this post was submitted on
3,002 points (55% like it)
16,226 up votes 13,224 down votes

pics

subscribe2,340,499 readers

14,429 users here now

Looking for an image subreddit with minimal rules? Check out /r/images

A place to share interesting photographs and pictures. Feel free to post your own, but please read the rules first (see below), and note that we are not a catch-all for general images (of screenshots, comics, etc.)

Spoiler code

Please mark spoilers like this:
[text here](/spoiler)

Hover over to read.

Rules

  1. No screenshots, or pictures with added or superimposed text. This includes image macros, comics, info-graphics and most diagrams. Text (e.g. a URL) serving to credit the original author is exempt.

  2. No gore or porn. NSFW content must be tagged.

  3. No personal information. This includes anything hosted on Facebook's servers, as they can be traced to the original account holder. Stalking & harassment will not be tolerated.

  4. No solicitation of votes (including "cake day" posts), posts with their sole purpose being to communicate with another redditor, or [FIXED] posts. DAE posts go in /r/DoesAnybodyElse. "Fixed" posts should be added as a comment to the original image.

  5. Submissions must link directly to a specific image file or to an image hosting website with minimal ads. We do not allow blog hosting of images ("blogspam"), but links to albums on image hosting websites are okay. URL shorteners are prohibited.

  • If your submission appears to be filtered but definitely meets the above rules, please send us a message with a link to the comments section of your post (not a direct link to the image). Don't delete it as that just makes the filter hate you!

  • If you come across any rule violations, please report the submission or message the mods and one of us will remove it!

Please also try to come up with original post titles. Submissions that use certain clichés/memes will be automatically tagged with a warning.

Links

If your post doesn't meet the above rules, consider submitting it on one of these other subreddits:

Comics  
/r/comics /r/webcomics
/r/vertical /r/f7u12
/r/ragenovels /r/AdviceAtheists
Image macros Screenshots/text
/r/lolcats /r/screenshots
/r/AdviceAnimals /r/desktops
/r/Demotivational /r/facepalm (Facebook)
/r/reactiongifs /r/DesktopDetective
Wallpaper Animals
/r/wallpaper /r/aww
/r/wallpapers /r/cats
The SFWPorn Network /r/TrollingAnimals
  /r/deadpets
  /r/birdpics
  /r/foxes
Photography Un-moderated pics
/r/photography /r/AnythingGoesPics
/r/photocritique /r/images
/r/HDR
/r/windowshots
/r/PictureChallenge
Misc New reddits
/r/misc /r/britpics
/r/gifs Imaginary Network
/r/dataisbeautiful /r/thennnow
/r/picrequests /r/SpecArt
/r/LookWhoIMet
  /r/timelinecovers
  /r/MemesIRL
  /r/OldSchoolCool
  /r/photoshopbattles

Also check out http://irc.reddit.com

a community for

reddit is a source for what's new and popular online. vote on links that you like or dislike and help decide what's popular, or submit your own! learn more ›

top 200 commentsshow 500

[–]scottkelly[S] 2111 points2112 points ago

[–]qwertyazerty 1141 points1142 points ago

Holy shit. Press photo of the year?

[–]menkar 987 points988 points ago

Pulitzer prize for sure. That's once in a lifetime photo.

[–]imsabbel 586 points587 points ago

I do not think anybody has EVER shot such a series of images before.

You got the before, the exact point of the impact (milliseconds!), and the aftermath.

Plus, of course, the surreal image of the detonation. Unreal.

edit: Take a look at the pants of the guy in the front. The exposure times seems to be at leat 10-20 ms, enough time for the shockwave to blast the fabric against his leg, leaving a ghost image of the pants from the milliseconds before the arrival.

[–]menkar 164 points165 points ago

I wonder if these are stills from a video. The timing of each shot is almost too perfect.

[–]heldtalex 122 points123 points ago

I believe he was filming. "I was filming a feature on life on the frontlines of Aleppo, Syria."

[–]MeAndMyArmy 73 points74 points ago

. . .and by he you mean she https://twitter.com/tracey_shelton

[–]MercurialMadnessMan 36 points37 points ago

"The blast are frames from a DSLR video"

[–]Duffong 14 points15 points ago

I had no idea you could extract images with such quality from DSLR videos.

[–]monopixel 8 points9 points ago

I talked to some camera guys who shoot music videos for a living and they told me DSLR cameras are the standard tool for their work because cheap and good quality. Their rig looked kinda like this.

[–]mporco511 3 points4 points ago

DSLR's capture pretty crisp images - but they also depend on the lens and body you're using. Since they record in true HD (1080p), the largest image size you can grab is 1920x1080 - which isn't that great but for the web, it's more than enough.

[–]acog 0 points1 point ago

Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering why a photographer was burning camera memory by doing burst mode snaps of a mundane scene (since she had no idea what was about to go down).

[–]Hight5 120 points121 points ago

Correction is nice, but the attitude isn't needed.

[–]VoiceOfInternet_haha 33 points34 points ago

That's an SRS paddlin'.

[–]D0J0 11 points12 points ago

[–]menkar 4 points5 points ago

Thank you.

[–]hipstergrandpa 20 points21 points ago

some cameras can take a burst of several pictures in a split second. they're commonly used in sports and photojournalism because it takes too long to set up every single shot. so once you have a good configuration, it's easier to just fire away and pick the best of the bunch. in this case it looks like this was in the middle of a burst of pictures.

absolutely astounding set of pictures.

