© All photos by Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Among the photos readers of PDNOnline voted as among the most influential photos of the decade was this series taken in 2005  by Chris Hondros as he accompanied a US battalion in Iraq. Below, Hondros shares the story of what happened after the images were published around the world, and the fate of the boy injured in the incident.

TAL AFAR, IRAQ – JANUARY 18, 2005:  US Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division out of Ft. Lewis, Washington approach a car while a wounded boy tumbles out after shooting it when it failed to stop and came toward soldiers despite warning shots during a dusk patrol  in Tal Afar, Iraq.   The car, which held a frightened Iraqi family, was riddled with bullets and the mother and father were killed.  Their five children survived in the backseat, one with a non-life threatening flesh wound. (more…)

© Eric McNatt

Portrait from the “Character Project”, published in March 09′ by Chronicle Books, supported by the Aperture Foundation. Eric says, “In August 08, I returned to Brownwood, TX to capture the character of small town America – a town in central TX where my family tree goes back five generations.” Tanner Vaughn plays for the Brownwood Lions, the High School Football Team. To see more of Eric’s photography click here.

CandylandTV, 2008. © Martin Denker/Courtesy of Bruce Silverstein, New York

German artist Martin Denker creates an explosively personal, fantastical vision straddling—Surrealism, Pop, and Psychedelia. He constructs his images from a multitude of appropriated photographic and visual sources including news, advertising, pornography, and film-stills. Constantly inspired by the stimuli around him—from the internet, video games, psychotherapy, and art history—the images are orchestrated via image-processing/altering applications, into large-scale photographic works. Martin Denker’s AbsoluteZero will be on view until January 30, 2010 at Bruce Silverstein in New York City.

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© Matt Nager

A collection of iPhone images taken during the winter in Colorado and Texas are put together as part of an ongoing series by Matt Nager titled “iPhone Montage.” It was recently featured by photo editor Coburn Dukehart on NPR’s The Picture Show blog.

©2009 Jim Richardson/National Geographic

Rank upon rank of basalt pillars line this sea cavern, lit from within by the photographer. The natural precision of the columns in Fingal’s Cave and the echoes of lashing waves have captivated travelers since the late 18th century. This is one of many images included in “Edge of the World” in the current issue of National Geographic. Read more about Jim’s experience photographing the caves in his firsthand account on his blog.