Old pictures combine two elements that curious minds like –historyand photography. But have you ever wondered why you like looking at pictures more than written history? Why is that volume of World History so boring and less informative when it doesn’t have any photographs in it? That’s because our brain processes images 60,000 timesfaster than text, making it easier to learn through visual stimuli.With the help of online communities such asHistorical Pictures, we can keep learning more about our history and planet. It’s a Facebook group where people post fascinating images from the past. “Going back to the past. Exploring Earth’s true history,” the group admin’s bio claims. So let’sexplore the pasttogether, Pandas, shall we?This post may includeaffiliate links.
Old pictures combine two elements that curious minds like –historyand photography. But have you ever wondered why you like looking at pictures more than written history? Why is that volume of World History so boring and less informative when it doesn’t have any photographs in it? That’s because our brain processes images 60,000 timesfaster than text, making it easier to learn through visual stimuli.
With the help of online communities such asHistorical Pictures, we can keep learning more about our history and planet. It’s a Facebook group where people post fascinating images from the past. “Going back to the past. Exploring Earth’s true history,” the group admin’s bio claims. So let’sexplore the pasttogether, Pandas, shall we?
This post may includeaffiliate links.
A group of kids had arranged to care and feed the dog after the owner had died, England 1936.
Young girl Kiowa tribe , Oklahoma , 1894
A streetcar conductor in Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask during the Spanish Flu pandemic, 1918.
The difference with the Historical Pictures group is that it’s a community effort – members can share photographs they deem worthy of sharing. The group boasts over 66k members and has been going strong since 2018. It also has an educational mission, as it urges its community members to learn more about the US and world history through this group.
Austrian Boy Receives New Shoes During WWII.
Child labor strike in Philadelphia, 1902
Back in 2022, the admin of the Historical Pictures page and its group told Bored Panda why he thinkshistoric photographsare important today. “Especially in this day and age, it is a good reminder that, while history isn’t always pretty, it’s okay to talk about it and enter in respectful discourse.”
19 year-old Shigeki Tanaka was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and he then went onto win the 1951 Boston Marathon. The crowd was silent.
U.S. cavalry soldiers pose in front of a sequoia in Yosemite known as “Grizzly Giant,” in 1900.This tree still stands today.
The creator of the Historical Pictures group also previously told us his motivation behind creating the Historic Pix IG page. “I want people to feel something when they seea piece of history. Especially for myself, seeing a memorable picture from the past helps me put life into context and appreciate the little things a bit more.”
An exotic dancer demonstrates that her underwear was too large to have exposed herself, after undercover police officers arrested her in Florida! 1983
The 3,000 men who helped build the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City pose for a photo near the end of the constructional work, Aug 19, 1964.
The pictures seen on this list are snapshots of a moment in time – a documentation of a certain period. Over time, they become historical and more meaningful. But that is the intention of these photographers, who most often are photojournalists or documentation photographers. Theirmain goalis to capture facts and reality. A photojournalist or a documentation photographer is merely an observer, and patience is key to them.
The return of a German soldier from Soviet captivity. He was taken to the war when his son was 1 year old. Germany. 1956
New York City. 1957. A Llama in Times Square.
Social distancing from 1953. A child with measles sits and eats alone during a Coronation party in Chelsea, England.
One might argue that street photography can also capture history. In a way, yes, but the primary goal of a street photographer won’t be for the photograph to have historical significance.Differentfrom street photographers, for example, photojournalists aim to capture pictures that are interesting to the broad public. Street photographers capture what they personally deem worth attention.
The original Moulin Rouge the year before it burned down in Paris , 1914 . Photograph Albert Kahn
A fleet of Concordes at London Heathrow Airport, 1986
Documentation photography also contributes to the vast volume ofhistorical photographs. But it’s different from photojournalism, and the difference is time. Storytelling in documentary photography might take weeks, sometimes even years. The photographers aim to raise awareness about an issue: environmental, social, political, or other.
A farmer paints stripes on her cow to increase its visibility at night and prevent car accidents should it wander onto the road during blackout conditions.
Two widows gathered for Martin Luther King’s funeral, April 1968
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, left, explores the completed tower with a friend, 1889.
This is probably the most famous photograph of Józef Kudelka. Until 1968, the photographer did not photograph news events. Everything changed on the night of August 21. In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet invasion, he took a series of photographs that were miraculously smuggled out of Czechoslovakia. In this image, his hand shows the time when Soviet tanks began to invade Prague.
Who are some of the most famous photojournalists in the recent history of the 19th and 20th centuries? Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White are two of the most famous American photojournalists. Lange covered the Great Depression extensively, photographing poverty, joblessness, and homeless individuals. Her most famous photograph is ofa migrant womanshe took in 1936 at a migrant camp.
Swinging London, late 60s.
Chicago. August 4, 1948. This photo originally published in the Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, IN, tells a tragically heart-breaking, yet all too familiar story about Chalifoux family and the trials and tribulations surrounding poverty. Well … that’s what the original caption wanted the reader to think. Facing eviction from their apartment, the jobless couple decided to sell their four children ranging in age from two to six. The mother posted a sign in the front yard and waited for buyers while Lana, Rae Ann, Milton, and Sue Ellen just sat on the steps oblivious that their fate was about to spiral out of control. According to several articles I read regarding this photo, It seems no one really knew whether the sign was up there for days, or years or just long enough for the camera to take its shot. Several family members even stated that the mother was paid to stage the whole thing. Regardless, within days newspapers across the country picked up the photo and job offers and financial help poured in. But that didn’t change the inevitable. Rae Ann was sold and sexually abused. Milton went to live on a farm with John and Ruth Zoeteman who beat him daily, tied him up and worked as a slave. Lana’s life remained a mystery to the other siblings. She died in 1998 of cancer. Unlike the others, Sue Ellen was adopted legitimately and seemed to fare better than the others. Years later and well into their sixties and seventies, sisters Rae Ann and Sue Ellen found each other and were telling their version about what actually happened to them. “I was sold for $2.00 so my mother could have bingo money,” claimed Rae Ann, “and because the man she was dating wanted nothing to do us,” Sue Ellen’s response about her birth mother, “she needs to be in hell burning.”