[–]GrimLePun 21 points22 points ago

From what I can tell (considering the video within the link), it could very well be stills from a video. And I'd much rather see stills than the full video...

... Says the decency in me. The morbid side of me wants to see the video.

[–]menkar 21 points22 points ago

Nothing morbid about wanting to see what happened. Better to be informed than be ignorant.

[–]GrimLePun 28 points29 points ago

Maybe it's because of the way I took to the internet. I know there are things I cannot un-see, and if I were to see 4 people smiling in one scene, and then 3 of them being blown to bits in the next, and then the last survivor's spirit crumbling before my eyes, it would kill me inside somewhat.

I could be "informed", but that's because it's an internet culture of grabbing information through quick posts and searches. It's always at our (those with access to unrestricted internet) fingertips.

With that said, another video on the internet of people dying isn't going to hurt me. Gimme that link.

[–]Awkward_Pingu 18 points19 points ago

That's the spirit! Being dead inside isn't nearly as bad as they make it out to be!

[–]a_hundred_boners 5 points6 points ago

moreso being a sheltered youth with too much spare time than dead inside

[–]Neebat 0 points1 point ago

The video would be huge or you'd lose the detail that makes these images so amazing.

[–]GrimLePun 0 points1 point ago

I've always been interested in stories told through photos. The mind fills the gaps, especially when you've seen many films. That's probably why I liked "La Jetée" and other shorts that accomplish the same format, like this short from BriTANicK.

[–]imsabbel 27 points28 points ago

Hm. Possibly. The relatively long shutter speed and deep field of view supports this.

On the other hand, the horizontal line a little below the middle of the image could be a shutter artifact, which would point towards a DSLR.

If you look at the series, than it seems this pic as a different exposure than the one before, a sign for still images. But on the other hand, the images are certainly post processed, so it could be frames from a video.

Edit: Now convinced that it is video. Aspect ratio, shutter time, DOF, etc all fit together. And extrapolating, picture 4 in the series is likely either the next frame or the one after that.

[–]ookiisask 16 points17 points ago

You can film with DLSRs. A lot of them take high-res video by means of rapid image capture.

[–]_xiphiaz 20 points21 points ago

Yes, but the when filming with a DSLR the shutter curtain is not doing anything.

[–]twonineteen 7 points8 points ago

Also, 16x9 aspect ratio. Why would someone crop photos this badass to 16:9?

Also, he says he was filming.

[–]nova77 -1 points0 points ago

[–]menkar 1 point2 points ago

"shutter artifact" Possibly. Kind of like a when you don't synch a flash to the correct shutter speed?

All the images have quit a bit of motion blur in them. I doubt he would've been shooting shots with that much blur on purpose.

[–]whichgame 3 points4 points ago

According to her twitter "The blast frames are from a DSLR video."

[–]Mugros 7 points8 points ago

The exposure times seems to be at leat 10-20 ms

Let's call it ... video

[–]HardCoreModerate 1 point2 points ago

I do not think anybody has EVER shot such a series of images before.

and you would be wrong. Every war correspondent in every war has gotten such images. You need only look through the plethora of images available form Vietnam & Cambodia alone.

EDIT: fuck the downvote... look at this link and then suck my ass because I am right.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/alleyes/content/vietnam-war-ended-april-30-1975-23-images

[–]Jack_McCoy 14 points15 points ago

Wow, firstly calm down about a downvote, secondly that link has nothing like what the post you replied to was talking about.

[–]D0J0 16 points17 points ago

Unfortunately, it cost three men their lives.

You're right though—she does deserve the Pulitzer Prize.

[–]wwwords 6 points7 points ago

YES—and luckily not the last photo for Tracey Shelton.
She's an amazing multimedia journalist.

Check out her Photo Gallery & Video Gallery here.

[–]rasputine 21 points22 points ago

Literally, for the subjects.

[–]Robotphallus 19 points20 points ago

The one man aiming a RPG....it's a real great snapshot of war and life on the margins.

[–]ngamau 291 points292 points ago

This should be upvoted to the top. The sequence is so powerful. One minute these guys are laughing and hanging out. The next all but one and the reporter are dead.

[–]Maxables 238 points239 points ago

And these people aren't soldiers. Hell, they might just be neighbors. Picking up AK's and RPG's, going against tanks.

Utter insanity.

[–]POTATO_ANAL_ETC 152 points153 points ago

This shit is fucking heartbreaking.

[–]i_heart_rocks 88 points89 points ago

They fought for what they felt to be worthy of their lives, acknowledge their bravery.

[–]Stonna 34 points35 points ago

The guy with the smile looks like someone who I could have a conversation with. Its horrible

[–]JimiFin 18 points19 points ago

Most likely all are related. Survivor is in shock. Bad dream.

[–]jasontimmur 20 points21 points ago

Pretty much whenever I hear or read about soldiers describing their experiences, it's all summed up:

war is hell.

[–]zap-throwaway- 41 points42 points ago

"War is not hell... for in hell, innocence is spared"

[–]bandkamp 2 points3 points ago

War.....war never changes

[–]crosswalknorway 10 points11 points ago

It is, very powerful... Try, ugh... try picturing the people you love the most there, instead of the rebels. Immerse yourself, for a moment, in the scene. You are the cameraman, those are your friends, your family, etc...

I dare you to not feel different about war after that. To someone, these people those people you thought about. Now they are gone.

I pictured a few of my friends, and my sister. I couldn't do it for more than a moment, it literally hurt me.

Pain.

[–]SkaterDrew 27 points28 points ago

This picture is... well extremely powerful, you can see the outline of the man with the red t-shirt moments before he is killed.

:(

[–]Phallindrome 29 points30 points ago

The shockwave is what kills him; he is already dead in this still.

[–]Dupshflayh 7 points8 points ago

Still a powerful image. The images right before shows him supporting his buddy holding an RPG, and mere milliseconds later, they both perish. At least they went quickly, and that a camera captured it is incredible.

[–]tomdarch 21 points22 points ago

That series seems like a much more realistic depiction of what goes on in these situations. Imagine if you only saw the first and the last images? That seems to be what we usually see. The fraction of a second when these three lives ended is the crucial element of the "story." I don't need to see that sort of imagery again (and I'm glad I've never had to see that in real ife like so many in the military have), but I'm glad that I have a more reality-based understanding of what really goes on for these people.

[–]skin_diver 15 points16 points ago

What's also insane about it is that even the soldiers on the ground don't really get to see the moment when the shell hits. They experience the calm of the morning, the tense seconds before, and the confusion and misery of the aftermath, but in real time no one ever sees that instant where all hell breaks loose. That's what's so awesome about this image. You see fire consuming these men as they stand there, almost calmly, and their brains are destroyed before they even have a chance to process what happened.

[–]JollyRancherReminder[!] 233 points234 points ago

I recommend starting at the bottom and scrolling up, Vonnegut-style.

Edit: here is the full quote from Slaughterhouse Five

American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses, took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation. The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.

When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again. The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby, Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn't in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.

[–]juicycunts 44 points45 points ago

sad man without friends get's a bunch of friends in a huge puff of smoke and fire.

[–]Daylow 4 points5 points ago

Slaughterhouse Five should be required reading for ever Republican in America. And every Democrat too,,,,,

[–]cosmo2k10 40 points41 points ago

. *everyone

[–]Daylow 4 points5 points ago

Agreed, along with All Quiet on the Western Front, which also shows how much fun WAR ain’t.

[–]snapperh3ad 12 points13 points ago

This is one of the saddest things I've ever seen/read.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

I wish they put stuff like this in the papers here in the U.S.

[–]Jables237 37 points38 points ago

Amazing. Thank you!

[–]scottkelly[S] 55 points56 points ago

I couldn't believe it when I first saw it..

[–]Jables237 6 points7 points ago

Was kind of disappointed that it was filmed but that still doesn't make it astonishing.

*Edit: Only because I thought it was a photograph snapped at the exact time.

[–]solargatorade 13 points14 points ago

Why is this downvoted? The author herself says that this is video stills, not photos. There was no "exact moment" serendipity, it was being filmed and the stills were capped after the fact.

[–]WhyAmINotStudying 2 points3 points ago

People tend to vote in the direction of a downvoted comment unless they find evidence to support upvoting it. Your comment may be a turning point for the comment. Redditors from this point will give the comment more consideration and may decide to upvote it. I know I did.

Of course, redditors may also just decide they don't feel his comment brings enough content to the thread and downvote it anyway.

[–]rockin_aes 4 points5 points ago

Don't mind the downvotes. The hivemind hates the truth.

[–]LoSkee 34 points35 points ago

This series of photos is so profound...Death in bloom.

[–]AQUA2 9 points10 points ago

Horrific...

[–]zeebious 8 points9 points ago

that's raw as shit...they're not even wincing. they don't even know they've just been struck by a tank shell.

[–]myheadhurts1 5 points6 points ago

Great photos

[–]lurkerludwig99 5 points6 points ago

Thank you for posting this. It is still amazing to think that life can be erased just like that, all that years that passed since you were born and then... gone. By what? Things like that.

The value of life can sometimes be undervalued; but things like this makes people look at himself/herself and maybe somehow reflect about his and her value more.

[–]dactyif 9 points10 points ago

It almost looks like it distorted time and space...

[–]Afrodgiak 6 points7 points ago

These are unreal shots, speechless

[–]qtrWhileOne 3 points4 points ago

Dammit that first picture broke my heart. :(

[–]treydestepheno 476 points477 points ago

so, we're looking at people a fraction of a second away from being torn to pieces?

[–]scottkelly[S] 346 points347 points ago

Three of the four. I added the photo-set in the comments

[–]King_Ignatz 225 points226 points ago

Really cuts deep, doesn't it? I've only seen something like this once before. It's a picture of a suicide bomber attack in Sri Lanka.

EDIT: I found a series of pictures from the video of the attack. NSFL, I guess, it's people dying.

[–]eaghman 83 points84 points ago

Holy shit

[–]Ag-E 8 points9 points ago

Dead and they didn't even know it.

[–]acmercer 50 points51 points ago

Here's the vid. Probably NSFW/L etc.

[–]jevan96 19 points20 points ago

That's really fucking scary and sad

[–]joekry21[!] 9 points10 points ago

I watched that with a straight face. I feel like the Internet was taken all of my emotions.

[–]leftsideofthelane 14 points15 points ago

I can't even express what I'm feeling right now. Those stills are some of the most powerful images I have ever seen.

[–]Cossil 5 points6 points ago

That's from a video. Quite powerful.

[–]BWalker19 3 points4 points ago

Isnt there any more stills? The video cant just suddenly stop there

[–]King_Ignatz 7 points8 points ago

Here's the actual video. The camera moves immediately after the bomb goes off. Any more stills would just be of the ground.

EDIT: Whoops, acmercer already has it covered.

[–]acmercer 2 points3 points ago

No worries, 3 minutes apart ;)

[–]Phobophilic 4 points5 points ago

I wish both that I hadn't clicked that link for the series of photos, and 'glad' that I did. It can be frightening the cruelty and pain we are willing to inflict upon one another, but seeing the destruction actualizes my sympathy, a desire to help those similarly affected, and to stop everything like this in a way that a news report never could.

[–]Alcoway 3 points4 points ago

What's crazy, to me, is how 'fake' they look in sequence - if I didn't have the context saying that those photos were real, I'd have thought they were poorly edited.

[–]duckstick 16 points17 points ago

I don't think they were dismembered. From the look of the aftermath, they were most likely killed by shrapnel or the power of the shock wave.

[–]demalo 31 points32 points ago

Probably not torn to pieces, more like concussed to death. Explosives don't have to blow people up, they just need to liquify organs from extreme pressure changes and/or molecular vibrations.

[–]ochie430 90 points91 points ago

This gave me chills. Thanks for posting this.

[–]excommunicated 104 points105 points ago

Want more chills? Look at the set again. The guy smiling in the first picture there? He's dead now. He's covered in a sheet in the last picture.

Fucking hell.

[–]matrael 60 points61 points ago

It's killing me that his 17 year old brother is also dead. Obliterated. Gone in the blink of an eye.

[–]NaoYuno 43 points44 points ago

The worst part about it all is that they were smiling and joking moments before, like it was "normal."

[–]excommunicated 57 points58 points ago

Expand it further. Them waking up that day, chatting with families and friends. Growing up. Love and hate, happiness and anger... and boom. Just over.

Shit like that is why I get so pissed off when people offhandedly joke about war or violence. "They deserve it", or "It's not our problem", or any other number of things... these are actual people with lives who are being killed. We feel like our worlds are ending when a pet dies, imagine even the shadow of what that has to be like for them.

[–]builderb 12 points13 points ago

Some people on reddit actually argued that war is good for technological advancement, that war drives science and human knowledge forward. It pisses me off that people are so accustomed to the idea of war that they see it as having positive aspects, that war is an acceptable way to solve problems and resolve disagreements. That's like arguing that war is a good thing because it provides the opportunity for good, brave, honorable people to demonstrate the depths of their courage and valor in battle. I'm sorry but I'd prefer to have the best and brightest the world has to offer working for peaceful endeavors rather than risking their lives trying to blow shit up. And I'm sure that they'd do more good living a long life dedicated to those peaceful endeavors than if they'd spend it firing a gun for a while before getting blasted to pieces by a mortar round. I'm sure that if all the money and human energy spent thinking of better ways to destroy each other was instead spent on peaceful scientific research, humanity would be far better off. I'm also sure that by saying this I'll be accused, again, of being some damn unicorns-and-rainbows hippy.

[–]excommunicated 8 points9 points ago

With every view there is a grain of truth.

Don't take this to mean I support war, but simply that when you totally disregard the human side of it there are benefits. Jobs for people, unity against a common foe, etc etc... this outlook only functions when you disregard the human cost (and many do) but we have to acknowledge the advantages.

We have to acknowledge those advantages because they help us see why people think that way. Imagine for a moment yourself without any type of feelings for human life. Totally disregard that, they're peasants or enemies, it doesn't matter. Now add in the fact that you will not be asked to be put at any risk, and in fact will be thanked as a leader.

Now, with that mindset, what does war offer?

It's horrible, but we have to recognize it if we want to prevent it. Add to that we're so colored by a history of war that it's hard to imagine not 'needing' it. Our economy in the US would crash if we stopped all military spending.

[–]SkaterDrew 22 points23 points ago

This quote:

From left to right: Issa Aiash, 30, father of three, his young brother Ahmed, 17, and Sheihk Mamoud, 42, father of a newborn son, laugh and joke as they clean their post Saturday.

fuck war.

[–]cuddlesy 43 points44 points ago

The reporter, Tracey Shelton, has been through some incredible shit - do a quick search of her name. She's been robbed, badly beaten, and more, from Iraq to Libya to Syria, all in the name of reporting.

[–]speedpop 12 points13 points ago

A true journalist.

[–]paranoiajack 246 points247 points ago

2012 Pulitzer for Photojournalism, right there.

[–]Fagel88 80 points81 points ago

Is it still eligible even though it is a frame from a video rather then a true photograph?

[–]lurker_becomes_lurkd 197 points198 points ago

It's too late. He already awarded it.

[–]paranoiajack 50 points51 points ago

Okay, so I googled, and the rules states "restricted to still images", which is kind of vague, so I'd say that if the video still gets published as a still in a newspaper (hardcopy or online), it would be eligible. There are no rules about how the image is captured.

PDF WARNING: Pulitzer Guidelines

[–]Orange_Astronaut 2 points3 points ago

From their guidelines, it would be accepted. And I haven't seen anything that really compares to these photos in terms of emotion and intensity, so it has to be a shoe-in for the prize, in my opinion.

[–]paranoiajack 22 points23 points ago

That's a good question. I shall google.

[–]C_IsForCookie 2 points3 points ago

It's been 53 minutes. This guy got lost. He's probably looking at images of cats.

[–]xavier-94 3 points4 points ago

Are you sure it's from a video? Seems like a very detailed still if it is from a video

[–]Remnants 7 points8 points ago

Modern DSLRs can do 1080p video recording, which this probably was.

[–]nileswine 100 points101 points ago

Profoundly sad and moving.

[–]thoriorium 20 points21 points ago

It says in the caption that the person holding the RPG is 17 years old. This is downright chilling.

[–]Dolomite808 238 points239 points ago

Not to be morbid, but posts like this are why I'm subbed to r/pics. Thanks for posting, OP.

[–]Soonermandan 82 points83 points ago

Agreed. It's important to know what's going on outside our safe little bubbles, however gruesome the truth may be.

[–]CaribbeanZedNinja 42 points43 points ago

Three Dog, coming at you live from the Wasteland.

[–]Reesch 8 points9 points ago

That's why we tend to not like the truth.

[–]Eat_a_Bullet 5 points6 points ago

Your statement is true, therefore I hate it.

[–]NoNeedForAName 5 points6 points ago

Nothing wrong to be here hoping to see what may be the best photo of the year.

[–]Explodian 2 points3 points ago

Definitely. It's nice to see something sobering, profound, tragic and altogether informative amidst a sea of superficial things.

EDIT: "Nice" is probably a weird word choice. I appreciate being exposed to things like this as it increases my understanding of the rest of the world.

[–]lord_darjeeling 78 points79 points ago

Sad? Yes. Horrific? Yes. Pulitzer worthy? Yes, but I think we are missing the fact that not only does this set of images show war, and the tag along death, but those men's final moments as living, breathing, feeling beings. That explosion was their life, they were fighting for what they felt deep inside themselves, powerful thought to know that will be the last feeling they felt.

[–]Jakoman7 0 points1 point ago

This is the only comment on this thread to truly give me chills.

[–]DrSmoke 2 points3 points ago

These sorts of pics always remind me of this: Scene from Stargate

"Well that bullet would of hit me, should of hit me."

You know.. I once did a piece on this war photographer, His name's Martin Kristofsky. For about six months he was with a unit in Vietnam and the day before he was schedule to leave. The day before.. he's out with the unit and it was just a routine patrol or so they thought but suddenly, the Lieutenant pulled him down and Kristophzky hadn't intended to take a picture at that moment but his hands were on the camera and he hit the ground so hard that it just went off. And the picture captured the Lieutenant getting shot in the head and Kristophzky said to me, "Well that bullet would of hit me, should of hit me." And he never showed that picture to anyone. Not for 25 years, but 25 years later he got up one morning and he looked at that picture and he saw something that wasn't horrific and he decided to tell the story because he realized that he hadn't accidentally taken a picture of a man dying. It was of a man saving his life. The picture I'm making, that I'm trying to make is about what you people do every single day. Under extreme circumstances that no one can even imagine and I don't know what happened out there, I'm sorry about whatever it was and if you did tape something of it.. that's not gonna change what happened. What it will change is how you feel about it.

I couldn't find the video clip. But is a powerful episode. Heroes part 2.

[–]liberal_texan 42 points43 points ago

That silly office chair is what does it for me. The rest of the image is all warfare. It is a beautiful snapshot of a moment in time that I will most likely never have to experience. It tells a story, but one that is entirely foreign to me.

Then there's that chair. It's practically indistinguishable from the chair I'm sitting in as I look at this image of imminent carnage. It takes this otherworldly tale and overlays it on my day to day life, on my mundane. It's a small surreal element that adds a terrifying edge to what would otherwise just be beautiful and exciting.

Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

[–]Alyssian 11 points12 points ago

Who are soldiers, but men just doing their job? Who are rebels, but people believing in a cause? The difference between them and us is merely time and space.

[–]bowmop 17 points18 points ago

What happened to the tank? Did it just shoot and drive off? I’m just curious.

[–]nomofica 9 points10 points ago

Probably.

[–]No_Morals 3 points4 points ago

Actually, yes. They're doing rolling raids all over aleppo, they really just drive by and shoot the place up. They don't check to see if there are any innocent bystanders or children around when they blow up homes, either.

[–]bonerific69 2 points3 points ago

Me too.. I'm assuming there are some sort of barricades though; I've seen in other videos how tanks sort of cruise around a certain route and fire but don't close in.

[–]manimator 24 points25 points ago

made a quick gif for those who are as morbidly fascinated as I am...

<http://i.imgur.com/f4iz6.gif

[–]Swatman 0 points1 point ago

this needs to be upvoted to the top.

[–]chuchuy 2 points3 points ago

Thank you! I couldn't see the other photos on my phone.

[–]Macbethdvs 37 points38 points ago

Sorry, was this an attack by the Syrian government? Who?

