Photographs cannot hold any sentimentality, which allows us to capture moments that are both incredible and tragic without any bias.

Many of these pictures then depict calm and collected moments right before the worst tragedies imaginable would occur, from terrible accidents to death. With that in mind, these are some photos that captured the final moments for an unlucky few, but photographs that are nonetheless extraordinarily valuable.

The Challenger Photograph

This is a photo that was taken of the Space Shuttle Challenger’s astronaut crew as they made their way to their waiting vessel. A small problem with an o-ring in the vessel means that the astronauts would all lose their lives just 73 seconds into the flight, making it among the worst space-related disasters of all time.

Robert Landsberg

Robert Landsberg was an avid photographer that had a passion for capturing the extremities of volcanoes, but it’s this passion that would ultimately lead to his undoing. While taking picture of Mt St Helen, the volcano erupted into molten rock and thick ash.

Without anywhere to flee to and knowing that he would be killed by the heat, Landsberg used his last few precious moments to take pictures of the volcano close up before protecting the film with his body. His sacrifice was not in vain, as many of his images have been used for important research in regard to volcano eruptions and can now be found online, just like you’d find Aussie sports betting sites.

The Bombing in Omagh

A famous picture that circulated around the world, it depicts a man and his child smiling at the camera while standing near a red car. Unbeknownst to them, the car was actually outfitted with a bomb that would explode just moments after the picture was taken. The bomb would end up killing a total of 29 people, including the photographer. Fortunately, the man and the child escaped with their lives.

Columbine

In what would go down in history as one of the most senseless acts of violence ever, the Columbine shooting made international news over the cold-blooded nature of the ordeal.

In a tragic moment caught on camera, William Sanders, a teacher at the school, was guiding over 100 students through the school’s cafeteria. Sanders would soon after be shot in the chest by one of the two young men, an injury that the teacher would not survive, although his bravery saved dozens of innocent students.

Flight 235

In a scene that looks like it came straight out of a film, Flight 235 met a tragic fate when it crashed into Keeling River in Taiwan. After having lost control of the plane, the pilots had attempted to steer it toward the river in order to cut down on the number of casualties.

Of the 58 people that were on board when it went down, only 15 survived. The picture depicts the plane veering to the side as it flies over a bridge before crashing into the river just a few moments later.