Works of famous historical photographers of the world. The most famous photographs

Nowadays, there is only one way to get rich, become famous and go down in history as a photographer - by doing anything but photography. A hundred years ago you could easily become a great photographer, since there were two key prerequisites:

A. photography was a complex, troublesome and little-known craft;

b. Technologies gradually emerged and were introduced that made it possible to reproduce photographs in newspapers and (a little later) in color magazines.

That is, the glorious moment came when, having pressed the shutter button, you already understood that this frame would be seen by millions. But these millions did not yet know that they could do the same thing, since there were no digital point-and-shoot cameras, full automation and photo dumps on the Internet. Well, and talent, of course. You have no competition!

The golden era of photography, perhaps, should be recognized as the middle of the last century. However, many of the artists listed on our list belong to other distant and modern eras.


Helmut Newton, Germany, 1920–2004

A little more than a great and famous fashion photographer with a very, very independent understanding of what eroticism is. He was fiercely in demand by almost all glossy magazines, Vogue, Elle and Playboy in the first place. He died at 84 after crashing his car into a concrete wall at full speed.

Richard Avedon, USA, 1923–2004

The god of black and white portraits, also interesting because delving into his galleries, you will find anyone. The photographs of this brilliant New York Jew have absolutely everything. They say that Richard took his first photograph at the age of nine, when the little boy accidentally caught Sergei Rachmaninoff in his lens.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, France, 1908–2004

An outstanding photorealist, one of the patriarchs of photo reporting, and at the same time an invisible man: he had a delicately developed gift for being able to remain noticeable to those he photographed. At first he studied to be an artist, where he developed a craving for light surrealism, which was then tangibly imprinted in his photographs.

Sebastian Salgado, Brazil, 1944

The creator of almost fantastic images, actually taken from real world. Salgado was a photojournalist who was especially drawn to anomalies, misfortunes, poverty and environmental disasters- but even such his stories fascinate with their beauty. In 2014, director Wim Wenders made a film about him called “The Salt of the Earth” (special prize at the Cannes Film Festival).

William Eugene Smith, USA, 1918–1978

A photojournalist, perhaps famous for everything a photojournalist can become famous for - from canonical war photographs to expressive and touching portraits of great and ordinary people. Below is an example of footage from a session with Charlie Chaplin for Life magazine.

Guy Bourdin, France, 1928–1991

One of the most copied and imitated photographers in the world. Erotic, surreal. Now - a quarter of a century after his death - it is increasingly relevant and modern.

Weegee (Arthur Fellig), USA, 1899–1968

Emigrant from Eastern Europe, now a great classic of street and crime photography. The man managed to arrive at any incident in New York - be it a fire, murder or a banal massacre - faster than other paparazzi and, often, the police. However, besides all kinds of emergencies, his photographs show almost all aspects of life in the poorest neighborhoods of the metropolis. The noir film Naked City (1945) was based on his photo, Stanley Kubrick studied on his photos, and Weegee himself is mentioned at the beginning of the comic film Watchmen (2009).

Alexander Rodchenko, USSR, 1891–1956

A pioneer of Soviet design and advertising, Rodchenko is, at the same time, a pioneer of constructivism. Expelled from the Union of Artists for departing from the ideals and style of socialist realism, but, fortunately, it did not come to the camps - he died a natural death at the dawn of Khrushchev’s “thaw”.

Irving Penn, USA, 1917–2009

Master of portrait and fashion genre. He is famous for his abundance of his signature tricks - for example, photographing people in the corner of a room or against all sorts of gray, ascetic backgrounds. Famous catchphrase: “Cake photography can be art too.”

Anton Corbijn, Netherlands, 1955

The world's most prominent rock photographer, whose rise began with iconic photographs and video clips for Depeche Mode and U2. His style is easily recognizable - strong defocus and atmospheric noise. Corbijn also directed several films: Control (biography of the Joy Division frontman), The American (with George Clooney) and The Most dangerous man"(based on the novel by Le Carré). If you search for famous photos of Nirvana, Metallica or Tom Waits on Google, there is almost a 100% chance that Corbijn's will come up first.