[–]scottkelly[S] 57 points58 points ago

Well they're Syrian Rebels, so yes, the Syrian Army are attacking them.

[–]success_whale 5 points6 points ago

Just asking but did you take these photos or find them?

Edit: I'm getting downvoted for asking the guy about the photos? I just wanted to know if he took them or found them.

[–]Paclac 9 points10 points ago

Found them.

[–]dt3ft 17 points18 points ago

A very similar thing happened in Bosnia. A tank shell hits the apartment building (I was in the basement). The shell enters the apartment where a husband and wife were just beside a cooking stove, preparing a meal I guess. The husband shows up in the basement a few minutes after the shell impact. He stands, covered in dust from the concrete/bricks. The expression on his face that day is the same he had years later when I met him while serving in the Bosnian military. He was a cook there. I found out later that day that his wife was beheaded by the shell. They had one child which was with us in the basement (safe area). I think I was around 10 years old back then. Fuck wars.

[–]Okipro 7 points8 points ago

The 4th picture after the explosion the guy on the left, you can still see him holding his friends shoulder. Choked up a bit. Wonder if there was no time to react or he just knew.

[–]defendsjournalism 7 points8 points ago

what a shame that you stripped this one image out of the context of a brilliant series of images on global post.

not every photo needs to go on imgur.

[–]andrewsmith1986 95 points96 points ago

Whoa.

You should post this to /r/PerfectTiming

This is milliseconds from death for most if not all of those men.

[–]Vaskre 35 points36 points ago

All but one, if you didn't catch the full set.

[–]BimmerAddict 4 points5 points ago

Pretty sure the guy was recording and these are just stills from said recording.

[–]chethaze 7 points8 points ago

that's an awesome subreddit.

[–]sljepi 11 points12 points ago

These are amazing photographs, I haven't seen anything like this. It made me think about the fragility of life. Fuck....

[–]Hamilton5M 27 points28 points ago

Freedom is bought not with the lives of anonymous soldiers, but paid for with the lives of

Brothers

Sons

And the tears of mothers

[–]ser_dhusti 0 points1 point ago

That's very true. I think of the sum of all my memories, fears, hopes and dreams, thoughts and perceptions, and realize that I'm not uniquely sentient; every dead man or woman has been just as aware and alive as I am now.

"Its a funny thing, killin a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have."

[–]Dovecot 10 points11 points ago

Fuck the Pulitzer. This shit is horrible.

[–]WhyDontHobos 2 points3 points ago

Yeah! And fuck the reporter for risking her life to let people like you and me see how good we really have it!

[–]PossiblyPossible 3 points4 points ago

Too bad the leaders of the Syrian rebels are almost as bad as if not worse than the leader of the current government.

[–]DankBeard 136 points137 points ago

I wonder how different US foreign policy would be if we had a photo sequence like this for every target that was hit by a predator drone. This is amazingly sad and powerful, thanks for posting. I hope a peaceful resolve is found quickly for the people of Syria.

EDIT: Downvote? This does not relate to the submission?

[–]Nathan_Explosion- 77 points78 points ago

Complaining about downvotes? You've been around for a year, you should know better. Downvotes will always happen, no matter how relevant or great your post is. Some people just downvote. Ignore them, move on.

[–]Dracula7899 7 points8 points ago

Yes because Syrian rebels are certainly the same as the people targeted by predator drones. I mean the Taliban and Al Qaeda are just freedom fighters right?

[–]dickcheney777 7 points8 points ago

It would be badass. I want to see some good effect on target.

[–]deltefknieschlaeger 17 points18 points ago

The downvotes happen - exactly as you imply - because people do not like to get reminded on the other side of the medallion. Aka - freedom fighters terrorists that are getting killed on a daily basis in Jemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, and so on.

Also - if you follow the video link - you´ll see the war of images again (Assad kills babys)

[–]JohnCavil 18 points19 points ago

I dont think it's because people dont like to get reminded, but because we consider these guys good, but terrorists in Afghanistan bad. There is no need to pretend that these things are the same, they arent. Somali pirates do not fight for freedom, and terrorists in Yemen/Iraq/Pakistan kill many innocent people. It's not just black and white, but surely you cant just say that the Syrian uprising and terrorists in Afghanistan are the same thing.

[–]ARONDH 11 points12 points ago

I wonder if you'd actually appreciate what was going on, and why that drone's operator did what they did. Believe it or not, we don't drop bombs without thinking of who will be affected by them. Civilian casualties are always mitigated to as much of an extreme as we can make it. War is not for consumption through the internet. War is hell, and if you want to be safe, war is necessary.

[–]mazing_azn 14 points15 points ago

Yes but the general public doesn't know. It's numbers read off by a anchor and maybe a picture of a map in the corner of the screen. War should be hell, and everyone who is paying tax dollars to fund it should see what kind of hell it is.

[–]ARONDH 8 points9 points ago

If the general public wants to know what war is like, they can damned well do what I did, and join. The very second we accept that war is a democratic function, is the same second that we lose the ability to be effective in a war. You elect the people who declare war (Congress). If you want to stop one, actually do something about it, also with Congress. Don't complain and post facebook activist status'. What happened to those people in the pictures is sad, but not tragic. Thats what happens in war, and people have died in wars that were for less than revolution.

