Ever wonder what the most viewed photograph of all time is? One leading candidate is Bliss, the photograph chosen by Microsoft to be the default wallpaper of Windows XP. Showing rolling green hills in Sonoma County, California, the image was shot by the side of a highway by professional photographer Charles O’Rear using a medium format camera. It has reportedly been viewed by over 1 billion people since it first emerged in 2002.
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This photo might not seem very special, but it’s actually the most viewed photograph on Flickr. Since it was uploaded back in 2006, “Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee” by Pankaj Kaushal has amassed over 3 million views, though Kaushal himself admits that he has no idea why the photograph — taken with a Nikon D70 and 18-70 kit lens — became so popular.

The photo probably won’t be the king of Flickr for very long — Pete Souza’s recent photo of Barack Obama in the Situation Room is set to overtake Kaushal’s snap in just a few days.

Image credit: Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee by spo0nman