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Incredible Alternate-Angle Shots Of Historical Moments That Will Change How You See Them (33 Pics)
Interview With Expert
Photography plays an important role in understanding history. It provides a view and context for certain situations, and shows what it actually looked like, so people don't have to rely solely on their imaginations, which can majorly skew things.
What's also interesting is that while some pictures become popular representations of certain events, other angles of it do not get the same flowers — even though they show just as much of an important, if not more so, context for the situation. So, today we're shining a light on these pictures of various historical events that are so under-appreciated that only very few people saw them.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Nasa's Camera From A Million Miles Away Took A Photo Of The Moon In Front Of The Earth
SPV 5 months ago
Yeah, we could believe such crappy photoshop in the nineties, but now it's obvious they faked it all ;)
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zububonsai 5 months ago (edited)
Duh,, look again : it's a piece of cardboard glued onto an school poster of Earth./😉
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#2
The Size Of Woodstock 1969
antoinette maldari 5 months ago
tRump would say that it was one of his rallies (referring to crowd size)
Janet Sparrow 5 months ago
“We are Stardust, we are golden, and we have to get ourselves back to the Garden.” No truer than today. 🥰
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
@GA let people be people. I've been to a FolkFest in Manitoba a few times, people can have fun, and they do it with little to no smoking.
April Pickett 5 months ago
There weren't enough Porta Potties in all of New York state to take care of a gathering this size.
#3
Young Actors Danny Lloyd And Lisa & Louise Burns In Between Takes Of The Shining At Elstree Studios, 1978
Peppy 5 months ago (edited)
I’m so happy to know those kids were unaware of the trauma they inflicted on me
visacrum 5 months ago
I run a support group for survivors of this film. Come play with us.
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whineygingercat 5 months ago
they told him he was filming a drama. they didn't want to scare him
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Ever since photography was invented back in 1839 (nearly 200 years ago!), it basically changed the world as it is. The possibility of capturing a moment in time became possible. It has become an integral part of how we view the world and interact with it.
Now, there was no need to rely on painters to depict a person, an item, or a moment — it all can be done with a photo camera. It gave a chance for common people — not only rich ones who could afford the paintings — to be remembered.
#4
Photo Of A Hiker Watching The Eruption Of Mt. St. Helens From Mt. Adams, About 37 Miles To The East. Photo From Mt Adams By John V. Christiansen Around 8:32 Am Local Time On May 18, 1980 & Published In A 1981 National Geographic Magazine
Sara Frazer 5 months ago (edited)
My mother was 11 when St. Helens blew, and she lived way over in Spokane (very Eastern Washington) she told us how the ash covered everything about 2ft (almost a meter), and the ash fell from the sky like snow. Earlier this year while I was flying out of state from Sea-Tac the plane went over St. Helens, it was so crazy to see what used to be a tall mountain was now a horseshoe -shaped ridge, and a deep crater in the center
CatD 5 months ago
I was taking Geology in highschool when it blew. Pretty cool for the class.
Load More Replies... #5
View Of Earth You Don’t Normally See
zububonsai 5 months ago
Poor New Zealand, always forgotten and overlooked, even on an "empty" view 🫣🫢🫣😱😬...
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Spencer's slave no longer 5 months ago
I love how this view shows our sub sea micro continent.
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Doozle bug 5 months ago
And all that was left was New Zealand (Aotearoa) to guide us into a beautiful new future.
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
The Pacific Ocean. Vast, Beautiful, and Unforgiving.
#6
Sydney Opera House From Top
Doozle bug 5 months ago
The Lotus temple in Delhi from above is equally disturbing for similar reasons.
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It opened a window to the lives of the people who came before us and gave us a chance to empathize with them better — after all, it’s way easier to put yourself in someone’s shoes when you can see them, rather than just imagine.
Basically, there was nothing that could not be captured in a photo. Historical moments are no exception. Nowadays, there’s a whole genre of photography that lets us get a glimpse into the past, and into the events that shaped the way the world is.
