History’s Most Devastating Photo Bombings

Although the term “photo-bombing” may be relatively new, the concept of deliberately imposing oneself in a strangers photograph is a practice as old as time (well, time after the invention of the camera). While some may just look at it as silly, the effects of photo bombings can be incredibly harmful and occasionally even devastating. This list contains six of the most tragic photo bombing incidents ever recorded.

Crimea, Russia (1855)

With the Crimean War raging (believe it or not Crimea was once a hotbed of controversy), pioneering British photographer, Robert Fenton was one of the first victims of a significant photobomb. Having invented the occupation of “war photographer,” Fenton covered the event by taking pictures of barren landscapes and immobile wagons. One of his wagon photos was ruined, though, by notorious prankster Marcus Sperling who managed to sneak on top of the wagon at some point during the eight hours it took to take a single photograph. Fenton was very upset when he got back to England and saw what happened, in fact he was pretty devastated by it.   

Paris, France (1898)

A lesser known but still egregious photobomb took place at a shoot for a collection of erotic pictures at an undisclosed location in the French capital at the end of the 19th century. Marcel Pitrie, a legendary erotica photographer had his shot and model all set up before it was suddenly ruined by a naked woman who out of nowhere splayed herself out on the bed. Pitrie was really annoyed by the whole event and it nearly ruined his collection of all shirtless bro pictures that he had been hired to produce. Several of the models and photography assistants were also vexed that they had to re-do the shoot and some described coming home later than usual that night as “devastating.” 

Hiroshima, Japan (1945) 

The Shizuka family was devastated by a photo-bombing which occurred during a day trip to Hiroshima in the summer of ‘45. Hayato and Manami Shizuka were at the end of their roll of film when they passed by the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The couple asked a local to photograph them in front of the building and, after snapping the photo, believed they had a perfect picture of just the two of them. The next day however, after developing their photos, they were extremely upset by the fact that a prankster sunbather had ruined their precious memory. August 5, 1945 would go down as the most devastating moment of their lives although they would feel some redemption during their visit to Nagasaki four days later when they nabbed a perfect picture of the exact moment they were hit by the atomic bomb.

Beijing, China (1989)

A young Chinese photographer just trying to make a difference during the ‘89 democracy movement was devastated when a photo-bomber ruined his picture. According to his story, Sun Jun was attempting to take a vivid and shocking photo of government tanks that would capture the struggle of his fellow students in their protests, but, unfortunately, a photo-bomber got in the way: another student, trying to earn his place in history ran out into the streets in front of the tanks to wreck his picture. Although Jun was happy that he managed to snap the photo before the photobomber dropped his pants and mooned the camera, the devastation of the incident caused him to throw out his camera and commit suicide knowing his photo would never achieve any recognition. 

Vancouver, Canada (1997)

The McNeil family were subjected to one of the most thoughtless and damaging photo-bombs in the fall of ‘97 at a family picnic at a local park. After a lovely afternoon of snacks, drinks and pleasant conversation, the day took a turn for the worst when their family portrait was infiltrated by a man that they didn’t even know. Due to the photo-bomb, the McNeils were unable to use the photo as the cover to their christmas card and had to go with a generic Santa Claus card instead. Upset by the family’s lack of personal touch, family friend Paul Stewart decided against sending a card of his own their way. According to all their mutual friends, Stewart’s card was pretty nice and thoughtful. The McNeil’s were devastated.    

Boston, USA (2013)

Of course everyone knows that there was a real bombing on April 15 at the 2013 Boston Marathon but what is often forgotten is the heinous photo-bombing perpetrated moments before the tragedy. Brothers Dzokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were responsible for a string of photo and even video bombs achieved by planting themselves in the background of a significant amount of security footage that was reviewed after the race. One of the photos they bombed was going to be a really nice one of the Stevenson family who were devastated that two strangers were in the background of an otherwise perfectly good photo. For their involvement in these photo-bombings the Tsarnaev brothers were the subject of a lengthy manhunt leading to an arrest and death. The brothers were later found to actually be the real bombers too, which Boston police have called a “fortunate coincidence.”