US Marines raising American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. The fight became one of the most popular battle during World War II between US and Japan, and one of the reason is because of this famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal.

I found this photo while looking through my friends personal collection. Out of all his photos this one stood out to me the most. I was lucky to choose this one cause it meant the most to him out of all of them. It was taken on December 28, 2010 which was a better time in his life. He had gone through a lot since then and feel into a depression. This photo captures that.

This photograph, taken by R. Tot. (July 2011) while visiting a family friend in a hospital in Toronto, Canada, displays a statue of a nun with a Christian cross standing blurry in the background. The statue represents generosity and a willingness to help although the darkness that shrouds the nun’s face reflects the difficulty in doing so. The cross directly represents God while more indirectly represents faith or a sense of hope. These two details are mirrored in R. Tot. helping his friend by being there and having the faith, or hope, they shared.

Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.

This photograph, taken by Jason Hawkes and published by National Geographic, depicts a coal-fired power plant surrounded by fields of grass.  It’s impact lies in how overpowering the plant and its products are over the scene, despite the fact that the fields actually take up more room.  Hawkes perfectly portrays how man-made pollution is making too much of a contribution to the environment.

Dorothea Lange’s photograph Migrant Mother was taken in 1936, which was the middle of the Great Depression. The viewer can see an unhappy look on the mother’s countenance, making the viewer wonder what she is worried about. Is she concerned about her family? Does she wonder how she’s going to set food on her table for that day? Will her kids be alright for just one more day? These are thoughts going not only through her mind, but thousands of other people who lived through the Great Depression. The punctum in this photo is strong; the viewer can sympathize with the mother. As for the studium, the Great Depression was a difficult time for many in the United States. People lost their homes because they went bankrupt, the banks couldn’t reimburse them, and the Stock Market crash caused people to panic and invest in imaginary stocks. Only with the help of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II did America get out of this devastating mess.

This photograph gives an identity of ‘The City of Skyscrapers’. All the beauty of New York City is characteristically this magnificent downtown. The slanted angle of the picture gives an impression that this beauty is sinking into a translucent body of water, which is my personal punctum of this photograph.

Diane Arbus’ photograph, “Boy With Toy Hand Grenade,” was taken in 1962.  The young boy’s disturbing expression and toy weapon foreshadow the social and political turmoil that was to unfold in the United States in the late 1960’s.  The setting, Central Park, is a peaceful contrast to the boy’s alarming presence.

This captivating photograph portrays a lone man opposing the destructive tanks headed towards Tiananmen Square. Not only does this man signify opposition, it also captures bravery in its purest form. It strikes spectators with a uncommon scene of violence being halted and engages our attention of the events occurring within the photo.