11 iconic images that shaped the past decade

It has been a decade of heartbreaking news, controversy, triumphs, and, of course, memes.

A lot has happened over the past 10 years, and sharing photos of those moments has never been easier.

These iconic photographs help define the past decade. Some were powerful because they represented milestones, tragedy, or movement. Others were just interesting.

But, one way or another, each of these images caused a lot of controversies.

Warning. This list includes photos that might shock you.

11 PHOTOS

1. Remember the "dress"? In 2015, the internet found itself at a standstill when some people saw it in dark blue and others in white and gold. Scientific explanation? It depends on your eyes.

2. The Cincinnati Zoo shot the Harambe gorilla in 2016 after a toddler was trapped in his enclosure. The incident sparked heated debate over whether his death could have been prevented.

3. This monkey named Naruto took a selfie in 2011 using the camera of photographer David Slater. Who owned the copyright for the image was contested for the next six years. In the end, it was decided that Slater owned the copyright.

4. The only other selfie on the list is the Oscar Selfie. It broke Twitter records in 2014 and became the first photo to be retweeted over 2 million times.

5. Also in 2012, netizens reposted this photo of McKayla Maroney from the Summer Olympics. The picture was taken after she finished in second place and she went viral due to her "unimpressed face."

6. In 2015, this “hot” photo went viral on Facebook. This man, Jeremy Meeks, became known as a "sex offender." When he got out of prison, he became a model.

7. The “distracted guy” meme was a stock photo, also taken in 2015, but didn't circulate until 2017.

8. Banksy shocked the world in 2018 after his work "Girl with a Balloon" was destroyed a few seconds after the sale. Now called Love in the Trash Bin, it is considered the first piece of art created in a live auction.

9. Some of the defining photos from the past 10 years were deeply tragic. This photo shows Alan Kurdi, a Syrian child who drowned while fleeing war in his country in 2015.

10. In 2019, Greta Thunberg became the face of climate change activism. Many of her photographs gained popularity, but this side-by-side comparison led to a conspiracy theory that Thunberg was a time traveler.

11. In 2019, scientists took the first picture of a supermassive black hole, which was previously considered impossible to photograph.