Famous Photographers and Their Works

From LoveToKnow Photography

Many amateur shutterbugs often research famous photographers and their works to gain inspiration and helpful tips on how to tell a story through the camera’s lens.

Many famous photographers shot with old-style film cameras.

The Legacy of Famous Photographers

Whether you are a hobbyist who enjoys taking shots of your children or you are a freelancer who is serious about turning your passion for picture taking into a profit, studying famous photographers and their works can serve as a great motivator. Most famous photographers weren’t born artists. Rather, they worked diligently studying their craft and practicing basic techniques and composition. In addition, they actively sought out unique landscapes and portrait subjects in an effort to tell viewers about the world and themselves.

Famous Photographers and Their Works

The following famous photographers helped shape the way we take pictures today. They are leaders in the field who prove that the smallest thing can be the greatest subject:

Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

Ansel Easton Adams is known as one of the world’s greatest nature photographers. His black and white photographs of California's Yosemite Valley are legendary, and prove how masterful he was at technical photography. More than any creative photographer, before or since, Adams was loyal to "straight photography,” or unaltered prints. He vehemently opposed pictorialism, the trend to alter photos in the darkroom.

Adams was a warrior for environmental issues and worked tirelessly to preserve the wilderness as seen in his most noteworthy images:

El Capitan, Sunrise
Moonrise over Hernandez
Clearing Winter Storm
Winter Sunrise
Collection of large scale silver gelatin landscapes found in Yosemite National Park

Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971)

Margaret Bourke-White worked hard to become one of the most famous female photographers in the world. The spunky American photojournalist never let her gender keep her from her goal of photographing subjects that were important to her. Bourke-White’s perseverance paid off when she was named as the first female war correspondent. She worked for Fortune and Life magazines and served in combat zones in Germany, Africa and Italy, during World War II. In addition, she was the only American photographer in Russia during the battle of Moscow. Her exploits are numerous and legendary. Her images are awe-inspiring, including:

Steel Mills; Portraits of drought victims of the Dust Bowl
Breadline; Photo essay of Southern during the Great Depression
Concentration Camp; Portraits of survivors at Buchenwald concentration camp
Ghandi; Portrait of Ghandi a few hours before his assassination

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004)

When Henri Cartier-Bresson began his career in photojournalism, the bulky press photographer’s camera that used large, single sheets of film, one sheet per image, was the standard tool for taking pictures. Despite the antiquated equipment, Cartier-Bresson was able to capture beauty and emotion through the camera lens like no one else.

The Frenchman was reportedly influenced by surrealism, an art movement that found significance in the meanings that lie beneath the surface of everyday life. Cartier-Bresson’s unique ability to record minute human details in a style known as "street photography," earned him the title of "Father of Modern Photojournalism."

Cartier-Bresson’s most noteworthy images include:

Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954 (Boy with Bottles)
Behind the Gare St. Lazare, 1932
Siphnos, Greece, 1961
Srinigar, Kashmir, India, 1948
On the Banks of the Marne, France, 1938
Portrait of the writer Truman Capote
Portrait of the novelist William Faulkner
Portrait of the fashion designer Coco Chanel

Francesco Scavullo (1921-2004)

American fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo is best known for his portrait work of Hollywood’s elite. Long after his death in 2004, Scavullo is still remembered for his most famous and controversial images, including:

Cosmopolitan centerfold of a nude Burt Reynolds
Provocative portraits of a young Brooke Shields
Split photo of Julie Andrews for Victor/Victoria movie poster

Diane Arbus (1923-1971)

Diane Arbus was an American photographer known for taking an intuitive approach to documentary and portrait photography. She was one of the first great photographers to explore her own identity and vulnerability by taking pictures of people on the fringes of society. Arbus’ photos of transvestites, dwarves, giants, prostitutes and mental patients, in poses and settings that convey a disturbing humanity are still influential today. Her unsettling photograph of a child with toy grenade in Central Park taken in 1962 sold at auction for $408,000 in 2005.

Arbus’ other famous images include: