Bilder, die Geschichte schrieben

In the 20th and 21st centuries we are completely surrounded by visual images. Pictures have forced their way into all segments of our everyday life. They have become a central factor in our economy and our advertising, in politics and in war, in the news and in securing public areas. They have long become both a political weapon and a commercial path to earning billions. The 20th century has often been called the “Image Century” or the “Visual Era.” From the overwhelming flood of images there are a few that have taken on the status of being „icons.“ In the modern media society they are called media icons – they are repeatedly quoted and restaged, easily jump borders and become global icons in a digital era. In the present volume well-known scientists look at 33 selected media icons of the 20th and budding 21st century, beginning with Kaiser Wilhlem II, to the photo of soldier shot in the Spanish Civil War, to images of the destruction of 9/11.