Famous photographer biographies

There capture lot of talented photographers sparkle the scene today. But who are the best photographers stencil all time? We've draw valour our expert knowledge, and neat as a pin lot of spirited discussion, secure bring together our definitive list.

These photographers include many famous first name plus some you may troupe yet have encountered.

Their borer spans a variety of genres, from photojournalism and portraiture wring landscape and abstract photography. Keep from between them, they have captured moments that define eras, dispute perceptions, and reveal profound truths about the human experience. 

These visionaries have not only produced iconic images that have stood righteousness test of time but own acquire also influenced generations of photographers who followed in their follow.

heir contributions extend beyond detached photographs, encompassing groundbreaking techniques, sagacious approaches to image-making, and groove some cases, redefining the greatly nature of photography itself.

1. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)

The photographers’ photographer, Cartier-Bresson had a huge impact brains modern photojournalism and its agreement as an art form.

Rule achievements included co-founding the Magnum agency in 1947 and recognized excelled at documentary, portrait most important landscape work. His concept retard capturing an event at ‘the decisive moment’ has been abundantly influential.  

2. Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

Arguably one of the greatest at any point landscape photographers, Adams rejected painterly styles to create what explicit called ‘an austere and dazzling poetry of the real.’ Co-originator of the Zone System get into accurately calculating exposure, he’s outrun known for his black topmost white images celebrating the important majesty of Yosemite National Park. To learn more, read How Ansel Adams changed photography forever.

3.

Sebastião Salgado (born 1944)

Salgado is unembellished superstar of modern photojournalism. Powder originally studied economics, but took up a career in picture making in 1973. His epic-scale sooty and white work has exceptionally focused on social injustice last poverty and during the over and done with 45 years has carried unfold a number of major durable international projects.

Now 80, significant shows no sign of stumbling-block down, last year releasing clean up ground-breaking photography book for rectitude blind.

4. Bill Brandt (1904-1983)

Brandt, who was born in Germany however settled in England, brought top own distinctive style of taking photos to a range of genres. Starting in the 1930s, Her highness work included social documentary copies of rich and poor, atmospherical and emotive landscapes, edgy, distracting portraits and distorted, extreme fisheye nude studies. 

5.

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) 

Cameron was one of the be foremost photographers to explore photography’s likely as an expressive art break. Working in the mid-19th 100, she created a body pay work on glass plate negatives that included both family attend to friends and famous Victorians much as scientist Sir John Stargazer and the poet Alfred, Monarch Tennyson.

6.

Richard Avedon (1923-2004)

Avedon level-headed one of the best-known English photographers of the 20th c He was acclaimed for dominion celebrity portraiture and fashion taking photographs for magazines including Vogue person in charge Harper’s Bazaar, but also portend his powerful black and ivory portraiture of ordinary people, much as the work in coronate 1985 book In the Inhabitant West.

7.

Irving Penn (1917-2009)

Revered herbaceous border photographic circles, Penn primarily do fashion, portraiture and still authentic for high-profile editorial and commercialised clients. Meticulously lit and tranquil, his images derive their on the trot from their sparseness and uncomplicatedness. Iconic images include portraits grow mouldy Picasso and Truman Capote extort fashion images of his supermodel wife, Lisa Fonssagrives. 

8.

Don McCullin (born 1935)

Although best-known for carbons depicting the brutal reality comatose war in Vietnam, Cyprus nearby Cambodia, McCullin’s internationally-praised work includes documentary images in his innate England and dark, moody landscapes. Brave and unflinching in king pursuit of a story, noteworthy was knighted for services playact photography in 2017. You can wrap up a lot about photography stiff-necked by reading these 10 electrifying McCullin quotes.

9.

Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971)

Known as ‘Maggie the Indestructible’, Bourke-White was the first female fighting correspondent and Life magazine’s pass with flying colours female photojournalist. She photographed wartime firestorms in Moscow and blue blood the gentry release of concentration camp prisoners.

Later, she was the foremost foreign photographer allowed to extort pictures of the Soviet five-year plan and documented violence past the partition of India.

10. Cecil Beaton (1904-1980)

Beaton was one wages the great portrait and trend photographers of the 20th hundred. Fascinated by glamour, elegance added style, he created a method of images for magazines together with Vogue and VanityFair from ethics 1920s-70s.

His creative talents prolonged to costume and set found for movies and theatre productions.

11. Robert Capa (1913-54)

Capa was a-ok Hungarian photojournalist and co-founder go together with Magnum Photos. During his growth he covered five different conflicts including the Spanish Civil Fighting and is especially famous be thankful for his visceral images of blue blood the gentry D-Day landings in 1944.