#7
A Korean News Program Actually Filming On The Top Of The Building Instead Of Using A Green Screen
#8
Charles Ebbets Photographing “Lunch On A Skyscraper”, The Famous Picture Of Workers In NY Eating Their Lunch On A Hanging Steel Beam
April Pickett 5 months ago
That was in the 30s, they didn't do safety the way we do now. Fast reflexes, awareness of your area, and paying attention to your co-workers was their safety net.
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Kim Steffen 5 months ago
Whenever I see a photo like this, I start thinking about strong winds.
Shelley DuVal 5 months ago
It always amazes me that people can do this. I can't stand on a chair without nearly passing out.
Lester the Space Duck 5 months ago
Turns out, nobody did any actual work that day, everyone was just taking photos of each other 😂
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#9
Lady Liberty
DowntownStevieB 5 months ago
The U.S. really should give it back to France until the Trumpsterfire is out of the office and we recover.
LookASquirrel 5 months ago
My mom and I were there and on Ellis Island the day Trump's 2017 Muslim ban went into effect. It was so somber. Ellis Island is already so emotional to see but there were muslims posing for pictures with signs. My mom's dad came over on a boat when he was 9 with a relative he barely knew. His family was already here. they were fleeing war and very poor. Trump and his cronies are too privileged to give a shlt about anyone else.
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April Pickett 5 months ago
I always believed that the Lady Liberty poem was a part of our Constitution. I thought that was a premise that our country was built on. I looked it up 8 or so years ago. I was so disappointed it wasn't a part of the Constitution. It's a bright hope we should hold on to, that one day, in about 4 years, we can have that poem mean something again.
Fred L. 5 months ago
Yes, Fort Wood. The star-shaped base is part of its remains.
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Sara Frazer 5 months ago (edited)
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free -if only the current administration remembered this
Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
You'd have to actually know and practice something to remember it. These disgraces we have in power right now have never and will never follow these practices or hold these beliefs.
Load More Replies... Bored Panda's interviewee historian Laura Fitzachary said that "Historical photographs can serve as one of the most potent reminders of significant events."
She explained "Such visual reminders can evoke emotional responses, inspire social change or even add a layer to collective understanding. Very quickly after photography's invention in 1838/9, photographic images were adopted as aides to memory and provide a snapshot or a story of what has happened in the world to help those who have not observed such events directly to understand."
#10
The Twin Towers Just After Construction, Showing Their Revolutionairy Near Hollow Architecture
G A 5 months ago
That didn't work out well, in retrospect but no one expected a bunch of loonies to slam planes into them.
Magna Linnevers 5 months ago
Actually, it did. They collapsed exactly as designed, pancaking each floor on top of the other reducing the surrounding damage. Engineering was superb. But you are one hundred percent right, no one ever expected it to be proven so tragically.
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Cydney Golden 5 months ago
I worked on the 70th floor back in the 70s...it swayed on windy days and the water in the toilets swished back and forth.
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
Ah yes - mad conspiracy theory nonsense. What real civil engineers really think about the WTC collapse is here: https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/issues/magazine-issue/article/2021/09/the-investigations-the-world-trade-center-towers
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The Eiffel Tower
Jo Firth 5 months ago
The bottom. I took one just like this - in fact probably every second person who goes there takes the same photo.
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#12
The Real Life Models Beside The Painting 'American Gothic'
Veronica Jean 5 months ago
I love how they captured the man perfectly and made the woman look about twenty years older and way more homely. Just ....why??
MorticiaRS 5 months ago
Because they were daughter and father. YOU NAILED IT!
Load More Replies... cecilia kilian 5 months ago
Grant Wood was an amazing artist, who desrves to be known for more than "American Gothic".
Gingersnap In Iowa 5 months ago
Yes, he was an amazing artist. His works are on display at the art museum where I live.
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Here, Wikipedia even has a whole page dedicated to “photographs considered the most important.” In there, you can find such gems as the famous Abraham Lincoln photo, an atomic cloud rising over Nagasaki, and even the first cell phone picture. And these are just a few of plenty — a lot has happened since photography was invented.
