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It’s one thing to read about years gone by between the pages of a fascinating history book. But nothing brings the past back to life more than beautiful historical photographs. These moments frozen in time can tell us so much, without saying a word. And you don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate many of them.

As the name suggests, r/RareHistoricalPhotos showcases the lesser-seen photographs taken throughout the ages. It has more than 162,000 members, and publishes historical photographs, stories and interesting news. The page aims to revive the past, noting that stunning historical photographs can bring bygone eras back to life. We’ve put together our personal favorite pics shared by the community. Bored Panda also spoke to multi award-winning photographer Hollie Mateer about the role photography plays in preserving the past, and how she uses her unique storytelling style to document moments that can be appreciated for years to come.

#1 Sabina Chebichi, Kenyan Athlete Who Won A Race In 1973, Barefoot And Wearing A Dress

Image credits: ua-stena

#2 Remembering The Father, 1925

Image credits: funbunnyluv

#3 Dorothy Counts, The First Black Girl To Attend An All-White School In The U.S., Being Taunted By Her White Classmates At Harry Harding High School In Charlotte, 1957

Image credits: BadDecisionn

It’s hard to list all of Holly Mateer’s accolades. As the co-founder of M&G Wedding Photography, she’s made a name for herself as a trailblazing creative and a leader in the photography industry. Mateer specializes in documentary wedding photography and family photography, and has won several awards for her work.

Among the most recent are the “This Is Reportage International Wedding Photographer Of The Year 2023 & 2024” award and the “UK Wedding Photographer Of The Year 2024,” awarded by Masters Of Wedding Photography.

The woman also known as The Wild Child Photographer racked up 14 awards from This Is Reportage last year alone, and was named Number 1 on their Top 100 Photographers in the World 2024 list. So it’s an understatement to say that Bored Panda was thrilled to be able to chat to this phenomenal photographer.

#4 Rare Photograph Of Marilyn Monroe Without Makeup, 1955

Image credits: ua-stena

#5 Woman Inspecting This New Thing, The Security Belt In Her Car, Circa 1950s

Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13

#6 Republican Party Supporters And Democratic Party Supporters Fight With Snowballs In Front Of The Capitol. January 1921, Washington, USA

Image credits: ua-stena

“Photography captures moments in our world and records them for history,” Mateer told us during an enlightening interview. “It may be an amazing event, a famous person, the people in the street or just yourself quietly at home. It may be an elaborately staged or an unposed image. The photograph – whether it’s a print or a digital image – will be looked back on and will keep memories alive. It’s a window on the world and there’s nothing else quite like it.”

“A photograph can also depict things that went unseen at the time: a gesture, an expression, the fall of shadows on a wall,” says Mateer, adding that through her unique storytelling approach, she can reveal something new and unexpected to the viewers of her work.

#7 Until 1956, French Children Were Served Wine With Their School Lunch

Image credits: mistery_baby

#8 A Sailor “Meets” His Baby For The First Time After Fourteen Months At Sea, 1940s

Image credits: wildbunnytoy

#9 London, 1940, A Girl Sitting In The Wreckage Of Her Bombed-Out Home With Her Doll

Image credits: Agreeable_Border8734

We were curious to know how photography has evolved throughout history. “The norms of photographic portraiture stem from Victorian times when photography began. Then, over 150 years ago, due to the limitations of cameras, portrait subjects would have to sit very still, looking at the camera, for the long exposure time that was needed to capture the image. It was all very formal,” revealed Mateer.

“With the advent of small cameras and faster film from the 1930s onwards, another mode of photography, the informal, developed – families could take snapshots of their life. And of course, this also allowed photojournalists to capture images quickly and discreetly ‘out in the field.'”

#10 A Mother Repairs The Family Car While Her Husband Is Away At War, 1944

Image credits: chromaticaisle

#11 Barack Obama Dressed As A Pirate With His Mother Stanley Ann, 1960s

Image credits: ua-stena

#12 Lonnie Johnson, Inventor Of The Super Soaker, 1992

Image credits: Majoodeh

Mateer says that despite the advancement of photography, children are still often conditioned to respond in what she calls ‘a photo way’ – keep still, smile or don’t smile, look at the camera – in, for instance, school photographs. Family photos showing a group with two or three generations are still taken, she says, adding that the poses are usually a little more relaxed than in Victorian times.