Steven Meisel, USA, 1954

One of the most successful fashion photographers in the world, who became especially popular in 1992 after the release of Madonna’s photo book “Sex”. Considered the discoverer of many catwalk superstars such as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista or Amber Valletta.

Diane Arbus, USA, 1923–1971

Her real name is Diana Nemerova, and she found her niche in photography by working with the most unsightly people - freaks, dwarfs, transvestites, the weak-minded... At best, with nudists. In 2006, the biographical film Fur was released, in which Nicole Kidman played the role of Diana.

David LaChapelle, USA, 1963

A master of pop photography (“pop” in the good sense of the word), LaChapelle, in particular, shot videos for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera, so you will understand his style not only from photographs.

Marc Riboud, France, (1923-2016)

The author of at least a dozen “epoch prints”: you’ve probably seen a million times a hippie girl bringing a daisy to the barrel of a rifle. Riboud has traveled all over the world and is most revered for his portfolio of filming in China and Vietnam, although you can also find his scenes from the life of the Soviet Union. Died at the age of 93.

Elliott Erwitt, France, 1928

A Frenchman with Russian roots, famous for his ironic and absurd view of our troubled world, which is very moving in his still photographs. Not long ago, he also began exhibiting in galleries under the name André S. Solidor, which in abbreviation reads “ass.”

Patrick Demarchelier, France/USA, 1943

Still a living classic of fashion photography, he has enriched this genre with a particularly complex sophistication. And at the same time, he reduced the prohibitive degree of glamorous overdress, which was the norm before him.

Annie Leibovitz, USA, 1949

A master of fairy-tale plots with a very powerful charge of wit, understandable even to simpletons who are far from hyper-glamour. Which is not surprising, since lesbian Annie started out as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine.

A collection of iconic photographs from the last 100 years that demonstrate
the grief of loss and the triumph of the human spirit...

An Australian man kisses his Canadian girlfriend. Canadians rioted after the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup.

Three sisters, three “segments” of time, three photos.

Two legendary captains Pele and Bobby Moore exchange jerseys as a sign of mutual respect. FIFA World Cup, 1970.

1945: Petty Officer Graham Jackson plays "Goin' Home" at President Roosevelt's funeral on April 12, 1945.


1952. 63-year-old Charlie Chaplin.

Eight-year-old Christian accepts the flag during a memorial service for his father. Who was killed in Iraq just weeks before he was due to return home.

A veteran near the T34-85 tank, which he fought in during the Great Patriotic War.

Romanian child giving balloon to a police officer during protests in Bucharest.

Police Captain Ray Lewis was arrested for his involvement in the 2011 Wall Street protests.

A monk stands next to an elderly man who died suddenly while waiting for a train in Shanxi Taiyuan, China.

A dog named "Leao" sits for two days at the grave of his owner, who died in terrible landslides.
Rio de Janeiro, January 15, 2011.

African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their black-gloved fists in a gesture of solidarity. Olympic Games, 1968.

Jewish prisoners at the moment of their release from the camp. 1945

The funeral of President John F. Kennedy took place on November 25, 1963, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s birthday.
Footage of John Kennedy Jr. saluting his father's coffin was broadcast around the world.

Christians protect Muslims during prayer. Egypt, 2011.

A North Korean man (right) waves from a bus to a tearful South Korean after a family reunion near Mount Kumgang, October 31, 2010. They were separated by the 1950-53 war.

A dog met its owner after the tsunami in Japan. 2011

"Wait for Me, Dad" is a photograph of the British Columbia Regiment marching. Five-year-old Warren "Whitey" Bernard ran from his mother to his father, Private Jack Bernard, shouting "Wait for me, Daddy." The photograph became widely known, was published in Life, hung in every school in British Columbia during the war, and was used in war bond issues.

Priest Luis Padillo and a soldier wounded by a sniper during the uprising in Venezuela.

A mother and son in Concord, Alabama, near their home, which was completely destroyed by a tornado. April, 2011.

The guy is watching family album, which was found in the rubble of his old house after the Sichuan earthquake.

4-month-old girl after the Japanese tsunami.

French citizens as the Nazis enter Paris during World War II.

Soldier Horace Greasley confronts Heinrich Himmler while inspecting the camp in which he was imprisoned. Surprisingly, Greasley left the camp many times to meet a German girl with whom he was in love.