The thing is that, most of the time, when any of these important historical pictures were taken, there was more than one. Yet, usually just one of them becomes popular, while the extras are forgotten by history. Or, at least forgotten by many, but not all.
#13
The Pyramids Next To The City Of Giza
Magna Linnevers 5 months ago
You have no idea! The souvenir peddlers, the homeless, the people hawking tours, the garbage… I was so disillusioned! Yet, the Pyramids themselves are awe inspiring. I was 27 when I saw them, and it was the first time I truly felt small and in the presence of magnificence. Such a discongruent feeling to the city right next to them.
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Darth Vader Without Helmet
CD King 5 months ago
I always remember Darth Vader being the tallest ( besides Chewbacca) most imposing person in Star Wars. Now, seeing the actor beside Harrison Ford totally destroys that image… also the helmet thing.
CartoonCasey 5 months ago (edited)
Harrison Ford is elevated above Prowse in that picture. Prowse also has that derpy expression that is really killing the vibe. Prowse is still taller, just not menacingly taller. I'm disappointed he's not an actual cyborg armed with a glow stick that can cut you in half. What is the world coming to?
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Russell Tilling 5 months ago
He will always be the Green Cross Code Man to me! (Road safety clips for children.)
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
Being picky, the Green Cross Man. For those who weren't watching UK TV back in the 1970s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRUBMBi_lp4. I've heard that Prowse was most proud of his work on the Green Cross Code campaign because it saved so many lives. I taught my child the version which I learnt back then - the current version (not so snappy) is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Cross_Code#The_code
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Toffee's girl 5 months ago (edited)
One of my favourite stories about David Prowse came from Carrie Fisher - she said because David had a West Country accent which for non UK peeps is like a farmer / country bumkin accent, they called him Darth farmer! Always makes me chuckle thinking of this tall dude, all black and menacing and this Bristolian accent comes out...😁
UKDeek 5 months ago
There are some clips out there of Dave Prowse speaking Vader's lines... very interesting to hear.
Load More Replies... Robert Sale 5 months ago
David Prowse was also the big guy that was one of Malcolm McDowell’s gang in “A Clockwork Orange”.
Nova Rook 5 months ago
I checked this and he is in the movie but he plays someone else, not in the gang. I do appreciate your sharing this though because I was completely unaware he was in the movie.
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The_Nicest_Misanthrope 5 months ago
David Prowse. Met him at Comic Con a few years ago and he asked me out. He was in his late 70's, and I was 23...
Rebecca McManus 5 months ago
Harrison Ford is on a pedestal, hence why he seems taller than David Prowse
#15
Backside Of The Sphinx
Thanos'Fingers 5 months ago
They got to the back and were like "well this side just looks like a rock..." Then they added a tail.
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Our interviewee noted that relying on a single image for historical context can be quite dangerous, as it leaves very little room for nuance: "Even from the early years of photography, photographers themselves acknowledge that their images are not fixed statements of fact - rather that their work may be read and interpreted in many different ways."
She explained further: "The photographer's intention should be taken into consideration, the content itself should be open to interpretation, as well as how the image was taken. Is it a posed shot to allow for exposure on an older camera, is there staging at play? Or is it taken quickly on a phone camera to try and capture a fleeting moment in time?"
#16
Star Wars Episode Iv Opening Crawl
#17
The Mechanical Shark Used For The Movie ‘Jaws’
G A 5 months ago (edited)
Bruce! One of several versions-left or right side, one dragged on a sledge, plus mechanical bitey head..
Doozle bug 5 months ago
It’s difficult enough to ride a unicycle with legs. Bruce is very clever.
AnSi Bae 5 months ago
Best thing that ever happened to cinema, Bruce breaking down so often they decided to not show the shark just glimps and the menacing vibe. (I know Bruce gets a scene, but if that thing was shown all the time I'm convinced the movie wouldn't be a cult classic)
Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
Best thing that could have happened would have been to not make the film in the first place. It's a classic, cinematic brilliance, but it has led to an influx of shark deaths due to the fear mongering and implication that a shark can be "evil".
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#18
The Set Of ‘I Love Lucy’
Cydney Golden 5 months ago
A show that pioneered the multi-camera set, I believe it was Desi's idea.