[–]ripcord22 4 points5 points ago

But isn't having a voice, speaking out, educating, persuading, demonstrating etc a "democratic function". Without dissenting views how can a democracy function? Without an informed public how can a democracy function?

[–]DankBeard 6 points7 points ago

f the general public wants to know what war is like, they can damned well do what I did, and join.

As someone who has done this, I would not recommend it to anyone. Having remorse for what our own brothers and sisters go through does not alleviate the pain and suffering we cause overseas. If anything, we would want to stop the suffering of our own soldiers also, wouldn't we? What is worse than murdering people overseas and spending a lifetime trying to find an answer why? Depleted Uranium, Gulf War Syndrome, our soldiers are not taken good care of.

[–]big_bad_brownie 3 points4 points ago

This wouldn't be an issue if the opposite depiction wasn't so prevalent. We're spoon-fed action movies, video games and tv shows that regularly glorify and romanticize violence. The US army ran an ad that basically went along the lines of "Like video games? Why not play an fps for real?" With all of the bullshit notions of what war is, an actual glimpse into the brutality is more than necessary.

[–]mazing_azn 2 points3 points ago

My Bottom line. Voters should understand the ramifications of what they have voted for. Unprecedented technology opens that to a level never before heard of. Show them the true cost of supporting or not-supporting. Show'm the aftermath of the drone strikes. Show them the aftermath of a Reconstruction Team building wells etc etc. Anything better is than a stock-footage with easily digestible easily forgetable sound-byte.

[–]Mookiie2005 11 points12 points ago

Could you imagine if Canada blew up a house in Ohio that had "terrorist" in it and ONE us child was killed? Drone strikes would stop. Until the American people value the lives of other countries men as much as their own the fighting will never stop.

[–]DankBeard 6 points7 points ago

I wonder if you'd actually appreciate what was going on, and why that drone's operator did what they did.

I've spent the past few years researching what we're doing and why we're doing it extensively. The use of predator drones has become a method of state sanctioned assassination, and it is both unethical and internationally illegal. US foreign policy as of late has had nothing to do with morality or 'safety', it is more about special interest as much of it has been since the banana wars. Nothing is worth the death of the innocent or those our leaders deem worthy of death, especially when nobody, including yourself, can provide a rational reason justifying it. This was once a country based on the principles of law and the ability to be judged by peers prior to conviction. This no longer exists, as we have demonstrated lately which is best represented by the assassination of a 16-year old US citizen and his father; both isolated incidents including a third botched attempt which murdered 30 un-related people.

EDIT: I appreciate very much the self-less thoughts that those in the military give when they enlist. I only wish their services and dedication were used in a more ethical way. I also want to say that I am very sympathetic toward drone operators, since I have read many stories about their inability to emotionally process what they are doing. They see infrared images on their console, who knows if they're adults, kids, men, women. That brings up another huge concern regarding the ethics of predator drones: the ethics of 'disconnected' warfare.

[–]this_sort_of_thing 3 points4 points ago

It probably wouldn't be too different, I bet if you showed these pictures to the tank crew that did this they would celebrate. You don't understand how fucked up people can be.

[–]razorbit 2 points3 points ago

Amazing. And I just got back from the "where would you place a camera that could take a picture 50 years from now?" post.

[–]BeautifulGanymede 0 points1 point ago

Cue the Pulitzer cult of third world suffering to dispense a prize

[–]Pastaassassin 16 points17 points ago

Damn, shows you how much we take for granted in the western world, these are ordinary people fighting for their freedom. Right in the feels man, right in the feels.

[–]luctheman 6 points7 points ago

This is such a powerful photo. This person literally photographed death itself!

[–]SpinMyRiki 4 points5 points ago

looking at the sequence what kind of camera was that? considering the Pictures Per Second

[–]Korben__Dallas 5 points6 points ago

The article states that the author was filming a feature about the front lines. These may very well be single frames taken from a video.

[–]Brillie 4 points5 points ago

This is a legitimate question. It almost seems like this is filmed rather than photographed...why would the photographer decide to take a sequence of photos, instead of random shots, like if he knew what he was expecting?

[–]nerdgetsfriendly 4 points5 points ago

Edit: The images are probably stills from a video. [1] [2]


It seems the photographer was just aiming to capture the image of the rebels taking up their arms: "A call comes through that a tank was spotted nearby. The men immediately grab weapons. (Tracey Shelton - GlobalPost)"

I imagine that it is common for professional photographers working in dynamic settings to keep their cameras on burst mode. They can always just discard the worst snaps of the nearly instantaneous series.

It could also have been from a video, I don't know.

[–]plugsocketpoker 4 points5 points ago

This picture is haunting and profound. The fact that this is a split second before these men were vaporised leaves me speachless, and the rest of the set of photos completes the haunting imagery. Simply amazing.

[–]gloomdoom 9 points10 points ago

If this doesn't drive home the idea that war creates this idea of the disposable human, I don't know what would.

Think about it: You're joking and laughing one minute and the next minute you're completely gone with only your family to mourn and remember you.

Now granted, sometimes the only way to survive is to fight. But all too often, war is created by rich people to pit the poor vs. the poor. And you die for what? So that someone else can make profits off the system that drives you into battle and manufactures reasons and false evidence to fight?

