Welcome to Icons Part 5: Moments in Pictures

"A picture is worth a thousand words" or so the saying goes. In the past two hundred years, the invention of the camera has changed how we are able to view our world. What was once limited to special occasions and those with cash to spare, taking pictures has become accessible to everyone (mostly of food, cats, and dogs being shamed).

Now if we want to record a moment of our lives we just need to pull out our phone or digital camera and start snapping away or recording a video. We're bombarded with images everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and many other social media platforms have made it easy for us to share these moments. Images travel fast when everything is just a couple of clicks away.

My world is filled with images or people, places, and events. Some pictures inspire wanderlust and envy. Others repulse us and make us cringe away in disgust. There are some photos that mysterious and make us question reality. And then there are the ones that document an important moment in time.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo of her blowing a kiss into the camera has long been the face of old Hollywood glamour. The photo of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out has become iconic over the years (though I'm not sure the famous scientist would be happy about that). The photo below show a struggling mother with her two children that my mind always jumps to when I think of America's struggle during the Great Depression.

Historical events in particular seem to have a lot of iconic photos. When I think of the end of World War II, I immediately think of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. Images from the Civil Rights movement would include Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the photo of Ruby Bridges going to school surrounded by protesters carrying hate filled signs. I don't think I'll ever forget the image of the Twin Towers on fire the day 9/11 happened.

This past weekend, I was inundated with images from my home state of Virginia. I wish I could say that they were beautiful photos of the mountains in the summer, but they weren't. Instead I saw image after image of angry white fascists carrying tiki touches. It will be hard to disassociate these pictures from bigotry and hate anytime soon.

But for every photo of hate that was posted, there was another photo showing the people counter-protesting them. Now my Twitter feed is filled with photos from vigils being held all over the country for Charlottesville and the photo of Heather Heyer, who died yesterday counter-protesting.

Before the age of the Internet, the iconic photos that were distributed were typically limited to what newspapers and other media outlets would publish. If they didn't like the photo that was taken or if they didn't want to report on an event, they wouldn't print the photo and it might be lost to the sands of time. Now, anyone can determine which photos become iconic. We're not limited to what's published in print. If someone takes a photo and posts it online, it can go viral in hours.

It's not just reporters who are reporting on historical events. It's everyone with a cell phone and a social media account.

Until next week.

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