So, from time to time, someone brings up another angle of an already famous historical photo, which oftentimes adds more context to the situation, shows it from an alternative perspective, and just basically enriches the experience of its more popular counterpart, makes it more nuanced.
As you might have understood from the title, today’s list is made up of photos like this — alternative angles to popular shots.
#19
George Bush Flying Over 9/11
G A 5 months ago
And then he started a war on the wrong people and we are still dealing with the impact 20 odd years later
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
In one of the most mind-blowing quotes from a 2008 interview he said, I kid you not, "I view myself as a peacemaker."
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Nova Rook 5 months ago
Had he warned airlines or the nation that planes were potentially going to be used as s*****e bombs not a single plane would have made it to target. Instead he chose to do nothing and thousands died. He popularity spiked and then chose to invade Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands and diminishing American hard and soft power. America chose to elect him a second time and hand him the popular vote.
Russell Tilling 5 months ago
I believe a million Iraqis died in the war (wars?).
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Kira Okah 5 months ago
He's flying past the site on Marine One on 14th September 2001. That is the site of the WTC out the window three days later.
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aubergine10003 5 months ago
"If only I'd done my job and read those August 2001 intelligence reports instead of horsing around on my ranch."
Linda Roy 4 months ago
He read a story to those kids...doing nothing instead of being president
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Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
F*****g seriously. At least he's admitted to his mistakes.
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BucFan531 5 months ago
Wasn’t a fan until I saw what the Republicans gave us. Now I wish ANY former president was in office—Bush, Clinton, I miss them all!
LinkTheHylian 5 months ago
Bush Jr. was in office back when the Republicans were just useless. Now they're monsters.
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#20
Prince William Giving “Middle Finger” After Prince Louis’ Birth
DE Ray 5 months ago
As someone who worked in newspapers, I beg you not to confuse those parasites for press. Reporting news and peddling gossip aren't the same.
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Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
Their son? Like it says, Prince Louis - who did you think? Louis Armstrong?
Load More Replies... #21
The Beatles Waiting To Cross Abbey Road, 1969. Photo By Iain Macmillan
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
Which are notoriously hard to take off for a picture
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Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
"The third one" is lowkey crazy love lol Have an upvote 💘
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Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
Oh dear, that must haunt your every waking hour.
Load More Replies...Without spoiling too much, we’re going to say that, on this list, you’ll find a plethora of various historical events shown in a way you likely never saw before. From the way the Lincoln Memorial looked before the reflecting pool to the airing of the last episode of the hit sitcom “The Office.” You know, no matter what kind of historical moments you’re into, you’re likely to find something you like here.
Do these pictures enhance your historical knowledge? Do you think these moments needed this extra context the pics provided? Share these and all your other take in the comments!
#22
The Other Side Of The I Have A Dream Speech
The Majestic Opossum 5 months ago
I love this photo. It shows the true power and command Dr. King had
Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
Which is why he was assassinated and we've gone backwards in this country.
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#23
Construction On The Gateway Arch, 1965
Robert Trebor 5 months ago
They had to wait for just the right moment to insert the last piece, as the heat opened or closed the gap.
David Bennett 5 months ago
They actually had the fire department hose down the south leg to cool it.
Load More Replies... S. E. in Indiana 5 months ago
The view from up there is great. The worst part is the very little elevator pods that you have to sit in to get up and down. Also, many people do not know there is an entire museum and exhibit below this underground. Which is also the way you enter the arch.
Stephanie Did It 5 months ago
I remember riding to the top in one of those tiny pods when I was about 10. Definitely not for the claustrophobic!
Load More Replies... Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
For those of us who, like me had never heard of it, "The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States."
ILoveMySon 5 months ago
AKA "The Gateway to the West" as it is in Middle America.
Load More Replies... Andy Frobig 5 months ago
After their Mickey D's franchise got turned down, they cancelled the second arch
Jane Hower 5 months ago
Loved going up there, except it was claustiphobic as it was a cramped 5 person elevator that swung loosel to stay upright as it curved up the side. But the VIEW!! Wow. The windows at the top are small and set back from where we stood so there wasn't any sense of the height. Seeing the movie about the making of it in the theater down below DID give the sense of the scary heights involved.
