22 Of The Most Important Photographs In The World

    An upcoming exhibition at the National Media Museum showcases some of the most important photographs ever taken. Here are the highlights. Mildly NSFW on account of nudity.

    The National Media Museum's upcoming exhibition Drawn by Light: The Royal Photographic Society Collection – which was previously based at London's Science Museum – is a selection of historically important photos taken from the Royal Photographic Society's huge archive of over 250,000 images.

    1. "Soldiers of the Sky," 1940, Nickolas Muray.

    2. "Audrey Hepburn," 1950, Angus McBean.

    3. "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico."

    4. "Fading Away," 1858, Henry Peach Robinson.

    5. "Father and Sons Walking in the Face of a Dust Storm," 1936, Arthur Rothstein.

    6. "I Wait," 1872, Julia Margaret Cameron.

    7. "New Orleans Street Singers," 1971, Tony Ray-Jones.

    8. "The Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens," 1852, Juan Carlos Maria Isidro, Count de Montizon de Borbon.

    9. "Chimney," c. 1934, Noel Griggs.

    10. Larry Burrows on assignment in Vietnam, c. 1971, photographer unknown.

    11. "Leicester Square," 1896, Paul Martin.

    12. "Refugees From East Pakistan on the Indian Border," 1971, Don McCullin.

    13. "Portrait of Christina," 1913, Lt. Col. Mervyn O'Gorman.

    14. "The Valley of the Shadow of Death," 1855, Roger Fenton.

    15. "Limbs and the Law," 1924, James Jarché.

    16. "Nude on Sand - Oceano, California," 1936, Edward Weston.

    17. "Queen Victoria," c. 1856, Roger Fenton.

    18. "The Bleached Skull of a Steer on the Dry Sun-Baked Earth of the South Dakota Badlands," 1936, Arthur Rothstein.

    19. "The Gate of Goodbye," 1917, Francis James Mortimer.

    20. "Afghan Girl," Pakistan, 1984, Steve McCurry.