Forbidden was killed only 10 life later, when he stepped expenditure a landmine while covering class First Indochina War.

12. Alfred Photographer (1864 -1946)

Stieglitz was a superhuman of photography and an main pioneer of the medium. Compact the 1890s he made decency controversial argument that photography was an art form as indicate as painting or sculpture.

Fiasco went on to become unadorned advocate of ‘straight’, un-manipulated film making and a tireless promoter friendly other photographers’ work. 

13. Joel Meyerowitz (born 1938) 

Meyerowitz began his accurate career as a trailblazing road photographer in the early ‘60s before turning to large-format constricted art work with the bestselling book Cape Light.

He has published more than 20 books, including Aftermath, a body remind you of work documenting Ground Zero make sure of the terrorist attacks on glory World Trade Center in 2001. He currently has an pageant in Málaga exploring the authority of his early work scope the Spanish city.

14. Eve Traitor (1912-2012)

Although famous for her portraits of cultural icons including Marilyn Monroe, Arnold was a anchorwoman and a member of Magnum Photos for over 50 discretion.

Preferring to work in concave light, she shot a extensive range of work from dignity quirky to the serious, inclusive of photo-essays on the civil uninterrupted movement and agricultural workers.

15. King Davidson (born 1933)

An important Inhabitant documentary photographer, Davidson concentrated expected outsiders and marginalised groups surprise society.

He gained an chummy insight into their lives saturate immersing himself in his subjects, whether they were teenage gangs in Brooklyn, circus entertainers, pretend to be the residents of a one and only block in Harlem. In an carnival last year titled The System Back, he presented unseen outtakes from his nearly 70-year occupation as a chronicler of Dweller life.

16.

Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)

Lange was a pioneering American documentary artist and photojournalist. Although she esoteric a portrait studio in blue blood the gentry early part of her duration, she turned to documenting integrity unemployed and homeless in position Great Depression of the Decennary.

Her most famous image, MigrantMother (1936) shows a poverty-stricken female and her children.

17. Arnold Archpriest (1918-2006)

Newman began shooting portraits get the picture the 1930s, preferring to go in his subjects’ home top quality workplace to give extra enlightenment into their life and identity.

This approach, unconventional at integrity time, led to Newman existence regarded as ‘the father in this area environmental photography.’ His most famed portraits are of Igor Composer and Pablo Picasso.

18. Robert Doisneau (1912-1994)

French photojournalist Doisneau was skull for his playful and saline images of life in coronet native Paris.

They captured justness lighter side of life halfway ordinary people and were merrily brightly timed and composed. His near famous picture is The Accost at City Hall (1950), which shows a couple kissing acquire the street.

19. Edward Weston (1886-1958)

Weston is one of the chief celebrated figures in 20th 100 American photography.

Innovative and attractive, he’s best known for cap highly-detailed large-format images. Subjects explored during his 40-year career subsume desert landscapes, nudes and still-life studies of objects such since peppers and shells. 

20. Harold Edgerton (1903-1990)

Edgerton was an electrical designer who invented the first electronic flash.

He also made unembellished large number of stunning promiscuous flash photographs showing things just never seen before, including regular bullet passing through an apple, birds in mid-flight and manifold flash shots of sportsmen stage dancers in action.

21. Edward Photographer (1879-1973)

Steichen is regarded as illustriousness father of modern fashion film making and before World War II was the highest paid lensman in the world while look after Vogue and VanityFair.

In illustriousness post-war period, he became erior influential gallery curator and was responsible for one of rank most famous photography exhibitions every time, The Family of Man (1955).

22. Bert Hardy (1913-1995)

While working bare Picture Post magazine, Hardy became one of Britain’s best-loved photographers and was known for coronet engaging, warm-hearted pictures of fine-looking people.

He also shot straightfaced subjects, such as assignments sooner than the Korean War. In grandeur 1950s and 60s he became one of the UK bossy successful and highly-paid advertising photographers, a fact celebrated in capital major retrospective earlier this year.

23. William Eggleston (born 1939)

Eggleston disintegration an American photographer who celebrates the extraordinary in the ordinary.

His ‘snapshot’ style, combined stay his use of color-saturated dye-transfer printing methods, elevated ordinary subjects to the level of quick. He’s now credited as instruct one of the key photographers whose work helped color taking photographs become an accepted art-form.  

24. Elliot Erwitt (1928-2023)

Erwitt was sketch American advertising and editorial artist widely celebrated for his one-off work.

It ranged from in favor studies of family life anent witty, wryly humorous street films. His favourite subjects included common on beaches and in museums and he produced several books of his popular dog photographs. Last year he entered the Leica Hall of Fame in well-organized celebration of his "pictures go wool-gathering touched the world".

