Photography has the power to capture more than just pretty landscapes and family portraits. It can capture history and oftentimes the emotion of actually being there.
This is exactly what these 30 photos do. From life and death, to war and those amazing moments of rare beauty in unexpected places. They tell us more about the human experience and our place in the universe than words ever could.
In 1967, 17-year-old Jan Rose Kasmir offers a flower to soldiers during an anti-war protest outside the Pentagon.
Brazilian police fire on a man during protests against corruption and police brutality in 2013.
Sergeant Frank Praytor looks after a kitten during the height of the Korean War in 1952.
A curious Afghan girl holds the hand of a female American soldier.
A South Korean man cries as his North Korean brother waves after inter-Korean temporary family reunions.
Anna Fisher on the cover of Life magazine in 1985.
Thania Sayne leaning on her husband’s headstone the day before their wedding anniversary.
A tribal Chhetri woman in Nepal.
A boy in London in the 1960s with a toy double decker bus.
Captain Donald Spindler saves 6-year-old Aaliyah Frazier from a fire in Indiana.
A protester in Tiananmen Square, Beijing in 1989.
Violinist, Nancy Dinovo, cries during a service at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver for the 9/11 victims.
The child KKK member touches his reflection in an African American officer’s riot shield during a 1992 demonstration.
Ballet students at Rwanda’s only classical ballet school.
“100,000 monks in prayer for a better world”
Punk rock skater girls in Tehran, Iran.
An Irish teen and British soldiers during unrest in Northern Ireland.
A Mursi tribe woman sees Vogue magazine for the first time.
Spreading the love of punk rock.
A doctor monitors vitals after 23 hour long heart transplant surgery in 1987. His assistant is sleeping in the corner.
The patient survived and actually outlived his doctor.
A Ukrainian protester plays piano during riots in the capital city Kiev.
Celebration as Minnesota legalizes gay marriage
What life is all about.
Finding beauty in unexpected places.
“I’ll see you soon.”
Stay strong.
Bus riders in China save a woman who attempted suicide.
Looking ahead.