A fireman gives water to a koala during forest fires. Australia 2009.

Father dead son, at the 9/11 memorial. During the tenth annual ceremonies, on the site of the World Trade Center.

Jacqueline Kennedy taking the oath of Lyndon Johnson as President of the United States. Immediately after the death of my husband.

Tanisha Blevin, 5, holds the hand of Hurricane Katrina survivor Nita Lagarde, 105.

A girl, in temporary isolation to identify and clean up radiation, looks at her dog through the glass. Japan, 2011.

Journalists Yuna Lee and Laura Ling, who were arrested in North Korea and sentenced to hard labor for 12 years, reunited with their families in California. After successful diplomatic intervention by the US.

A mother meeting with her daughter after serving in Iraq.

Young pacifist Jane Rose Kasmir, with a flower on the bayonets of guards at the Pentagon.
During a protest against the Vietnam War. 1967

"The Man Who Stopped the Tanks"...
An iconic photograph of an unknown rebel who stood in front of a column of Chinese tanks. Tiananmen 1989

Harold Vittles hears for the first time in his life - the doctor has just installed a hearing aid for him.

Helen Fisher kisses the hearse carrying the body of her 20-year-old cousin, Private Douglas Halliday.

US Army troops come ashore during D-Day. Normandy, June 6, 1944.

World War II prisoner released Soviet Union, met with my daughter.
The girl sees her father for the first time.

People's Soldier liberation army Sudan at the rehearsal for the Independence Day parade.

Greg Cook hugs his lost dog after he was found. Alabama, after the March 2012 tornado.

Photo taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission. 1968

Take a closer look at this photo. This is one of the most remarkable photographs ever taken. The baby's tiny hand reached out of the mother's womb to squeeze the surgeon's finger. By the way, the child is 21 weeks from conception, the age when he can still be legally aborted. The tiny hand in the photo belongs to a baby who was due on December 28 last year. The photo was taken during an operation in America.

The first reaction is to recoil in horror. Looks like close-up some terrible incident. And then you notice, in the very center of the photo, a tiny hand grasping the surgeon's finger.
The child is literally grasping for life. It is therefore one of the most remarkable photographs in medicine and a record of one of the most extraordinary operations in the world. It shows a 21-week-old fetus in the womb, just before the spinal surgery needed to save the baby from severe brain damage. The operation was performed through a tiny incision in the mother's wall and this is the youngest patient. At this stage the mother may choose to have an abortion.

The most famous photograph“that no one saw,” is what Associated Press photographer Richard Drew calls his photograph of one of the World Trade Center victims jumping out of a window towards own death September 11
“On that day, which, more than any other day in history, was captured on camera and film,” Tom Junod later wrote in Esquire, “the only taboo, by common consent, was the pictures of people jumping from windows.” Five years later, Richard Drew's Falling Man remains a terrible artifact of the day that should have changed everything, but didn't.

Photographer Nick Yut took a photo of a Vietnamese girl running away from an exploding napalm bomb. It was this photo that made the whole world think about the Vietnam War.
The photo of 9-year-old girl Kim Phuc on June 8, 1972 has gone down in history forever. Kim first saw this photo 14 months later in a hospital in Saigon, where she was being treated for terrible burns. Kim still remembers running from her siblings on the day of the bombing and cannot forget the sound of the bombs falling. A soldier tried to help and poured water on her, not realizing that this would make the burns even worse. Photographer Nick Ut helped the girl and took her to the hospital. At first, the photographer doubted whether to publish a photo of a naked girl, but then decided that the world should see this photo.

Later the photo was called best photo XX century. Nick Yut tried to protect Kim from becoming too popular, but in 1982, when the girl was studying at medical university, the Vietnamese government found her, and since then Kim's image has been used for propaganda purposes. “I was under constant control. I wanted to die, this photo haunted me,” says Kim. She later managed to escape to Cuba to continue her education. There she met her future husband. Together they moved to Canada. Many years later, she finally realized that she could not escape from this photograph, and decided to use it and her fame to fight for peace.

