Below you will find a glorious collection of epic group photos that I’ve seen floating around the Web for the past few years. From legendary casts and crews to extraordinary sports teams, musical supergroups, great thinkers and world leaders. I hope you will enjoy this incredible selection of photos and people and the backstory behind them.
The goal is for this list to be continually updated with more amazing group shots, preferably larger groups of ten or more. If you have any suggestions please advise in the comments below!
1. The Solvay International Conference on Elctrons and Photons – 1927
Back Row: Auguste Piccard, Émile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Édouard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules-Émile Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Howard Fowler, Léon Brillouin
Middle Row: Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Lawrence Bragg, Hendrik Anthony Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr
Front Row: Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Sklodowska Curie, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles Eugène Guye, Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Owen Willans Richardson
The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the turning point in world physics. The Institutes coordinate conferences, workshops, seminars, and colloquia.
Following the initial success of 1911, the Solvay Conferences (Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chemistry. The usual schedule is every three years, but there have been larger gaps.
Perhaps the most famous conference was the October 1927 Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, where the world’s most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. The leading figures were Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. Einstein, disenchanted with Heisenberg’s “Uncertainty Principle,” remarked “God does not play dice.” Bohr replied, “Einstein, stop telling God what to do.” (See Bohr-Einstein debates.) Seventeen of the twenty-nine attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners, including Marie Curie, who alone among them, had won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.
This conference was also the culmination of the struggle between Einstein and the Scientific Realists, who wanted strict rules of scientific method as laid out by Charles Peirce and Karl Popper, versus Bohr and the Instrumentalists, who wanted looser rules based on outcomes. Starting at this point, the instrumentalists won, instrumentalism having been seen as the norm ever since although the debate has been actively continued by the likes of Alan Musgrave. [Source: Wikipedia]
2. A Great Day in Harlem – 57 Jazz Legends, 1958
A Great Day in Harlem or Harlem 1958 is a 1958 black and white group portrait of 57 notable jazz musicians photographed in front of a Brownstone in Harlem, New York City. The photo has remained an important object in the study of the history of jazz.
Art Kane, a freelance photographer working for Esquire magazine, took the picture around 10 a.m. on August 12 in the summer of 1958. The musicians had gathered at 17 east 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues in Harlem. Esquire published the photo in its January 1959 issue. Kane calls it “the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken.”
As of April 2012, only 4 of the musicians are still living: Benny Golson, Marian McPartland, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver. [Source: Wikipedia]
01 – Hilton Jefferson, 02 – Benny Golson, 03 – Art Farmer, 04 – Wilbur Ware, 05 – Art Blakey, 06 – Chubby Jackson, 07 – Johnny Griffin, 08 – Dickie Wells, 09 – Buck Clayton, 10 – Taft Jordan, 11 – Zutty Singleton, 12 – Red Allen, 13 – Tyree Glenn, 14 – Miff Molo, 15 – Sonny Greer, 16 – Jay C. Higginbotham, 17 – Jimmy Jones, 18 – Charles Mingus, 19 – Jo Jones, 20 – Gene Krupa, 21 – Max Kaminsky, 22 – George Wettling, 23 – Bud Freeman, 24 – Pee Wee Russell, 25 – Ernie Wilkins, 26 – Buster Bailey, 27 – Osie Johnson, 28 – Gigi Gryce, 29 – Hank Jones, 30 – Eddie Locke, 31 – Horace Silver, 32 – Luckey Roberts, 33 – Maxine Sullivan, 34 – Jimmy Rushing, 35 – Joe Thomas, 36 – Scoville Browne, 37 – Stuff Smith, 38 – Bill Crump, 39 – Coleman Hawkins, 40 – Rudy Powell, 41 – Oscar Pettiford, 42 – Sahib Shihab, 43 – Marian McPartland, 44 – Sonny Rollins, 45 – Lawrence Brown, 46 – Mary Lou Williams, 47 – Emmett Berry, 48 – Thelonius Monk, 49 – Vic Dickenson, 50 – Milt Hinton, 51 – Lester Young, 52 – Rex Stewart, 53 – J.C. Heard, 54 – Gerry Mulligan, 55 – Roy Eldgridge, 56 – Dizzy Gillespie, 57 – Count Basie. [Source: DannyChestnut.com]
3. The Greatest Day in Hip Hop History – September 29, 1998
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Art Kane’s famous photo of jazz greats in A Great Day in Harlem, hip hop magazine XXL sought to recreate the historic photo on September 29, 1998. The day was a huge success with over 200 hip-hop greats flowed over three stoops in the exact same location as the original.