That's the thing that burns the shit out of me with George W. Bush. This is a guy who created and fabricated a false reason to drive thousands of American lives...moms, dads, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters...with so many of them destroyed simply because of a war that was manufactured to generate billions in profits for his rich buddies.

That's it. All those lives, dreams, hopes, connections, loves...all lost for absolutely nothing in that case.

Bush knew the whole time when he was demanding that Iraq had WMD that they didn't really have them. And that was the fulcrum that started it all...this idea that they were going to attack 'freedoms' and ''democracies' if we didn't stop them now.

Granted, Hussein wasn't a nice guy. He killed people and he was ruthless. But is that a reason to sacrifice so many American lives to remove him from power in a country that didn't want him removed and treated our soldiers like dirt? All that did was create targets out of innocent civilians who thought they were simply defending their homeland. The same way you or I would take up arms if a foreign nation landed on our soil to protect it from invasion.

War is worse than hell. It actually exists and the waves of hopelessness and anger and suffering it sends strikes through so many people with each death and each injury. Think of how many mourn one single person who dies in battle and then multiply that by the amount of people who suffer from losing a loved one.

It's just dangerous in modern civilization whenever we demean and disrespect human life so much. It fits into this current narrative from the right that profits are infinitely more important than human lives. That's actually what they believe and promote. And so-called christians are rallying behind that idea?

They will fight and kill to make abortion illegal but they will gladly send over young adults to sacrifice them for absolutely no reason except for profits to be gained by a handful of very, very wealthy government contractors who depend on blood and war to maintain their luxurious lives.

This world is fucked up beyond belief when you actually examine it for what it is. It's depressing as fuck that war is such a casual consideration. Humans appear to have learned nothing from the past.

[–]blockhead123 0 points1 point ago

That's profound timing.

[–]damianTechPM 3 points4 points ago

Very profound set.

[–]Ikinhaszkarmakplx2 0 points1 point ago

I'll bet this will win the Pulitzer.

[–]Stonna 0 points1 point ago

This is horrible

[–]HypnoKraken 2 points3 points ago

Holy shit, this is a crazy photo and the whole album is even crazier.

Astonishing.

[–]BerryBadrenath 2 points3 points ago

What a profound series of photos. Makes me think how trivial the perceived problems in my life really are. Thanks for posting this OP.

[–]Eulenspiegel74 2 points3 points ago

I really, really wish I hadn't read the caption to the first pic.
Salem Aleikum you poor bastards. Salem Aleikum.

[–]Thesleepingspy 3 points4 points ago

Amazing how much it looks like art from Battlefield 3

[–]Yxz 0 points1 point ago

As a Syrian, this really touched me. Thanks for sharing the photo scottkelly.

[–]RickyRatchet 2 points3 points ago

She just tweeted "@jdavidgoodman The blast are frames from a DSLR video"

[–]senorfacepalm 6 points7 points ago

Damn. This shit makes me wonder why the fuck we have to kill each other... what the fuck humanity?? We need an alien invasion or some catastrophic event of some kind to unite our goddamn species and paradigm shift from competition to cooperation with each other. Alien invaders, get the fuck over here so we can unite and kick your ass.

[–]gruzi 22 points23 points ago

do you not understand what the politics surrounding the war are? do you understand that wars aren't things that people do for fun? that your own perspective is naive and born of western privilege and national success?

[–]Ca1amity 12 points13 points ago

I hope you're not also of the opinion that the nascent Syrian civil war is a clear case of a right side vs a wrong one. Because it isn't. Assad may be worse placed on the scales but the Syrian Rebels are hardly an unblemished group. In fact as an average citizen I wouldn't want either side to win.

[–]NightChimp 1 point2 points ago

Wow. R.I.P. such a shame

[–]bonerific69 10 points11 points ago

No one else thinks this is really fucked up? God, people just killing each other like this really puts how stupid wars are into perspective.

Why can't we be friends..

[–]R0CKET_B0MB 46 points47 points ago

They are fighting for what they believe in, and that is freedom for their family, friends and neighbours.

Talking can only get you so far, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.

[–]LeonardNemoysHead 9 points10 points ago

Everyone thinks this is really fucked up, but nobody's willing to do anything about it. Worse still, that Syria is primed for a stalemate in a way that Libya couldn't even imagine.

[–]The_Adventurist 5 points6 points ago

No one else thinks this is really fucked up?

Yes, that's the standard reaction. That's why people are interested in this picture. Where on earth did you get the idea that people didn't think this picture is fucked up?

[–]BackwerdsMan 5 points6 points ago

These people are fighting for their freedom, and the freedom of their people from a tyrannical gov't. How fucking dare you call that stupid. At least they are out there fighting for something they believe in.

You fuckin keyboard hippies drive me nuts.

Some wars may be stupid... But war is not stupid. In many cases, it is a necessity for survival.

[–]TokiBumblebee 8 points9 points ago

Take a good look. All those men are dead.

[–]scottkelly[S] 61 points62 points ago

[–]dubdubdubdot 5 points6 points ago

The light of life is so bright but can be snuffed out in an instant.

[–]RocKiNRanen 2 points3 points ago

It's so sad, it's like they don't even realize it yet.

[–]birdmansenior 0 points1 point ago

the only survivor also happens to be wearing nikes

[–]Theartiswrong 3 points4 points ago

That was a pretty crappy anti-tank position.