Malcolm Brown, a 30-year-old photographer (Associated Press) from New York, called on the phone and asked to be at a certain intersection in Saigon the next morning, because... something very important is about to happen. He came there with a reporter from the New York Times. Soon a car pulled up and several Buddhist monks got out. Among them is Thich Quang Duc, who sat in the lotus position with a box of matches in his hands, while others began to pour gasoline on him. Thich Quang Duc struck a match and turned into a living torch. Unlike the crying crowd that saw him burn, he did not make a sound or move. Thich Quang Duc wrote a letter to the then head of the Vietnamese government asking him to stop the repression of Buddhists, stop the detention of monks and give them the right to practice and spread their religion, but received no response


On December 3, 1984, the Indian city of Bhopal suffered from the largest man-made disaster in the history of mankind. A giant toxic cloud released into the atmosphere by an American pesticide plant covered the city, killing three thousand people that same night, and another 15 thousand in the next month. In total, more than 150,000 people were affected by the release of toxic waste, and this does not include children born after 1984

Surgeon Jay Vacanti of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston is working with microengineer Jeffrey Borenstein to develop a technique for growing an artificial liver. In 1997, he managed to grow a human ear on the back of a mouse using cartilage cells.

The development of technology that allows culturing the liver is extremely important. In the UK alone, there are 100 people on the transplant waiting list, and according to the British Liver Trust, the majority of patients die before receiving a transplant.

A photo taken by reporter Alberto Korda at a rally in 1960, in which Che Guevara is also visible between a palm tree and someone's nose, claims to be the most circulated photo in the history of photography.

The most famous photograph of Stephen McCurry, taken by him in a refugee camp on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Soviet helicopters destroyed the village of a young refugee, her entire family was killed, and the girl traveled for two weeks in the mountains before getting to the camp. After its publication in June 1985, this photograph became a National Geographic icon. Since then, this image has been used everywhere - from tattoos to rugs, which turned the photograph into one of the most replicated photos in the world

At the end of April 2004, the CBS program 60 Minutes II aired a story about the torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison by a group of American soldiers. The story featured photographs that were published in the magazine a few days later. The New Yorker." This became the biggest scandal surrounding the American presence in Iraq.
In early May 2004, the leadership of the US Armed Forces admitted that some of its torture methods did not comply with the Geneva Convention and announced its readiness to publicly apologize.

According to the testimony of a number of prisoners, American soldiers raped them, rode them on horseback, and forced them to fish food out of prison toilets. In particular, the prisoners said: “They forced us to walk on all fours, like dogs, and yelp. We had to bark like dogs, and if you didn’t bark, you were hit in the face without any mercy. After that, they threw us in cells, took away our mattresses, spilled water on the floor and forced us to sleep in this slurry without removing the hoods from our heads. And they were constantly photographing it all,” “One American said he would rape me. He drew a woman on my back and forced me to stand in a shameful position, holding my own scrotum in my hands.”

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (often referred to simply as 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States of America. According to the official version, responsibility for these attacks lies with the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
On the morning of that day, nineteen terrorists allegedly associated with al-Qaeda, divided into four groups, hijacked four scheduled passenger airliners. Each group had at least one member who had completed basic flight training. The invaders flew two of these planes into the World War II towers. Shopping Center, American Airlines Flight 11 into WTC 1, and United Airlines Flight 175 into WTC 2, causing both towers to collapse, causing severe damage to adjacent structures.

White and colored
Photograph by Elliott Erwitt 1950

The photograph of an officer shooting a handcuffed prisoner in the head not only won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969, but also changed the way Americans think about what happened in Vietnam. Despite the obviousness of the image, in fact the photograph is not as clear as it seemed to ordinary Americans, filled with sympathy for the executed man. The fact is that the man in handcuffs is the captain of the Viet Cong "revenge warriors", and on this day he and his henchmen shot and killed many unarmed civilians. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, pictured left, was haunted his whole life by his past: he was refused treatment at an Australian military hospital, after moving to the US he faced a massive campaign calling for his immediate deportation, the restaurant he opened in Virginia every day was attacked by vandals. "We know who you are!" - this inscription haunted the army general all his life

Republican soldier Federico Borel García is depicted facing death. The photo caused a huge shock in society. The situation is absolutely unique. During the entire attack, the photographer took only one photo, and he took it at random, without looking through the viewfinder, he did not look at all in the direction of the “model.” And this is one of the best, one of his most famous photographs. It was thanks to this photograph that already in 1938 newspapers called 25-year-old Robert Capa “The Greatest War Photographer in the World.”

