saigon's unlikeliest photographer – and possibly the …
Feeling stuck in a style rut, unsure how to break free from the monotony of your wardrobe? Prepare for a burst of inspiration as we take you on a thrilling journey through time, exploring some of the most iconic photographs in history. From the effortles…