Though many could have taken the shot, only one had the historical significance which would add an exclamation point to the event: Gordon Parks, the legendary, 84-year-old photojournalist who directed the films Shaft and The Learning Tree. In the ’40s, Parks shot for Vogue and Life, among others, breaking through the racism which permeated the magazine business and society.
Not unlike the jazz shoot, there were some key artists that were not present. But with so many that were there, it was hard to be distraught about those who weren’t there. A disappointed Lauryn Hill arrived 10 minutes after the shot was taken in a red Range Rover driven by her beau Rohan Marley with her son Zion in the back seat. A dejected Ras Kass from Los Angeles, who showed up too late, asked if there was some way he could be superimposed into the shot. [Source: Philadelphia City Paper]
4. The Dream Team – 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team
Front row (L-R): Physician , Scottie Pippen, Christian Laettner, Patrick Ewing, Head Coach Chuck Daly, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley.
Standing (L-R): Assistant coach Mike Krzyzewski, Assistant coach Lenny Wilkens, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Assistant coach P. J. Carlesimo and trainer Ed LaCerte.
The 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the “Dream Team”, was the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players. Considered by some to be the greatest team ever assembled in any sport, it defeated its opponents by an average of almost 44 points en route to the gold medal against Croatia at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. Chuck Daly served as coach, assisted by Lenny Wilkens, P. J. Carlesimo, and Mike Krzyzewski.
Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers was added to the team on May 12, 1992, along with Christian Laettner of Duke University. Laettner was the only player selected for the national team without any professional experience, and beat out Louisiana State University’s Shaquille O’Neal for the final spot on the roster. [Souce: Wikipedia]
5. Obama Toasts the Titans of Tech – Feb. 17, 2011
Clockwise from President Obama: Steve Jobs, CEO Apple | Steve Westly, Managing Partner and Founder, Westly Group | Ann Doer, Host and wife of John Doerr (unconfirmed) | Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google | Arthur Levinson, former Chairman and CEO, Genentech | John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems | John Doerr, Host and Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers | Larry Ellison, Co-Founder and CEO, Oracle | Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix | John Hennessy, President, Stanford University | Carol Bartz, former President and CEO, Yahoo! | Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter | Unknown | Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, President and CEO, Facebook
6. The Cast of Saturday Night Live – Season 18 (1992)
Missing from this epic group photo of the legendary Saturday Night Live cast from 1992 are Mike Myers and Robert Smigel.
From left, front row, are: Chris Farley, Al Franken and Melanie Hutsell. In middle row, from left, are: Chris Rock, Julia Sweeney, Dana Carvey and Rob Schneider. In back row, from left, are: Adam Sandler, David Spade, Ellen Cleghorne, Kevin Nealon, Phil Hartman and Tim Meadows.
This season was also home to one of SNL’s most infamous moments: Sinéad O’Connor tearing Pope John Paul II’s photo at the end of her second performance on the episode hosted by Tim Robbins.
7. The Greatest Baseball Team in History – New York Yankees, 1927
Top Row, L-R: Lou Gehrig (1B), Herb Pennock (P), Tony Lazzeri (2B), Wilcy Moore (RP), Babe Ruth (RF), Don Miller (P) or possibly Martin ‘Chick Autrey (C), Bob Meusel (LF), Bob Shawkey (P), Waite Hoyt (P), Joe Giard (P), Ben Paschal (OF), Roy Chesterfied (P), Doc Albert A. Woods (trainer).