The photograph showing the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag spread throughout the world. Evgeny Khaldey, 1945

By the early summer of 1994, Kevin Carter (1960-1994) was at the height of his fame. He had just won the Pulitzer Prize, and job offers from famous magazines were pouring in one after another. “Everyone congratulates me,” he wrote to his parents, “I can’t wait to meet you and show you my trophy. This is the highest recognition of my work, which I did not dare even dream of.”

Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph "Famine in Sudan," taken in the early spring of 1993. On this day, Carter specially flew to Sudan to film scenes of famine in a small village. Tired of photographing people who had died of hunger, he left the village into a field overgrown with small bushes and suddenly heard a quiet cry. Looking around, he saw a little girl lying on the ground, apparently dying of hunger. He wanted to take a photo of her, but suddenly a vulture landed a few steps away. Very carefully, trying not to spook the bird, Kevin chose the best position and took the photo. After that, he waited another twenty minutes, hoping that the bird would spread its wings and give him the opportunity to get a better shot. But the damned bird did not move and, in the end, he spat and drove it away. Meanwhile, the girl apparently gained strength and walked - or rather crawled - further. And Kevin sat down near the tree and cried. He suddenly had a terrible desire to hug his daughter...

November 13, 1985. Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts in Colombia. The mountain snow melts, and a 50-meter-thick mass of mud, earth and water literally wipes out everything in its path. The death toll exceeded 23,000 people. The disaster received a huge response around the world, thanks in part to a photo of a little girl named Omaira Sanchez. She found herself trapped, neck-deep in the slush, her legs caught in the concrete structure of the house. Rescuers tried to pump out the mud and free the child, but in vain. The girl survived for three days, after which she became infected with several viruses at once. As journalist Cristina Echandia, who was nearby all this time, recalls, Omaira sang and communicated with others. She was scared and constantly thirsty, but she behaved very courageously. On the third night she began to hallucinate.

Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995), a photographer working for Life magazine, walked around the square photographing people kissing. He later recalled that he noticed a sailor who “rushed around the square and kissed indiscriminately all the women in a row: young and old, fat and thin. I watched, but there was no desire to take a photo. Suddenly he grabbed something white. I barely had time to raise the camera and take a photo of him kissing the nurse.”
For millions of Americans, this photograph, which Eisenstadt called " Unconditional surrender", became a symbol of the end of the Second World War...

I have long been planning to post life and success stories of the most famous photographers in the past in my feed. Actually, I wanted to start maintaining my Topics with this very topic.
Lately, I’ve often thought that everything we do (this means both our professional activities and our hobbies) is some kind of PSHIC, which is unlikely to ever change anything in the lives of current and future generations . Those. the question is WHAT after all is SELF-REALIZATION(including in photography?!)

Elliott Erwitt- a legend of world photography, became famous as the most talented author of black and white photographs. His works: lively, emotional, with a sense of humor and deep meaning, have captivated audiences in many countries. The uniqueness of the photographer’s technique lies in the ability to see irony in the world around him. He did not like staged shots, did not use retouching and worked only with film cameras. Everything that Ervit has ever filmed is genuine reality, through the eyes of an optimist.

“I want the images to be emotional. There is little else that interests me in photography."Elliott Erwitt

Arnold Newman (Arnold Newman) devoted nearly seventy years of his life to photography, not stopping working almost until his death: “August and I (Newman speaks of his wife - A.V.) are busier and more active than ever,” the photographer said in 2002, “Today I’m working again on new ideas, books, travel - it will never end and thank God.” In this he was mistaken - on June 6, 2006 he died - sudden cardiac arrest. As if anticipating this diagnosis, he once said: “We don’t take photographs with cameras. We make them with our hearts."

