Famous Photographers

Potential Subjects for

Research paper on a famous Photographer/Photojournalist

WeeGee: Crime scene photographer in the late 30’s, know for getting the “Scoop’ on famous celebs in New York. First photog to use a police scanner to find out info on crimes and police activity. Documented street culture in a very “in our face” style. Danny Devito’s character in LA Confidential is based on WeeGee.

Annie Leibovitz: From the Beatles to Brook Shields to the Queen of England to her own personal, financial bankruptcy, Annie has seen and done it all. She changed the way photographers look at the celebrity portrait.

Ansel Adams: What can you say about Adams? The undisputed king of landscape photography. His prints have sold more copies then any other photographer alive or dead. His work is studied in classrooms around the world. He was also a master manipulator of the image, both while shooting and developing. And he is credited with creating the “Zone System” of exposure control.

Richard Avedon: Started as a documentary photographer shooting protests, but is best known for reinventing fashion photography while working at Harpers Bazaar. His subjects were real, unpolished and genuine. Also a very accomplished celebrity portrait photographer, having done work for The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: First seriously documentary photojournalist. Innovator of “Street” style photography. Brought many concepts of artistic design to his photographic work.

Dorothea Lange: Photographed during the Great Depression. Her images of homeless and jobless people and families earned her praise from more established photographers. Later would become well know for her work with the Farm Security Administration and her images of migrant workers and the families of the western Dust Bowl.

Margaret Bourke-White: One of the world’s first and most famous photojournalists. Bourke-White used photography to document the Great Depression and World War II, creating the photo essay, in which one picture or a series of pictures are used to tell a story. During the Second World War she was the only woman photographer permitted in war zones by the U.S. Army. Capturing significant moments in the war on film, Bourke-White also snapped memorable portraits of world leaders, such as Churchill, Stalin, and Gandhi.

Christopher Morris: If there is a war going on you will probably find Morris somewhere nearby. He has photographed both Iraq wars, as well as those in Somalia, Yugoslavia and Chechnya. He has turned to using high-end, professional Point-and-Shoot cameras for a majority of his work.

Anne Geddes: A photo of a baby inside a peapod or inside a water lily. Maybe triplets with watermelon hats. What is Anne thinking? And how many calendars has she sold? Tons, maybe more. A one-of-a-kind portrait photographer who uses Photoshop and a very creative/wacky eye to create some very cute images. Check out her blog, or her Facebook page, or Tweet her.

Galen Rowell: In 1972 Rowell made the incredible jump from car salesman to working for National Geo. An adventure seeker at heart, Rowell puts himself in the thick of the action along with his subjects. Climbing Half Dome today? Rowell will be there with you, hanging of the granite face with a set of Nikons hanging from his climbing harness. White water kayaking down an uncharted river in South America? Get a boat for Rowell, because he’s not walking with the rest of the support crew. And lets not forget the jaw-dropping beauty of his landscapes and wildlife images. Breathtaking does not begin to describe his work with any justice.

David Turnley: Best known for his work documenting the Apartheid in South Africa. His work earned him several Pulitzer Prizes. A contract photographer by trade, Turnley hop-scotches the globe covering major environmental events, including earthquakes, floods, and political uprisings.

Robert Mapplethorpe: His work is stunning, striking, eloquent and unbelievable controversial. Best known for his B&Ws of male nudes in sadomasochistic poses, Mapplethorpe is/was more then just the best know gay photographer to walk the planet. He was a visionary plagued by thoughts of inadequacy and failure. His work with flowers and statues are painstakingly simple, yet elaborate. His control of light and contrast is apparent in every inch of the frame. And no other photographer took more images of himself in history.

Helmut Newton: Maybe Mapplethorpe took his visionary ques from Newton? Newton is the father of the “Sex Pot Glamour” style of photography. His images are raw, contrasty, deep and deeply troubling. Yet soft, to a point. Oh, who am I kidding, Newton was twisted and off the charts crazy. And people love his work because of it.

Mathew Brady: Pioneering photographer. After learning the daguerreotype process from artist-inventor Samuel F. B. Morse, Brady built a successful portrait business with galleries in New York and Washington where the public could view photographs of famous people of the day. When the Civil War broke out, Brady got official approval to document the war. To do the job, he hired ten other photographers, set up field units in several states, and used large-format cameras and traveling darkrooms pulled by horse teams. Brady and his assistants took some 3,500 photographs of the war. Brady himself captured Abraham Lincoln and the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg on camera.

Jacob Riis:  Reformer and famous documentary photographer. Riis was a Danish immigrant to the United States with a knack for reporting. The New York slums became his beat. Riis wrote about what he saw on the streets, and his stories opened people’s eyes to the deplorable living conditions for many in the city. Riis’s writings and photographs were true good works that helped change the city for the better.

Robert Capa:  World-famous combat photojournalist. Firm in his belief that “if your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough,” Capa put himself in the middle of the action. His photographs of soldiers in the trenches during the Spanish civil war made him famous around the world. Later assignments involved landing in France with the first wave of D-Day forces and jumping with paratroopers into Germany during World War II. Capa lost his life in the field, killed by a mine while on assignment in Vietnam.

James Nachtwey: one of the most influential photojournalists and war photographers of the late 20th century. Subject of the award winning documentary War Photographer. Has won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for photography 6 times.

Gordon Parks: First African American photographer to work for Life magazine. Also directed the hit 1971 film “Shaft”. His essays on the poor and neglected families on Chicago’s Southside caught the attention of the Farm Security Administration. He is an accomplished filmmaker, writer, artist and pianist.

Alfred Stiegletz: Driving force in getting photography recognized as an art form. Editor of American Amateur Photographer before working with and reshaping the New York Camera Club. Married to painter Georgia O’Keeffe.

Walter Ioos: Ioos cut his teeth shooting sports, sports of any and all kinds. He became known for his portrait work of professional sports figures, but is best known for his work with the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit issues.

Eddie Adams: Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his photograph of a captured Viet Cong soldier being shot in the head by a Vietnamese General on a street in Saigon. If that isn’t enough, he also helped persuade President Jimmy Carter to grant asylum to 200,000 Vietnamese refugees, or “boat people.” He has won over 500 major awards for his works. His photographic workshop “Barnstorm: the Eddie Adams Workshops” are highly successful and attended by college students as well as working professionals.

Sebastiao Salgado: Known for his work documenting third work countries and impoverished communities. He will immerse himself in his work, sometimes living with his subjects for months on end, documenting their daily struggles.  Has published six books of his works.

Seth Gitner: One of the new, up-and-coming leaders of the multi-media movement. Seth has pioneers the melding of sound, video and still images into a smooth interactive package. Mostly designed for web viewing, his stories immerse the viewer into the story in ways unthought  of 15 years ago.


Pete Souza: Has been the official White House photographer since President Obama took office. Before his current gig, Souza was a photographer for the Chicago Tribune. His major beat was to follow the rise of a young Illinois senator as he rose to fame in social politics. Was also White House photographer during Ronald Reagan's second term in office. Souza is credited with bringing the daily workings of a White House Photographer to the publics attention after he opened a Flickr account and started posting images.