Middle Row, L-R: Urban Shocker (P), Joe Dugan (3B), Earl Combs (CF), Charles O’Leary (coach), Miller Huggins Mgr.), Art Fletcher (coach), Mark Koenig (SS), Walter ‘Dutch’ Ruether (P), Johnny Grabowski (C), George Pipgras (P).
Bottom Row, L-R: Julie Wera (3B), Mike Gazella (3B), Pat Collins (C), Eddie Bennett (mascot), Benny Bengough (C), Ray Morehart (2B), Myles Thomas (P), Cedric Durst (OF). [Source]
The 1927 New York Yankees season was their 25th season. The team finished with a record of 110-44, winning their fifth pennant and finishing 19 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics. New York was managed by Miller Huggins. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they swept the Pittsburgh Pirates. This Yankee team is known for their feared lineup, which was nicknamed “Murderers’ Row”. This team is widely considered to be the best baseball team ever and featured seven Hall of Famers on the roster.
Notable milestones: The Yankees’ 110 victories broke the previous American League mark of 105 set by the 1912 Boston Red Sox; Babe Ruth would hit 60 home runs, Lou Gehrig would win American League MVP and lead in RBI’s with 175; Earle Combs set the Yankees single season record for triples in a season at 23. [Source: Wikipedia]
8. The 2011 G20 Summit – Feb. 17, 2011
Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President | Australia, Julia Gillard, Prime Minister | Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, President | Canada, Stephen Harper, Prime Minister | China, Hu Jintao, President | France, Nicolas Sarkozy, (former) President | Germany, Angela Merkel, Chancellor | India, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister | Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President | Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, (former) Prime Minister | Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister | Mexico, Felipe Calderón, President | Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, President | Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance | South Africa, Jacob Zuma, President | South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, President | Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister | United Kingdom, David Cameron, Prime Minister | United States, Barack Obama, President | European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, projected co-leader of delegation | President European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, President | Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister | Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister | Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister | United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The G20 was created in December 1999 in response to the financial crises affecting the emerging countries in the late 1990s. The initial aim was to have the finance ministers and central bank governors of the industrialised and emerging countries meet once a year to facilitate international economic policy cooperation.
Confronted with the deepest economic and financial crisis since World War II, the G20 went into high gear in late 2008 at the initiative of France, the holder of the rotating EU presidency at the time. What emerged was an economic steering body that brought together the world’s major political leaders at the highest level. At the pioneering Washington Summit in November 2008, heads of States and governments agreed on an extraordinary plan of action to prevent the financial system and the global economy from collapsing.
Since then, the G20 has convened on a regular basis: in London in April 2009, Pittsburgh in September 2009, Toronto in June 2010, and Seoul in November 2010. The G20 has become the premier forum for economic and financial cooperation, able to provide world growth with more stable, sustainable foundations. [Source]
9. We Are the World Recording Session – 1985
Conductor: Quincy Jones, Soloists: Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Chorus: Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, Mario Cipollina, Johnny Colla, Sheila E., Bob Geldof, Bill Gibson, Chris Hayes, Sean Hopper, Jackie Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, Anita Pointer, June Pointer, Ruth Pointer, Smokey Robinson
“We Are the World” is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.
Following Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” project in the UK, an idea for the creation of an American benefit single for African famine relief came from activist Harry Belafonte, who, along with fundraiser Ken Kragen, was instrumental in bringing the vision to reality.