She says these stoic, put-together poses don’t depict family life in a truly authentic way. And that’s why she’s made a name for herself as a wedding and family photographer who embraces the mess, so to speak…

“There is chaos, there is vibrancy, there is life and movement (a lot of movement – children rarely sit still!). So my photography reflects that and has more similarities to reportage and street photography – I’m not interested in portraits, or posing. For me, that doesn’t depict people as they really are.”

#13 Luzon Woman, 1875

Image credits: Sad-Bumblebee-3444

#14 Two Young Boys Standing Barefoot On Moving Electric Looms In Order To Reach The Top Shelf While At Work In A Cotton Mill In Georgia, 1910. Photos Of Child Laborers Working Long Hours In Dangerous Conditions Gradually Led To Child Labor Employment Laws

Image credits: reddit.com

#15 The Crew Of Apollo 1 Relaxing During Training, 1966. Sadly, A Cabin Fire Would Later Claim The Lives Of All Three Crew Members

On January 27, 1967, during a launch rehearsal at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34, a fire broke out, claiming the lives of all three astronauts: Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.

Image credits: Time-Training-9404

Mateer tells us that a huge part of what she documents at weddings is also about family. Unless the wedding is an elopement. “I’m always looking to capture those family moments at a wedding. Between parents, siblings, grandparents. I know those family moments are so important – the way I photograph a wedding isn’t all about the couple, it’s about the whole day and the interaction between people,” she says.

“The different sides of my photographic practice overlap – and more often than not, I’m documenting real, unscripted family moments. It’s an honor knowing those moments will be so important to my families, to my couples, to their families. They become a family heirloom.”

#16 Marcy Borders – “Dust Lady” After Escaping The North Tower Of The World Trade Center On 9/11. She Would Die Of Cancer At Age 42

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 Nancy Reagan Sitting On Mr T’s Lap, The White House, December 1983

Image credits: reddit.com

#18 “The Thousand Yard Stare”—USMC Private Theodore J. Miller Is Helped Aboard A Ship After Intense Combat On Eniwetok Atoll. Miller Was KIA A Month Later, 1944

Image credits: SweetJady8761

Mateer is a mom herself, so she’s fully aware of what daily life is like around children, and how to work with them. “When I photograph a family – my own, or someone else’s – I don’t pose people or stage an action,” she tells Bored Panda. “I don’t take portraits. I never ask a child to look at the camera – it takes them out of the moment.”

The expert says her aim is to photograph life as it occurs around her and to freeze moments of real family life. “I don’t want to stop a child from playing, or stop a family being themselves,” said Mateer. “I think documenting real family moments is so important – I know that I want to look back on all those happy moments, fun moments. But the chaotic moments and even some of those sad moments too. It’s all part of being a family.”

#19 Faces Of Auschwitz, 1940

Image credits: Nerussi

#20 7 Oct 1943, Ottla Kafka, Beloved Sister Of Author Franz Kafka, Was Gassed On Arrival At Auschwitz After Volunteering To Escort A Group Of Orphans From The Terezin Ghetto So They Wouldn’t Be Afraid

Image credits: Radiantt_Skies

#21 This Is One Of The Last Known Photographs Of John Cooper (Front), Who Died Under Mysterious Circumstances In 1973 While Climbing Aconcagua, The Highest Mountain In The Americas. This Photo Wasn’t Found Until 2020

The woman behind John in the image is Janet Johnson, who also died while climbing the mountain.

This photo was found on her camera, which was discovered on the mountain nearly 50 years after her death, in 2020.

Image credits: Time-Training-9404

Mateer’s advice to everyone is to document it all. You can never take too many photographs. “Portraits definitely have their place – but capturing real moments, of your children playing, having fun, being themselves, interacting with each other and yourselves… You’ll love looking back on those moments even more – because those will be the moments you miss as they grow up,” she said.

