The Most Famous Photographs of All Time (Worksheet for Intermediate level)
While preparing students for exams, from time to time teachers find it harder and harder to keep students engaged. They have to be very creative not to bore students to death by assigning the same activities all the time. Which type of task in speaking part is almost in every exam? That’s right, describing a picture. Students usually have to describe just random pictures. However, teachers can make this task more interesting by choosing some famous photos for students to talk about. In the presentation below, we have collected the world’s most famous photographs. Ask your students to describe them, guess the names and then reveal the real names of the photos.
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Teacher’s Notes: What would be considered a pending lawsuit by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today, was partly the norm during the early 20th century. Although the photo was taken as a part of a publicity stunt in 1932, it has stood the test of time as a depiction of life in early America. The photo intended to capture optimism of workers following the Great Depression. Featured on newspapers, this photo of workers lunch on a beam of an unfinished Rockefeller Center symbolized a bright future for the United States.
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Teacher’s Notes: Marking the joyous celebration following the victory of WWII, Alfred Eisenstaedt captured the euphoria felt by the US in 1945 with this picture. Sailor George Mendonsa planted a kiss on a complete stranger in Times Square, 21-year-old Greta Zimmer, and the two departed ways. What would be considered rather uncouth today, the image proliferated through American culture because of its link to post-war American prosperity.
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Teacher’s Notes: By the time Arthur Sasse captured this photograph, Albert Einstein was basking in the glory of being the smartest man in the world. His seminal achievement is his theory of relativity, which eventually led to the greatest destructive force the world has ever seen. After the war, Einstein taught at Princeton and acquired many quirky idiosyncrasies—likely dealing with the crushing nature of human existence. On his 72nd birthday in 1951, a photograph taken by Arthur Sasse froze this image in time—and the world is ever thankful. The original print and negatives were sold at auction for a lofty $72,300, and unlicensed reprints spread like wild-fire.
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Teacher’s Notes: Photographer Sam Shaw managed to capture the most distinctive photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the set of Seven Year Itch. The 50s were a different time, this photograph partly took off because of its scandalous feature of the dress wafting above Monroe’s knees. The story behind 1954’s Flying Skirt photograph sadly downplays its candid and spontaneous nature.
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Teacher’s Notes:This photograph initially featured on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. Steve McCurry walked through a refugee camp in Pakistan through a sea of tents and approached Sharbat Gula. The image became a sensation, her sea-green eyes entranced anyone who gazed across her face. McCurry reconnected with the Afghan Girl in 2002 and shared her story since the iconic photograph. Her more recent photographs tell the story of Pakistan, 23 years of war, 3.5 million refugees, and 1.5 million killed.
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Teacher’s Notes:Little did photographer Alberto Korda realize when it took two frames of Fidel Castro’s young associate, as an afterthought, that it would become such an iconic image. Upon his death 7 years later his portrait of Che Guevara would become the iconic image of rebellion and revolution for people around the world. Even still today it is prevalent in the Cuban culture and around the world. Controversial as Che was, whether you consider him a hero or a villain, the portrait stands the test of time.
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Вероника Аветисян 
Маргарита Аветисян 
