Reuters presents the 500 most impactful photographs of the last 40 years in a new book

'In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism', published by Thames & Hudson, celebrates an era of iconic photography

Hannah Silver's avatar
By
published
in Features
photo journalism
U.S. President Ronald Reagan shakes hands at his first meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to sign an arms treaty in Geneva, Switzerland. November 1985
(Image credit: Denis Paquin)

Over the last four decades, news agency Reuters have covered major events, spanning the Tank Man at Tiananmen Square to the 2008 financial crisis and Princess Diana's funeral. Now, In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism unites 500 key images, shown alongside text telling the story behind the picture.

photo journalism

An uplifting moment in London. June 2020

(Image credit: Dylan Martinez)

Since its launch in 1851, Reuters’ team of photographers around the world has grown exponentially, with its network now delivering 1,500,000 photographs annually. Alexia Singh, former Reuters Picture Editor and current Senior Lecturer in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communications, has sifted through the vast archive to present the most iconic recent images.

photo journalism

Greece. September 2015

(Image credit: Yannis Behrakis)

photo journalism

A bishop adjusts Pope Benedict XVI’s mantle during his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City. June 2010

(Image credit: Tony Gentile)

Divided into decades, the book begins in the 1980s, when photography encompassed film, mechanical cameras, chemical baths and landlines. Photographers were almost exclusively male (now one-third of Reuters photographers are female, according to the organisation) and images were heavily restricted in where and when they could be shared, in contrast to the sharp immediacy of today’s culture.

photo journalism

Nancy Allen stands outside her house as high winds push smoke and ash from the Currowan Fire towards Nowra, New South Wales, Australia. January 2020

(Image credit: Tracy Nearmy)

photo journalism

Iceland’s magic mountain. April 2010

(Image credit: Lucas Jackson)

In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism isn’t a chronological retelling of history so much as a curation of impactful photography. There is Pulitzer Prize winning photography here, but also the slow documenting of a world on the brink of massive change, marked by the end of the Cold War, the opening up of Eastern Europe, and the boom of financial markets and the dawning of a new, digital era.

waterstones.com

photo journalism

Peacemaking at the White House. September 1993

(Image credit: Rick Wilking)

photo journalism

People gather to get water from a well in the village of Natwarghad in Gujarat, India. June 2003

(Image credit: Amit Dave)

photo journalism

Relatives of kidnap victims hold a Kalashnikov rifle and clubs as they protest in front of a burnt-out car blocking the Galerie Semaan crossing between Muslim West and Christian East Beirut, Lebanon. January 1985

(Image credit: Ali Jarekji)

photo journalism

Attack on the U.S. Capitol. January 2021

(Image credit: Leah Millis)
Hannah Silver
Hannah Silver

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.