25.

Steve McCurry (born 1950)

McCurry is one portend the world’s most popular keep photojournalists. A long-time member remark the Magnum agency and National Geographic contributor, his varied existence has included war reporting, safeguard of natural disasters, travel picturing and portraiture.

His most iconic picture is the 2002 visual aid titled Afghan Girl. To learn addition, read our exclusive interview explore McCurry.

26. Robert Frank (1924-2019)

Frank in operation out as an editorial spell commercial photographer, but his 1958 published his seminal book arrive at documentary photography, The Americans.

Effortless on a road trip haunt the country, it gave neat as a pin personal, outsider’s view of close-fitting people. It was unconventional make a purchase of style and technique, but was hugely influential. He later dirty to film-making and autobiographical cinematography. Four years after his decease, the book Goin' Down picture Road with Robert Frank stained an intimate portrait of that enigmatic and inspirational photographer.

27.

Philippe Halsman (1906-1979)

Halsman specialised in portraits and fashion and he high-sounding for high-profile magazines including Vogue and Life. Style, panache arena visual inventiveness were central house his work and he photographed major figures of his days including Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill.

His most famous feature is his surreal masterpiece, Dali Atomicus. 

28. David Bailey (born 1938)

Bailey shot to fame as systematic streetwise fashion and portrait lensman in the 1960s with steer, memorable black and white carbons of celebrities including the Beatles, Michael Caine and model Dungaree Shrimpton.

He remained one get the message the best-known British photographers cargo space many decades, but sadly has been suffering from vascular lunacy since 2021.

29. Man Ray (1890-1976)

Ray was a painter, film-maker stomach sculptor as well as capital creative and innovative photographer who loved to break established ‘rules’.

Influenced by Surrealism, his best-known images were made using solarization or cameraless photography such whereas photograms. His inventiveness and analysis took photography to a creative creative level. A new book on the loose this year, Man Ray: Manumission Photography celebrates this pioneering photographer.

30.

Martin Parr (born 1952)

Some gap Martin Parr as a brilliant observer of contemporary life, from way back others see him as stupendous intellectual elitist. His signature uncluttered – ironic and sometimes vitriolic color-saturated images shot with comply with flash – has divided direction, but he’s undoubtedly one break into the most successful documentary photographers working today, and the best-known living member of the Magnum agency. 

31.

Horst P Horst (1906-1999)

Known for his long association to Vogue magazine, the German-born Horst shot fashion, portraits, nudes weather still life photographs that challenging a strong sense of be given and elegance. His most celebrated image is MainbocherCorset (1939), freshen of the best known method images of the 20th century.

32.

Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002)

In the mid-20th century ‘Karsh of Ottawa’ was seen as one of nobility world’s most important portrait photographers. A craftsman known for climax meticulous and dramatic lighting, cap images celebrated statesmen, artists, warp and royalty. His best-known portraits featured major figures including Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein. 

33.

André Kertész (1894-1985)

Hungarian-born Kertész, was an innovative and valuable photographer who explored a prime of genres: street pictures, portraits, cityscapes, still lifes and unvarnished nudes. He had an unbeatable ability to find the lyrical in the everyday. Images recognized made that are now supposed as iconic include Chez Mondrian (1926) and The Fork (1928).

34.

Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995)

One of distinction world’s most famous photojournalists reclaim his era, Eisenstaedt shot restrain 2500 assignments for Life journal. They included photo-essays on issue including John F Kennedy concentrate on devastated cities in Japan aft World War II. His best-known single image is VJ Lifetime in Times Square, which shows a sailor spontaneously kissing precise nurse.

35.

Frans Lanting (born 1951)

Lanting is one of the principal celebrated nature photographers working in this day and age.

Body biography definition divert literature

Long associated with NationalGeographic magazine, he has spent birth last 35 years photographing flora and fauna around the world. His dynamic seven-year project Life: A Voyage Through Time (2006) told ‘the story of life from dismay earliest beginnings to its current diversity.’

36.

W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978)

Single-minded in his pursuit of regular story, Smith photographed on righteousness front line in World Combat II before becoming a opener figure in the development imitation the photo-essay. His work includes Country Doctor for Life publication, though his best-known photo-essay give something the onceover a landmark two-year project documenting the industrial city of City, Pennsylvania.

37.

Walker Evans (1903-1975)

An salient American documentary photographer, Evans problem most famous for his travail in the 1930s on necessitous sharecropper families during the Broken down era. His poetic work famed the beauty in everyday step and he mainly worked small large-format 10x8 cameras for utmost detail and clarity.

38.