« I think today's generation has one problem. It is so carried away by objectivity that it forgets about photography itself. Forgets to create images like Cartier-Bresson or Salgado - two of the greatest 35mm photographers who ever lived. They can use any theme to create a photograph, no matter what it is. They truly create photography that you enjoy, a lot of pleasure from. And now, every time it’s the same thing: two people in bed, someone with a needle in their arm or something like that, Lifestyles or nightclubs. You look at these and after a week you begin to forget, after two weeks you can’t remember a single one. But a photograph can then be considered interesting when it sinks into our consciousness» Arnold Newman

Alfred Stieglitz

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Alfred Stieglitz (Alfred Stieglitz) "almost single-handedly pushed his country into the world of 20th-century art." It was Stieglitz who became the first photographer whose works were awarded museum status. From the very beginning of his career as a photographer, Stieglitz faced disdain for photography from the artistic elite: “The artists to whom I showed my early photographs said they were jealous of me; that my photographs are better than their paintings, but, unfortunately, photography is not art. “I couldn’t understand how you can simultaneously admire a work and reject it as not made by hands, how you can put your own works higher only on the basis that they are made by hand,” Stieglitz was indignant. He could not come to terms with this state of affairs: “Then I began to fight... for the recognition of photography as a new means of self-expression, so that it would have equal rights with any other forms of artistic creativity.”

« I would like to draw your attention to the most popular misconception about photography - the term “professional” is used for photos that are generally considered successful, and the term “amateur” is used for unsuccessful ones. But almost all great photographs are made - and always have been taken - by those who pursued photography in the name of love - and certainly not in the name of profit. The term “amateur” precisely implies a person working in the name of love, so the fallacy of the generally accepted classification is obvious.”Alfred Stieglitz

It is perhaps difficult to find in the history of world photography a personality more controversial, tragic, and so unlike anyone else than Diane Arbus. She is idolized and cursed, some imitate her, others try with all their might to avoid it. Some can spend hours looking at her photographs, others try to quickly close the album. One thing is obvious - the work of Diane Arbus leaves few people indifferent. There was nothing insignificant or trivial about her life, her photographs, her death.

Extraordinary talent Yousuf Karsh As a portrait photographer, he did his job: he was - and remains - one of the most famous photographers of all times. His books sell in huge numbers, exhibitions of his photographs are held all over the world, and his works are included in the permanent collections of leading museums. Karsh had a great influence on many portrait photographers, especially in the 1940s and 1950s. Some critics argue that he often idealizes the character, imposes his philosophy on the model, and talks more about himself than about the person being portrayed. However, no one denies that his portraits were made with extraordinary skill and inner world- model or photographer - has a captivating attention on the viewer. He received many awards, prizes, honorary titles, and in 2000 the Guinness Book of Records named Yusuf Karsh the most outstanding master of portrait photography.

« If, by looking at my portraits, you learn something more significant about the people depicted in them, if they help you sort out your feelings about someone whose work has left an imprint on your brain - if you look at the photograph and say: “ Yes, that’s him” and at the same time you learn something new about the person - that means this is a really successful portrait» Yusuf Karsh

Man Ray Since the beginning of his photography career, he has constantly experimented with new technical methods. In 1922, he rediscovered the method of creating photographic images without a camera. Another discovery of the photographer, also known long before him, but practically not used, was solarization - an interesting effect that is obtained by re-exposing a negative. He turned solarization into artistic technique, as a result of which ordinary items, faces, body parts were transformed into fantastic and mysterious images.

“There will always be people who look only at the technique of execution - their main question is “how”, while others, more inquisitive, are interested in “why”. For me personally, an inspiring idea has always meant more than other information."Man Ray

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry (Steve McCurry) has the amazing ability to always (at least, much more often than follows from the theory of probability) be in the right place at the right time. He is amazingly lucky - although it should be remembered that luck for a photojournalist usually comes from the misfortunes of other people or even entire nations. A more than prestigious education did little to help Steve in the profession of a photojournalist - he worked his way to the heights of his craft through trial and error, trying to learn as much as possible from his predecessors.

