Many say that by taking a photograph, you can freeze time for a while, and partly that’s true. Some photographs manage to capture just the right moment or move so they stay in history while others are forever forgotten. Throughout the years, there have been many memorable photos that all of us might have seen them on Internet (and were not necessarily taken by a professional photographer), but do we know the story behind each photo? And most importantly, have we ever wondered what happened to the person in the photograph?

Elizabeth Eckford & Hazel Bryan Massery, 1957

This picture was taken by professional photographer Will Counts in 1957. In the fall of 1957, Elizabeth was one of the nine black students who had been selected to enter Little Rock Central High School. The racial discrimination back then was very intense and we can see that just by looking at Hazel yelling at Elizabeth (of, course Hazel later apologized for her actions back then). Although in 1998, the two girls seemed to have reconciled, in an interview, Elizabeth said that it was unlikely that she’d ever talk again to Hazel again. In 2003, Erin, one of Eckford’s two sons, was shot and killed by the police in Little Rock and his mother revealed that he was suffering from some kind of mental illness and he was off his medicines. Elizabeth still lives in Redrock working as a Probation officer.

The Dustman, 2001

September 9, 2001, was the day when America was the center of the world’s attention due to the terrorist attacks. Countless pictures taken by amateurs and professional photographers alike had emerged after the attacks on the Twin Towers showed the cruelty of what had happened. One of these photos is The Dustman aka Edward Fine. Fine was waiting for an elevator in the North Tower when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the building. His first thought was that a bomb had exploded somewhere in the tower so he started to run down the stairs from the 79th floor to escape. The iconic image was taken when he managed to get out from the North Tower and just when the second plane hit the South Tower. Fine’s only thought was to keep walking.

Juan Romero, 1968

On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy had won the California primary and made his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where young Romero was working as a busboy. Romero wanted to congratulate Kennedy so he passed through the crowd to shake the senator’s hand and during the shake-hand, gunshots were fired and Kennedy fell to the floor. This black and white iconic photo with Romero holding Kennedy’s head was taken by LIFE professional photographer Bill Eppridge and Romero confessed in an interview that this moment still haunts him. Romero now lives in San Jose where he continues to work as a concrete and asphalt paver.