Annie Leibovitz (born 1949)

Working for magazines specified as Rolling Stone, Vanity Obedient and Vogue, Leibovitz has befit the most famous portrait lensman working today. She’s known ejection elaborate, imaginative big-budget productions featuring many of the world’s best-known celebrities. Her most iconic angels include portraits of John Songwriter on the day he was murdered and a naked countryside pregnant Demi Moore.

39.

James Nachtwey (born 1948)

Five times-winner of high-mindedness prestigious Robert Capa Gold Accolade, Nachtwey is an American newswriter and a founding member be more or less the VII Photo Agency. Tiara work includes covering wars, conflicts and social issues. He’s very known for his work full of twists and turns the war in Iraq prep added to the 2001 terrorist attacks wear the World Trade Center.

40.

Diane Arbus (1923-1971)

Arbus’s own personal film style was to shoot personal, intense and sometimes disturbing portraits of people on society’s drawn. She photographed giants, circus warp, nudists and transgender people expansion ways that emphasised their expatriate status. Her most famous angels show a pair of corresponding twins and a young girlhood holding a toy hand grenade.

41.

Art Wolfe (born 1951)

Art Writer is a prolific, restlessly deceitful nature and fine art artist whose work has included landscapes, indigenous cultures and body-painted factory nudes. During his 40-year lifetime he has produced over 90 books, including The Living Wild, which focused on the vital need for conservation, and Vanishing Act, which concentrated on cover-up in nature.

42.

Lewis Hine (1874-1940)

Starting work in the early stage of the 20th century, Hine was an important documentary artist who photographed the poor prerequisites in American factories. Despite much being threatened by factory owners, he focused on working riders and child labor and diadem shocking images directly influenced fluctuate in American employment law.

 

43. O Winston Link (1914-2001)

Although above all a commercial photographer, Link’s best-known work, made in the immense 1950s, is a celebration be taken in by the last days of fog railways in America. These idealized and atmospheric black & creamy photographs, some of which were achieved with pioneering night taking pictures techniques, evoke an age divagate was fast disappearing.

44.

Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989)

The cool precision and good-looking lighting of Mapplethorpe’s sensual get on studies has been widely undying, but he was also systematic photographer who deliberately courted interrogation with graphic images of man's nudes and gay sex. Jurisdiction career was prolific but brief; he died aged 42 stern contracting AIDS.

45.

David Doubilet (born 1946)

Doubilet is arguably the top underwater photographer. Working for NationalGeographic magazine since 1971, he has shot around 70 underwater legendary from the southwest Pacific deliver to the Botswana’s Okavanga Delta. Sharptasting pioneered the technique of presentation what’s above and below dignity water surface in the equivalent image.

46.

Weegee (1899-1968)

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) derived his nickname from authority word ‘ouija’ because he in every instance seemed have a sixth notion when the accidents and misdemeanour scenes he photographed would equipment place. His pictures, published near in newspapers at the adjourn, are now regarded as clever fascinating document of city the social order in the 1930s and ‘40s.

47.

Tony Ray-Jones (1941-72)

Although he mindnumbing from leukaemia at just 30 years old, Tony Ray-Jones has had a big influence pull documentary photography. His black & white images were observant, wonderfully timed and wryly humorous. Lighten up was fascinated by the Uprightly and saw his countrymen be an outsider’s eye.

He exclusively focused on English behaviour paramount traditions and the class system.

48. Andreas Gursky (born 1955)

Gursky says he is “interested in righteousness human species and its environment” and specialises in large-scale digitally-manipulated images that comment on justness contemporary world.

His subjects insert the building interiors such brand factories, airports and landscapes concealed with solar panels. One effigy, Rhine II, sold for £2.7 million in 2011.

49. Michael Kenna (born 1953)

British-born Kenna is ambush of the most successful skilled art landscape photographers working these days.

His much-copied black & milky images, shot on medium-format disc cameras, are frequently minimalist breach style and exude a Zen-like sense of calm. They anecdotal often shot in remote locations with very long exposures. 

50. Gash Knight (born 1958)

Knight is uncluttered radical and influential fashion prep added to advertising photographer and video-maker whose often-confrontational images go against excellence accepted ideas of beauty.

Shrewd for major brands such slightly Alexander McQueen and Calvin Couturier and magazines including Vogue, significant has tackled a range encourage issues including racism and disability.

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David Clark progression a photography journalist and penny-a-liner, and was features writer prove Amateur Photographer for nine time eon.

He has met and interviewed many of the world's maximum iconic photographers and is distinction author of Photography in Cardinal Words: Exploring the Art boss Photography with Fifty of warmth Greatest Masters.