30 Photos That Provide A New Perspective On Famous Things, Places And Events (New Pics)
InterviewYou’ve likely seen hundreds of photos of the Mona Lisa or the Empire State Building in your lifetime. And while they’re both magnificent spectacles to behold in real life, it’s rare to see a refreshing take on them through photos. But if you’ve ever wondered what the inside of the Leaning Tower of Pisa looks like or what the cast and crew saw during the filming of Teletubbies, we’ve got the perfect list for you down below.
We’ve gathered some of our favorite images from the Alternate Angles subreddit, which shares unique takes on famous items, places and events. Enjoy viewing these things through a new lens, and be sure to upvote the photos featuring perspectives you had never previously considered!
This post may include affiliate links.
This Is What It Looks Like Standing Directly Under An Aurora
A Bugs Ground Level View Of The Backyard
The Alternate Angles subreddit is dedicated to providing new angles “of iconic events and places in history beyond the traditional well known photos and videos.” And clearly, the group has been quite successful in their mission, as the community has amassed an impressive 160k members over the last 4 years. Some common flairs used in the group are Meta, Movies and Landmarks, but there’s no shortage of what you can find in the sub. From a photo of the inside of a piano to behind the scenes pics from famous film sets, Alternate Angles has it all.
We’re big fans of Alternate Angles here at Bored Panda, so this isn’t the first time we’ve featured the subreddit. And lucky for us, we were previously able to get in touch with the community’s moderator team to hear more about how the group came to be. “The origins are really quite simple,” one mod told Bored Panda. “A comment in another subreddit of famous pictures suggested that someone should create a sub of different views of famous pictures, which led to the creation of r/AlternateAngles by u/Murkon and another Redditor who [has since] decided to step down.”
One Of The Easter Island Moai Statues That Was Carved But Never Erected. It Would Have Stood 72ft Tall (The Tallest Standing Is 33ft High) And Weighed More Than 2 Boeing 737's. This Also Shows How The Figures Were Carved
We reached out to u/Murkon again for this piece, and they were kind enough to provide some updates on how the community has been since they last spoke with Bored Panda. "Subreddit has continued to grow!" the mod shared. "We get a lot of great submissions."
We were also curious about this moderator's favorite posts that they've seen shared in the community. "My personal favorite was originally that one taken before the Beatles crossed Abbey Road... But I've seen it so many times now I look forward to new stuff." The mod also shared how shocked they were when they realized how small the Mona Lisa is from an Alternate Angles pic.
This First-Ever Picture Of Jupiter's South Pole
As far as what Alternate Angles pics u/Murkon would like to see next, they told Bored Panda, "I would personally like to see more famous landmarks. Those are always really interesting because the AA pic often shows background info left out of the pic you're used to."
Claude Monet In His Home Studio Painting One Of His Water Lily Paintings, 1920
Jenny Joseph Modeling For The Columbia Pictures Logo, 1992. She Had Never Modeled Before And Never Did Again
As far as the concept of r/AlternateAngles goes, the moderators say it can be summed up by a single rule: “Limit all submissions to alternate views, or unique perspectives, of well known locations, items, people, and events. An alternate angle of your kitchen does not qualify but Gordon Ramsay's kitchen does."
And while it can be difficult to determine what exactly “well known locations” means, the moderators have a pinned post in the subreddit that aims to clear up any questions members might have. “A relatively well known person, place, event or item is something most of our viewers will recognize or know of,” the mods explain. “By well known item we mean something like the Mona Lisa (although seriously I think we can all agree we've worn that one out), the statue of David, a famous mummy, the handgun of a well known general, J.K. Rowling's writing chair, or Betty Crocker's apron.” They also kindly request (with a smile) that members please stop sharing photos of the Mona Lisa.
The 2.300 Years Old Theater Of Epidaurus In Greece, Capable Of Holding 14.000 Spectators, Considered To Have Perfect Acoustics
Mt St Helen’s From Above. Woke Up To The Pilot Letting Us Know That It Would Be Worth Looking Out The Right Window
I always sit on the wrong side of the plane. Or bus, or whatever.
The Underside Of A Sawfish
When it comes to moderating this community, the team previously shared with Bored Panda that it can be tricky trying to weed out photos that have been edited or faked. So sometimes they have to rely on “the fantastic and active user base to help out with those."
And while it’s challenging for the mods to choose any of their favorite photos from the group, as they “could have spent hours culling through thousands and thousands of posts to pick out more,” they shared a few of their favorites with us. One of the Lincoln Memorial before the reflecting pool, behind the scenes of the recording of Leo the Lion (the iconic MGM mascot), an alternate angle of one of the biggest tragedies in US history, and a rare view of the back panel of the Mona Lisa.