However, she adds that it doesn’t hurt to hire a professional now and again. “When documenting your own family, the person behind the camera is always missing from the photo. Looking back at the images, the person holding the camera is erased from the moment, forever,” she told us.

“A skilled and empathic documentary photographer can document real moments of the whole family – however big or small – capturing everyone together. No one misses out on the memory, no one is cut out of the frame. And of course, there is a matter of quality of the output that allows detail to be seen and large prints to be made – and the style of compositions and choice of moments a professional will be able to capture for you.”

#22 Dance Teacher Patsy Swayze, Center, With Her Daughter-In-Law Lisa Niemi And Son Patrick Swayze, 1978

Image credits: Sparklling_Dreams

#23 Little Paris Hilton Runs Away From Former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan. New York, 1983

Image credits: ua-stena

#24 Kids Dressed For Halloween On A School Bus, 1980s

Image credits: UrbanAchievers6371

We asked Mateer what moments she looks out for when she’s photographing people. “I don’t approach a family with any preconceptions when I’m documenting them – every family is unique. I’m just looking to document them being themselves,” she replied.

“Funny things happen without planning – as do poignant things. I look for big moments – but also the little details, too. Those little hand holds, or quick hugs. Children are so unselfconscious if you don’t start posing them – beautiful or funny moments happen at every single family shoot I’m lucky enough to be invited to document.”

The award-winning photographer says that by not posing or staging things, she can concentrate fully on composition and positioning. “To make the most interesting images – taking shots at toddler level, close-ups, catching the moment a child jumps or falls – images that will bring those moments back alive to you, the viewer.”

#25 Titanic Orphans, Brothers Michel And Edmond Navratil, 1912. They Were The Only Children To Be Rescued From The Titanic Without A Parent Or Guardian

Image credits: Ok-Valuable9550

#26 In The Middle Of A Celebration, A Young Woman From Oaxaca, Mexico, Notices She Is Being Photographed, And Gives A Look To The Camera, 1985

Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13

#27 Aboriginal Tasmanian Fanny Cochrane Smith Singing Into Her Phonograph In 1903. Without Her Efforts To Preserve Her Culture, We Would Have No Audio Traces Of The Tasmanian Language. Pretty OSC

Image credits: Tinsyloa

Mateer has personally reaped the benefits of having loads of family photos. “My own children love looking back at the photos of my own wedding – asking questions about the people within the images, about family,” she told us.

“Some of the people in my wedding photos aren’t here anymore, so the images from that day are so important to me, to my family. Those real moments of such an important day – I’m so glad I have those to look back on.”

#28 The Women Demonstrate What Could Be Purchased For $1.34 In 1918 And 1945

Image credits: ua-stena

#29 A Soviet Officer Sees And Tastes A Hot Dog And Coca-Cola For The First Time Aboard The U.S. Cruiser Thomas S. Gates, 1989

Image credits: ua-stena

#30 Elvis Presley With His Dad And Grandma, 1959

Image credits: ua-stena

#31 Vintage Photograph Of A Kid Wearing A Monkey Mask, 1920s

Image credits: Vanhacass

#32 The Final Photo Of Christopher Mccandless, Taken Before His Death In August 1992, Was Found On His Undeveloped Camera. After Venturing Into The Alaskan Wilderness, He Used An Abandoned Bus As Shelter Where He Starved To Death

A hunter discovered his body in September, weighing only 67 pounds.

Image credits: Time-Training-9404

#33 Nebraska Girl, Audra Thomas, Photographed In Front Of A Tornado, 1989

Image credits: Alternative_Act_1578

#34 A Man Searches For Books In The Former Cincinnati Public Library. The Building Was Demolished In 1955. Today There Is An Office Building And Parking Lot Where It Used To Stand

Image credits: BlondyCameron21

#35 Photograph From The 1993 Great Flood, When James Scott Intentionally Sabotaged A Levee, Triggering A Massive Mississippi River Flood To Delay His Wife’s Return Home, Allowing Him To Keep Partying

His actions flooded 14,000 acres of farmland, destroyed numerous buildings, and led to the closure of a major bridge. Scott was convicted of “intentionally causing a catastrophe” and is serving a life sentence in prison.