The song was released on March 7, 1985, as the only single from the album. A worldwide commercial success, it topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling American pop single in history. The first ever single to be certified multi-platinum, “We Are the World” received a Quadruple Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Awarded numerous honors—including three Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and a People’s Choice Award—the song was promoted with a critically received music video, a home video, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts. The promotion and merchandise aided the success of “We Are the World” and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US. [Source: Wikipedia]
10. We Are the World 25 for Haiti Recording Session – 2010
Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Mervyn Warren, Justin Bieber, Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Nettles, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Miley Cyrus, Enrique Iglesias, Jamie Foxx, Wyclef Jean, Adam Levine, Pink, BeBe Winans, Usher, Celine Dion, Orianthi, Fergie, Nick Jonas, Toni Braxton, Mary Mary, Isaac Slade, Carlos Santana, Lil Wayne, Akon, T-Pain, LL Cool J, Will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle, Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, Kid Cudi, Mann, Kanye West, Patti Austin, Philip Bailey, Piero Barone, Fonzworth Bentley, Ignazio Boschetto, Bizzy Bone, Ethan Bortnick, Brandy, Jeff Bridges, Zac Brown, Kristian Bush, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick Jr., Nikka Costa, Faith Evans, Melanie Fiona, Sean Garrett, Amy Tan, Tyrese Gibson, Gianluca Ginoble, Yngwie Goyette, Anthony Hamilton, Keri Hilson, John Legend, Julianne Hough, India.Arie, Randy Jackson, Taj Jackson, Taryll Jackson, TJ Jackson, Betty Lynn Jackson, Jonas Brothers, Keri Hilson, Al Jardine, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Ralph Johnson, Rashida Jones, Gladys Knight, Adam Levine, Benji Madden, Joel Madden, Katharine McPhee, Jason Mraz, Mýa, Freda Payne, A. R. Rahman, Reiza Rinah Ray, RedOne, Busta Rhymes, Nicole Richie, Kelly Rowland, Raphael Saadiq, Trey Songz, Musiq Soulchild, Jordin Sparks, Robin Thicke, Rob Thomas, Vince Vaughn, Mervyn Warren, Verdine White, Ann Wilson, Brian Wilson, Nancy Wilson
“We Are the World 25 for Haiti” is a charity single recorded by the supergroup Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the 1985 hit song “We Are the World”, which was written by American musicians Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa to benefit famine relief in Africa. Initially, in late 2009, it had been suggested to Richie and Quincy Jones—producer of the original “We Are the World”—that a re-cut version of the song be re-released under the title “Live 25”, following the magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake in Haiti.
The song was recorded in fourteen and a half hours by over eighty artists on February 1, and was released on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. [Source: Wikipedia]
11. The Original Cast of Ocean’s 11 – 1960
The original cast of “Ocean’s 11” (1960) – from left to right: Nick Conti, Jerry Lester, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Akim Tameroff, Richard Benedict, Henry Silva, Norman Fell and Clem Harvey
12. Vanity Fair’s 2011 Hollywood Issue Cover
From left to right: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence, Anthony Mackie, Olivia Wilde, Jesse Eisenberg, Mila Kunis, Robert Duvall, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Garfield, Rashida Jones, Garrett Hedlund, Noomi Rapace
For the 17th annual Hollywood Issue cover, Vanity Fair went back to the basics—no teenagers, no penguins, no (full-on) nudity, just the most exciting actors and actresses of the moment. The cover was shot in Los Angeles and New York over the course of two days by photographer Norman Jean Roy.
13. MGM Studios Stars and Starlets Under Contract – 1943
Front Row: James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B Mayer, Greer Garson, Irene Dunne, Susan Peters, Ginny Simms, Lionel Barrymore
Second Row: Harry James, Brian Donlevy, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, Pierre Aumont, Lewis Stone, Gene Kelly, Jackie Jenkins
Third Row: Tommy Dorsey, George Murphy, Jean Rogers, James Craig, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt, Ruth Hussey, Marjorie Main, Robert Benchley
Fourth Row: Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Keenan Wynn, Diana Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Esther Williams, Ann Richards, Marta Linden, Lee Bowman, Richard Carlson, Mary Astor
Fifth Row: Blanche Ring, Sara Haden, Fay Holden, Bert Lahr, Frances Gifford, June Allyson, Richard Whorf, Frances Rafferty, Spring Byington, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper
Sixth Row: Ben Blue, Chill Wills, Keye Luke, Barry Nelson, Desi Arnaz, Henry O’Neill, Bob Crosby, Rags Ragland
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