The Surface Of A Kidney Stone Under Sem (Scanning Electron Microscope)
Devil's Tower In Wyoming
Giraffe From Beneath
The last time we spoke with the Alternate Angles team, the moderators provided some insight into why the group continues to remain so popular over the years. “We are a unique subreddit that offers pictures that you don't normally see in other subs or the internet in general," they shared. “I think the fascination of, for example, the back frame of the Mona Lisa, is something most people never get to see.”
An Empty Boeing 787
"Now how many people can we STUFF inside this thing to maximize our already insanely bloated profits?"
Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper
Hollywood Sign From The Sea
Yeah, I've never seen that view, so I checked it out on Google Earth. That's an extreme telephoto shot, which compresses the depth. It's about 40 miles from the Shoreline Yacht Group building in the front to the Mendenhall Ridge in the back. The ridge is about 4800 feet high. This link works in the Chrome browser: https://earth.google.com/web/search/hollywood+sig/@33.85355867,-118.39247517,12.30925785a,1980.51566715d,35y,19.15454981h,85.06575723t,359.99999999r/data=CnkaTxJJCiUweDgwYzJiZjBhNDU1MDVhN2Q6MHhhYmI3YWNjNjI2NzA5ODQzGSszAK8qEUFAIZzF5j6UlF3AKg5ob2xseXdvb2Qgc2lnbhgBIAEiJgokCbwdX8iLDUFAEXt8VHAbDEFAGaNueKlwlV3AITLzrRJCll3A
The mods also noted that they focus on keeping content in the group relevant to a wide variety of audiences. “We generally don't allow pictures of cats, dogs, food, and generic houses with some spin, but require famous artwork, people, monuments, or events—something everyone will recognize from all the famous photos that are published, but not from the perspective of the photo posted in our sub."
The Other Side Of The Moon Captured By Orion Spacecraft
Strings Of A Grand Piano
A Caryatid On The Acropolis Overlooking Athens--By Walter Hege
The Alternate Angles subreddit is also fun for a wide variety of people because anyone can participate. The moderators explained that most of the photos shared “aren't from professional photographers, but instead by Joe Average with an iPhone instead of the latest and greatest digital camera.” Creativity is more important than having the best equipment. “It's those alternate angles that aren't well published that give people a unique perspective of a location, event, or artwork that they had never been made aware of,” the mods shared.
Dancing On Pointe Shoes
Peacock Showing Off... From The Other Side
Looks Fake But It’s Not, Golf Course Next To The Pyramids Of Giza
Although the sub is certainly not in need of any more Mona Lisa photos, the mods used this famous painting as an example of why the group is so great. "Everyone can go on the internet and see a picture or travel to the Louvre Museum,” they explained. “It was at an odd time while they were fixing the location that a few people could see the back side for the first time. The same could be applied to taking a photo of the Statue of Liberty looking straight up or a photo of 9-11 from an amateur that hadn't been published before. I think people are fascinated by that.”
Passenger Photo While A Plane Flew Over Nearby East Palestine, Ohio After The Train Derailment
What? Is there an East Palestine in Ohio? And what train derailment? I am confused. What am I seing here?
Inside The Leaning Tower Of Pisa
Behind The Price Is Right Wheel
And as far as what does well in the group, one moderator told Bored Panda, "Personally, I feel the quality of the photo has little to do with the popularity but rather the uniqueness of the photo and perspective. The centering of the photo, the proper color gradient, and the perfect focus have little to do with popularity. I think also it is very subjective as to what users are interested in, however, the more unique the perspective plays a large part into how popular a post is."
The Golden Gate Bridge
Behind The Scenes Of Teletubbies
Found out recently that the actor inside tinky winky was a deeply depressed alcoholic. He died young. Poor guy. Definitely darkened the whole vibe for me
Under The Base Of An Emmy Award
Is this list inspiring you to start taking unique photos of famous monuments and places near you? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box the next time you’re behind the camera, and keep upvoting the pics on this list that surprise you! Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see some alternate angle photos of next, and then if you’re interested in checking out Bored Panda’s previous publication featuring the same subreddit, you can find it right here!
Climbing Mount Everest : The Queue At Khumbu Icefall
I'm a climber and I think this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. Really, what's the purpose of this?
To prove you're unique and can do what no one else can. Just like the others in the picture...
Load More Replies...That beautiful mountain is, in my opinion, is being disgustingly abused. It should be shut down to climbers for 10 years, cleaned up and left alone for a while.
This looks absolutely miserable. Everest should not be a theme park for unexperienced climbers as it creates incredibly dangerous situation like this that also destroy the environment. There really needs to be regulations in place that limit the number of people that can climb each based on experience level. There are places on Everest where there is so much trash and the bodies of dead climbers.
