What makes an image unforgettable?

iconic photographs A hooded detainee in U.S. custody during the Iraq War stands on a box with electrical wires hooked up to his fingers. The image became a symbol of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal after it was released, among others, in late April 2004. It did what a written report could not do, showing front-and-center what human rights groups had been saying for months: that prisoners were being abused at the hands of U.S. troops. The fallout was immediate, both overseas and at home