Harriet Vane 5 months ago
I was actually there the morning they dropped the last piece in. We were driving through at the time. Remarkable... never forgot it.
Lester the Space Duck 5 months ago
The arch was fabricated and constructed by the Pittsburgh-Des Monies steel company (PDM), based partially on Neville Island in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania (the "Pittsburgh" part of the name) My father was a draftsman for PDM until they shut down their Pittsburgh offices in 2001. They had many other notable projects; the steel columns from the World Trade Center, and the anaerobic digesters from the Biosphere 2 project, to name a couple. Some projects for NASA, lots of water towers, bridges, and tanks of different sorts. The fabrication shop on Neville Island is still there, but the stainless-clad office building and dome shaped cafeteria were torn down and the site now houses Neville Metals (metal recycling company) one row of the employee parking garages still stands, and there was a bus stop across the street with the PDM logo until around 2014 or 2015.
#24
Lincoln Memorial Before The Reflecting Pool
Mark Alexander 5 months ago
And they only moved the gravestones, not the gravestones, not the graves. That's why they're so evil.
Load More Replies... #25
Behind The Iconic Scene From Coppola's 'The Godfather' (1972)
Hippopotamuses 5 months ago
Probably reminding Brando of his next lines. Apparently, his forgetting his lines was a problem during shooting.
#26
The Back Of The Iconic “Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas” Sign
Ingrid Smith 5 months ago
I was there a few months ago. There are brides standing in line to take the iconic picture
#27
Nirvana During The Photo Shoot For Their Album Nevermind, Which Was Released 30 Years Ago, 1991
Thanos'Fingers 5 months ago
I wonder how much h****n is in this pool still today from this photoshoot
cecilia kilian 5 months ago
Because they were adults, and the album cover was not about $3x.
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#28
The Other Side Of The Price Is Right Wheel
Marlene Ricker 5 months ago
It loses something in the translation! Much more glamorous from the front!
#29
The Front Door Of The White House - From The Inside
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
Reply to Manny: Say what you will about Biden, he didn't start trade wars with Mordor and Tatooine
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Megalodon Meg 5 months ago
Lmfao to Manny when we've all seen the pics of Fanta Facist in his little golf shorts and actual depends 😂
Marsha Hultberg 5 months ago
E-gads those drapes are hideous! At least they aren't Stars and Stripes... 🤷🏼♀️ (Said the American who's always wished she wasn't.)
Squirrel Chaser 4 months ago
Wish you weren't an American? I wish you weren't either.
Load More Replies... #30
'10 Years Ago Today The Office Series Finale Aired And We All Said Goodbye To Dunder Mifflin'
Chuck the Cat 5 months ago
London Paris, no you wouldn’t rather do that than watch The Office. How could you shave anything with a piece of broken glass anyway?
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
Wow, I don't think I feel that strongly in any direction about any TV show. Don't know if that says more about me or you
Load More Replies... #31
Underneath A Music Festival Stage
#32
Windows 10 Wallpaper
SadFatTortilla 3 months ago
It's how they created the iconic Window in the Windows default wall paper
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What do you think ?
Jeolas1 5 months ago
more of this type of article, please, instead of the celebrity garbage! this was actually very interesting!
jasper 5 months ago
I just wish, for once, that we could get thru posts like this without the obligatory whining about Trump. I don't care if you don't like him. Not everything needs to be about him. FFS.
CatD 5 months ago
Trump makes everything about him. Plus, he's dismantling our government and alienating our allies.
Load More Replies... Jeolas1 5 months ago
more of this type of article, please, instead of the celebrity garbage! this was actually very interesting!
jasper 5 months ago
I just wish, for once, that we could get thru posts like this without the obligatory whining about Trump. I don't care if you don't like him. Not everything needs to be about him. FFS.
CatD 5 months ago
Trump makes everything about him. Plus, he's dismantling our government and alienating our allies.
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