The 30 most impactful images ever made

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The popular expression “A picture is worth a thousand words”, by the Chinese philosopher Confucius, extols the power of an image to communicate the most deep emotions. Feelings such as sadness, joy, fear, anger, astonishment, relief and love.

Some photos have a much greater sentimental content than others, as they represent historical moments, or in adverse and shocking situations.

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No word or phrase could convey such emotion as some of the most impactful images ever made in human history.

Among them are beautiful and moving images and very strong and shocking ones.

Anyway, prepare your emotions and see the 30 most impactful images ever made.

1 Auschwitz gas chamber

Auschwitz gas chamber — Stunning photos: Auschwitz gas chamber. Inside a gas chamber, despair and pain are stamped on the walls.

2 Desperation in the attack on the World Trade Center

Desperation in the attack on the World Trade Center — Impactful photos: Desperation in the attack on the World Trade Center. A man jumps from a building to escape the flames of the 9/11 attack.

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3 The Violin Teacher's Funeral

The Violin Teacher's Funeral — Stunning Photos: The Violin Teacher's Funeral. Diego Frazão Torquato playing for his teacher who, through music, took many children out of violence in Rio de Janeiro.

4 The terror of hunger

The terror of hunger — Impactful photos: The terror of hunger. Hungry homeless people waiting for free food at a mosque in New Delhi, India.

5 Hug in the rubble

Hug in the rubble — Impactful photos: Hug in the rubble. The couple were victims of a factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In an attempt to protect themselves, they gave that last hug.

6 preparation for battle

preparation for battle — Striking Photos: Preparing for Battle. Russian soldiers prepare for the Battle of Kursk in 1943.

7 The search continues

The search continues — Impactful Photos: The quest continues. Even after 41 years, parents are still looking for their missing daughter when she was 12 years old.

8 African boy and volunteer

African boy and volunteer — Impactful photos: African boy and volunteer. The differences between a malnourished boy and a missionary in Africa.

9 smoking boy

smoking boy — Striking photos: Boy Smoking. In St. Jacques, Perpignan, it is very common for boys in the gypsy community to smoke. This image shows a 5-year-old boy smoking at a community New Year's Eve party.

10 Waiting

Waiting — Striking photos: The wait. The dog called Leão awaits its owner, victim of the flood that lasted 2 days in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2011.

11 Flowers not bullets

Flowers not bullets — Impactful photos: Flowers not bullets. The boy places flowers in the barrels of guns in a sign of serenity and harmony.

12 wreckage

wreckage — Striking photos: Wreckage. A woman cries amidst the wreckage, all hopes dashed, after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the city of Natori, Japan, in March 2011.

13 Demonstration

Demonstration — Impressive Photos: Demonstration. The photo shows the moment of the demonstration of condom use in a public market, in 2009, in the city of Jayapura, Indonesia.

14 The tea

The tea — Striking photos: The tea. Afghan man offers tea to American soldier in the midst of war.

15 rescue of puppies

rescue of puppies — Stunning photos: Rescue of the puppies. The man rescues the cubs from a flood that hit India in 2011.

16 The reunion

The reunion — Impactful photos: The reunion. The owner is reunited with his dog after the tornado that hit Alabama, USA, in March 2012

17 Couple tombstones of different religions

Couple tombstones of different religions — Striking photos: Tombstones of couples from different religions. A couple, Protestant and Catholic, separated by a segregation wall in Holland, in 1888.

18 The last contact before the war

The last contact before the war — Impactful photos: The last contact before the war. Little soldier's son will greet you before going to World War II.

19 The Meeting of Memories

The Meeting of Memories — Impactful photos: The meeting of memories. A Russian gentleman finds, with great emotion, the war tank he piloted in World War II.

20 The effect of the cyclone

The effect of the cyclone — Stunning photos: The effect of the cyclone. 29-year-old Hhaing O Yu cries as he sees the destruction left by the cyclone that hit Myanmar in 2008.

21 The Burial of the Hero Dog

The Burial of the Hero Dog — Stunning photos: The burial of the hero dog. Zanjeer was the dog that saved thousands of lives in Mumbai when there were serial explosions in March 1993. It detected over 3,329 kg of RDX explosives, 600 detonators, 249 grenades and 6,406 rounds of ammunition.

22 Sunset on Mars

Sunset on Mars — Stunning photos: Sunset on Mars, a planet that also has fabulous sunsets.

23 the way home

the way home — Impactful photos: The way home. The child tries to take his alcoholic father home in the morning.

24 Music in War

Music in War — Striking Photos: Music in War. A soldier playing the piano he found abandoned in Chechnya in 1994.

25 the mourning

the mourning — Striking photos: Mourning. Record of the moment when the boy discovers that his brother is dead.

26 the time of prayer

the time of prayer — Impactful photos: The moment of prayer. Christians protect Muslims who are praying during the 2011 riots in Cairo, Egypt.

27 fire victims

fire victims — Striking photos: Victims of the fire. Australia Fire Animal Rescue and Relief 2009. The fireman gives water to a koala victim of the fire.

28 The reunion

The reunion — Impactful photos: The reunion. Terri Gurrola, a mother serving in Iraq, finds her daughter after 7 months in the war.

29 Exhausted doctors after 23 hours of successful surgery

Exhausted doctors after 23 hours of successful surgery — Shocking photos: Exhausted doctors after 23 hours of successful surgery. Cardiac surgeon and his assistant resting, on the floor in the background.

30 family photo

family photo — Impactful photos: Family photo. Father and son in 1949 and 2009.

See too:

The 20 biggest earthquakes in history
Consequences of World War II
The best movies to understand Nazism and the Holocaust