Bourke-White is one of the first famous news photographers. She covered WWII, the German invasion of Moscow in 1941, and the freeing of many concentration centers in 1945. Bourke-White took the famous photograph ofGandhinext to his spinning wheel, just hours before his assassination.
Teenagers of the 50th years of the last century. Feel the difference.
One of the most evocative photos.
Ostrich reads the newspaper of the caretaker.Nationaal Archief 1951.
One of themost famousFrench photojournalists is Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson captured the Spanish Civil War, Gandhi’s funeral, and the student rebellion in France. Many call him the father of modern photojournalism because he wasn’t afraid to photograph the most dangerous events in the world’s history.
The Picture shows a photographer taking a Picture of New-York City streets , 1925.
View of the St-Lawrence River from Québec City in the 1800’s
A woman tests a stroller intended to be resistant to gas attacks in Hextable , England in 1938 , not long before the outbreak of World War II
Beach Volleyball , Venice Beach CA June 1934
Milano 1972
Signing off, 1934
Morning walk on the Brooklyn bridge , New-York , 1905
England - France 2-0 World Cup 1920 Dick Kerr Ladies Football Team , Preston , 28 May 1920.The team captains of England and France exchange a goodwill kiss before the game in Preston .Photo ~ Het Leven / Fotograaf onbeken
Manhattan, VW with Rolls Royce grille, New york City 1976
Italian troops raise a gun, a dog and a soldier on a mountain.Italian Alps, World War I, 1915
Life in the Texas Dust Bowl, 1935. A dust storm gets ready to engulf everything in its path.
Patients being treated in an Army Hospital during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
Born Free, 1966 George Adamson (Bill Travers) and his wife, Joy (Virginia McKenna)
German WWII POWs harvesting grapes for the Widmer Winery in Naples, NY. Every state housed prisoners but most camps were built in warm weather climes to save on barracks heating costs.
See Also on Bored Panda
Marble Arch Tube Station, 1900
A heartwarmingly lovely photo of a young woman writing to her sailor.
Petre Mshvenieradze, Tbilisi-born Olympic Soviet water polo player, with his grandson 1950.
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The Hotel Alcazar in St. Augustine Florida 1905.
Liberation of Paris from Nazi tyranny,1944 (photograph taken next day)
Installing a Greek column at the Civil Courts Building in St. Louis around 1929.
Troops of the Eight nations alliance of 1900 .Left to right: Britain , United States , Russia , British India , Germany , France , Austria-Hungary , Italy , Japan .
Constantinople (İstanbul), 1890.
Titanic survivor, with bandaged feet, 1912
18-year-old German amateur pilot Matthias Rust, who landed his plane “Cessna” on Red Square in Moscow, dines in a Soviet court. September 2, 1987.
Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya), formerly serving as a mosque and church, 1860’s.Today it is a museum, it carries traces of Turkish and Greek cultures.
Soviet and American soldiers celebrate victory over Germany. Germany. May 1945. World War II
Jakob Nacken (221 cm), the tallest German soldier of World War II, chatting with British corporal Bob Roberts after surrendering to him near Calais, France, 1944.
Japan kamikaze 1945
Chinese soldiers advancing via the Great Wall of China in October 1937
A central control operator directs progress of trains, throws switches, and sends train operators 1930 Chicago, Kaufmann & Fabry Co. (Chicago)
The mysterious Bianca Deconciliis. A life size statue of a young woman who died at 20 in 1942. Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA.
The Barrymore Clan, America’s preeminent acting family - Lionel, Ethel and John, 1904.
Indians visit Great White father President Roosevelt receive Drag Wolf (I) and Foolish Bear while Arthur Mandan interprets the purpose of the visit , 13 january 1938 .
New York City 1942
Circa 1907 Fountain Square , Cincinnati Ohio United States
Belgian Carabiniers with their advanced head gear and war dogs walking towards battle 1914.
A triple decker bus..Germany Berlin.1926
Johnsons and Agnews watch launch of Apollo 11 to moon, July 1969
Cotton club , 1920’s
Sculpting begins on the face of Lincoln , Mount Rushmore , Black Hills National Forest , SD , 1927
German soldiers in the Antwerp cathedral after capturing the city in 1914.
Red Army soldiers take out icons and church utensils from the Simonov Monastery in Moscow. USSR. 1923
Desert Dream caravan on the road, 1950
Iran-Poland football match 1943 in Tehran - IranPolish spectator platform
Jackie Kennedy in Paris , 1961
Gold Rush. At the end of the day, scrambles in front of a bank to buy gold. The last days of Kuomintang, Shanghai, 23 December 1948.
Stevenson as Presidential nominee and JFK as Senate aspirant, Boston, 8 years earlier.
Former Public Service Bird of the Week Diana Turner was also an entrant in the 1973 Miss Australia Quest . Photo : Russell McPhedran
US prisoners in Tunisia, circa 1943.
Spectators watch a horse diving act at an unspecified location( perhaps Pueblo , Colorado ) on July 4 , 1905 .
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You May LikeWhat They Saw, What They Knew: 50 Breathtaking Historical Images From Eyes Long ClosedDominyka50 Interesting Photos That Explain History In A Unique WayMantas Kačerauskas30 Intriguing True Stories From The Past Few Know AboutViktorija Ošikaitė
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