WARNING: SOME OF THESE IMAGES ARE DISTURBING. We have censored where necessary, but if you're sensitive, you might still want to stay away.

It's easy to forget that the people involved in iconic photos are, well, people. For every image that instantly became a part of history, there were lives forever changed both behind and in front of the camera -- they are instantly famous, due to pure circumstance. And sometimes these lives are in no way changed for the better. We're talking about the bizarre and often tragic stories like ...

6 The White Guy at the 1968 "Black Power" Olympics Photo

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The Photo:

You've almost certainly seen this photo somewhere, but may not know the background, other than "It was at the Olympics, right? Aren't they standing on that medal thing?"

It was at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, and American runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos won medals in the 200-meter finals. But what catapulted them into notoriety was this photo of them doing the "black power" salute at the podium. The photograph became an iconic image in the history of civil rights, but what's not often discussed is the awkward-looking white guy on the left.

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"Man, I never know what to do with my hands during a photo. What do you guys usually- oh."

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The Tragedy:

That's the Australian silver medalist, Peter Norman. While he looks kind of jittery in this scene (and is clearly not participating in the black power bit), he knew very well what was going to happen behind him -- he'd spoken to Smith and Carlos before the ceremony. Not only did he support their cause, but the black gloves were his idea, and he wore a civil rights pin on his tracksuit when he took to the podium.

Unfortunately for him, Australia wasn't any more progressive than the United States at that time, being under the grip of a whites-only immigration policy, so having one of their own support racial equality in front of the entire world was like a kangaroo punch to the groin.