If they roped everyone together the weight of those coming down could counterbalance those going up, then you could do it at a run.
Most sensible approach to this ridiculousness I read so far 😂
Load More Replies...I know a guy who wanted to climb Everest all his life. He finally got to do it at the age of 49. Got back to the UK and was on the phone to his girlfriend to say he would be home soon and dropped dead whilst on the phone to her. RIP.
I had jo idea so many people would want to do this, I thought that if you were climbing mt everest you might see a couple of others along the way but they'd be about it.
That's how it used to be. Now any schmuck with money can get themselves dragged up the mountain by the local sherpas.
Load More Replies...It's like a theme park queue. I bet they even have the signs saying how long you have to wait along the way. I think that the guy in yellow has just passed the famous '127 Hours' marker. They even made a movie about it with James Franco. They were planning a sequel called 126 Hours and so on, until they reach the end and get to climb up that little bit of ice wall.
People end up dying because of overcrowding like this. They run out of oxygen from standing around so long and aren't able to make it back down in time. One man from India had to leave his dying wife on the mountain because he would have died too if he stayed with her or tried to carry her down.
People are dying because they overestimate themselves and don't do research OR training, thus end up being unprepared. Ten minutes on the web will tell anyone about the small time window, the corpses of prospective "climbers" that now serve as markers and get more numerous with every passing season, and all the difficulties with weather and supplies up there. Anyone booking this for a casual holiday without having any prior experience with climbing mountains is a prime Darwin award contestant.
Load More Replies...The thing that really gets me is all the trash those people leave behind, it's disgusting!
Unless you die while using something how does one end up leaving trash on a mountain?!!! How do you purposely litter a mountain. I cannot understand who does this and doesn’t think anything of it. (Not counting something blowing away while you’re preparing it. I’m sure that happens and there’s no ability to chase after it).
Load More Replies...Half will be British... not there for the view just seen a queue and joined it
People are willing to risk rescuers’ lives, this is not real mountaineering. It’s a line for a movie.
They need to start limiting how many can go each year. Plus they have to bring back all their own trash!!!
I always assumed there wasn’t another living soul in site besides those in your direct group. Ha. Okay.
This is at the beginning. Lots of people drop out as soon as they realize it’s not a trek up a hillside.
Load More Replies...Looks like a queue for a ride at Disney World 🐀 🌎. Probably cheaper as well. Edit: forgot a word.
No wonder a Danish high mountain tourist stepped over a dying Sherpa. She probably can´t stop without endangering herself by overstepping.
If they wanted to stand in line, they should have gone to Disney World or Voodoo Donuts. It would have been cheaper, the weather would have been warmer and they wouldn't have needed to bring all that camping gear. Plus, once they got in, there would have been stuff to eat.
They need to limit the number of people trying to climb it every year. After you finally reach the summit, you have nowhere to go. This is how it looks at the summit as well. How do you get past all these people to come down?
Can't help imagining there's a bunch of undertakers staked out at the starting point, vying for customers...
Takes the achievement out of it. Looks more like rhe queue for the train up to the summit of Snowden..
And the amount of rubbish they leave behind on the mountain! I mean, really? You carry it up, you carry it back.
Just that many more people spending way too long in the Death Zone. And people wonder why the area near the top of the mountain is littered with bodies that can never be removed and returned home. Incredible danger, all for the almighty income.
These backups are dangerous. The climbers at the back of the line often don't make it up the mountain to summit until it is too late in the day to summit and get back down safely. Then of course, some die trying anyway
People standing in line waiting for their opportunity to die in a variety of ways.
If I were in that line, I'd be terrified I'd suddenly need to hit the bathroom!!
They're all "mountain climbers" right? They could just climb up to the top a different way right? Sometimes I think funny thoughts (Arthur). But, me too.
This is like "hiking" on a trail or boarding down a mountain near a city, crowded and pointless.
So a line for a ride at a terrible county fair. I guess the level of danger is similar to some speed freak operating ride and a mountain of death.
The Back Of The Statue Of Liberty
In The Zoo
Note: this post originally had 47 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Honestly, this kind of 'mildly interesting' stuff (and the heartwarming stuff) is what we come to BP for. Not the divisive, stereotyping, biased stuff. Thanks.
yeah, I've gotten so tired of the constant "Karen" slurs here that I'm considering leaving the site. Not that they'd care lol but still
Load More Replies...Honestly, this kind of 'mildly interesting' stuff (and the heartwarming stuff) is what we come to BP for. Not the divisive, stereotyping, biased stuff. Thanks.
yeah, I've gotten so tired of the constant "Karen" slurs here that I'm considering leaving the site. Not that they'd care lol but still
Load More Replies...