[Author’s note: These photographs were not taken by me; rather, I got them off the internet after looking up the most iconic photographs of all times. I am beginning a series called Love, Loss, and Loyalty, documenting the human struggle over the ages. I hope, dear readers, that you will enjoy it, and yet, that you will deeply be moved by these photos, because some of them are truly heartbreaking and show the unnecessary cost of war and violence.]
1. A dog sits by his owner’s grave. The owner died in the Rio de Janeiro landslides in 2011.
2. Jewish refugees, elated after their liberation, run towards a train that will take them to freedom.
3. John Kennedy’s son salutes his father’s coffin after President Kennedy’s assassination.
4. Christians shield Muslims during their prayer during protests in Cairo, Egypt.
5. Robert Peraza kisses his son’s name at the 9/11 Memorial in New York on the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
6. Jackie Kennedy stands in silence after President Kennedy’s assassination, her dress caked in his blood, while Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president.
7. Christian Golczynski accepts the flag at his father’s funeral. His father was due to come home in a few weeks, but was shot by a sniper.
8. An Afghan girl is frightened by a journalist’s camera during the war against the Russians.
9. A starving African girl is chained to the ground while a hungry vulture looks on. The photographer, Kevin Bryant, committed suicide at age 31 due to the horrors he had seen.
10. Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, raise their arms in victory after his release from prison.
