American Soldier, El Guettar, Tunisia

Captured by the legendary war photographer Robert Capa, this black and white image shows a lone American soldier climbing a barren, rocky slope in El Guettar, Tunisia. The year was 1943, and North Africa was one of the early battlegrounds where American forces faced off against German and Italian troops. The soldier's back is to us, his pack heavy on his shoulders, and we cannot see his face. That choice makes him feel like any soldier, anywhere, trudging forward into an uncertain landscape.

Capa was famous for getting close to the action, often dangerously so. His motto was simple: if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough. He lived by that rule until his death in 1954, when he stepped on a landmine while covering a conflict in Vietnam. Here, instead of showing explosions or chaos, he gives us something quieter. The empty hills and hazy sky stretch out endlessly, swallowing the small figure almost whole.

What makes this photograph stick with you is its loneliness. War is often pictured as crowds of men and roaring machines, but Capa reminds us it was also one person at a time, putting one foot in front of the other across cold, unfamiliar ground. It is a humble picture that says a lot without saying much at all.