50 Wildly Interesting Photos, Stories And Facts To Distract You For The Next 10 Minutes

It’s probably the dream of most photographers to create work that is so powerful that it echoes around the globe.

Truly iconic photos that you can identify at a glance are the height of photography. They resonate with you on a deep level and offer you a glimpse into the very soul of humankind—or at least that’s the idea.

Building up to an iconic photo requires years of dedication, effort…and a big dollop of luck.

CNN points out that iconic images are so dramatic that they embed themselves in your culture. “They have come to define a historical event, a famous person—or maybe even an entire generation.” These photos can be something that makes you feel proud or horrifies you because of the tragedy captured in the frame.

“I think the most important common denominator is that they [iconic photos] strike us on a very deep emotional level, and the emotions are usually some of the deepest emotions that a human being can feel: heroism, fear, grief, joy,” Peter Howe, former director of photography at Life magazine and picture editor at The New York Times Magazine, told CNN about the universality of the emotions depicted in iconic images.

Meanwhile, former Life magazine picture editor and professional photographer for more than 50 years John Loengard shared with CNN that another important aspect of iconic photos is their uniqueness. That is, they capture an exact, significant moment. There is no way that they can be repeated.

Photography is much more accessible and democratized in this day and age. Nearly everyone has a smartphone with them at all times and has access to the internet and social media. There’s a vast gulf between the number of photos that were taken in the past and how many pics are being snapped today.

“I think there are probably more pictures being taken now than there have ever been taken in time. You just walk around and you see people always taking pictures on their iPhone. There’s a massive visual imagery that is being generated by the public,” Howe pointed out.

On the positive side of things, changes in tech mean that you can instantly see the photo you’ve taken, and there are more opportunities to capture exact moments. But not everything is a win.

On the negative side of the scale, the volume of photographic content being produced now is almost deafening. To put it simply, there are so many photos being shared online that it makes it extremely difficult to find potentially iconic images of high quality.

“I think it’s much more difficult now for any particular image to rise to the surface, because we are so inundated with visual imagery nowadays. … You are getting the image so quickly, and it’s being followed up by so many more images afterward,” Howe told CNN.

International Center of Photography curator Carol Squiers adds: “Right now, it’s pretty hit or miss. It’s pretty haphazard and it’s very much focused on the personal. ‘Selfies,’ I’m sure, far outweigh any other pictures that anybody takes. But it’s a process. We’re all undergoing learning experiments with the digital, even though it’s been around for so long.”

According to Squiers, “It’s very easy to take a picture; it is not very easy to take a good picture. And it is even harder to take a picture that lasts through time.”

The ‘Mr Interesting’ online group is a relatively new addition to Reddit. It was created in late July 2025, but it’s already growing by leaps and bounds. At the time of writing, the community draws in 37,000 weekly visitors and garners over 200 contributions every week. We’ve reached out to the head moderator to learn more about the subreddit and the inspiration behind it, and we’ll update the post as soon as we hear back from them.

We can’t wait to hear your take, dear Pandas. Which of these photos left a lasting impression on you? Which ones genuinely made you stop and really absorb all the details? Were there any photos that you’ve actually seen elsewhere before?

You can share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you haven’t already, upvote the pics that made you (re)think (things) the most.