“The most important thing is to be extremely attentive to the person, serious and consistent in your intentions, then the picture will be the most sincere. I really like watching people. It seems to me that a person's face can sometimes tell a lot. Each of my photographs is not just an episode from life, it is its quintessence, its whole story.”Steve McCurry

“A Mixture of Algebra with Harmony” made Gjon Mili one of the most famous photographers in America. He showed the world the beauty of frozen motion or a series of moments frozen in one frame. It is unknown when and where he became interested in photography, but in the late 1930s his photographs began to appear in the illustrated magazine Life - in those years both the magazine and the photographer were just beginning their path to fame. In addition to photography, Mili was interested in cinema: in 1945, his film “Jammin’ the Blues” about famous musicians of the 1930-1940s was nominated for an Academy Award.

“Time really can be stopped”Gyen Miles

Andre Kertész known as the founder of surrealism in photography. His unconventional angles, for that time, and his unwillingness to reconsider the position in the style of his works greatly prevented him from achieving wide recognition at the beginning of his career. But he was recognized during his lifetime and is still considered one of the outstanding photographers who stood at the origins of photojournalism, if not photography in general. " We all owe him a lot» - Cartier-Bresson about Andre Kertésche.

« I don't adjust or calculate, I watch a scene and know that it is perfection, even if I have to step back to get the right light. The moment dominates my work. I shoot the way I feel. Everyone can look, but not everyone can see. » Andre Kertész

Richard Avedon

It's hard to find a celebrity who hasn't posed Richard Avedon. His models include the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Nastassja Kinski, Audrey Hepburn and many other stars. Very often, Avedon manages to capture a celebrity in an unusual form or mood, thereby revealing a different side to her and forcing her to take a different look at a person’s life. Avedon's style is easily recognized by its black and white color, dazzling white background, large portraits. In portraits, he manages to turn people into “symbols of themselves.”

Peter Lindbergh- one of the most respected and copied photographers. He can be called a "poet of glamor." Since 1978, when Stern Magazine published his first fashion photographs, no international fashion publication has been without his photographs. Lindbergh's first book, Ten Women, a black-and-white portfolio of the ten best models of the time, was published in 1996 and sold more than 100,000 copies. The second, Peter Lindbergh: Images of Women, a collection of the photographer's work from the mid-80s until the mid-90s, published in 1997.

Since ancient times, the Czech Republic has been a country of mysticism and magic, the home of alchemists, artists, they weaved spells, were creators fantasy worlds imagination. World famous Czech photographer Jan Saudek no exception. Over the course of four decades, Saudek created a parallel Universe - the Magic Theater of Dreams.

p.s. I just now noticed that the vast majority of the most famous photographers are Jews :)

We have already talked about people’s addiction to creating all sorts of ratings and top lists, on the “best”, “great”, “famous”, etc. We talked about and. Today we will talk about what we think are the most influential photographers of all time. Let's talk about ten photographers who had the greatest influence on the development of photography as an art.

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Richard Avedon

In the first position of influential photographers is the American photographer Richard Avedon. Avedon is an American fashion photographer and portrait photographer who, with his work, defined American style, image, beauty and culture of the second half of the 20th century. Avedon was the epitome of the modern photographer - charming and elegant. He easily mixed photographic genres and created successful, commercial, iconic, memorable images. He was the first to take large-format portraits, against a stark white background, using two images in one frame, allowing the portrait to tell a story in one shot.


Official website

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - William Eugene Smith

The list of influential photographers continues with American photojournalist William Eugene Smith. Smith was obsessed with his work and refused to make any professional compromise. He went down in history with his truthful, brutal and incriminating black and white photographs from the Second World War. Member of the photo agency "". During World War II he worked as a war photojournalist and correspondent. The author of amazingly powerful reportage black and white photographs.

Official website

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Helmut Newton

In third position is the already well-known German “sex seller” Helmut Newton. Newton had an undeniable influence on the development of erotic photography, creating a powerful image of the woman. With his work he defined the main canons of fashion photography. He was the first to use ring flash for fashion photography.


Photographer's website

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Irving Penn

Next comes the American fashion photographer and portrait painter Irving Penn. It is believed that every photographic portrait or symbolic still life owes something to Pen. He was the first photographer to make the most of the simplicity of black and white in photography. Considered the leading genius photographer of Vogue magazine.


Photographer's website

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - GuyLouis Bourdin

In fifth position is French photographer GuyLouis Bourdin. No fashion photographer has been copied more than Bourdain. He was the first photographer to create narrative complexity in his work. To describe a photographer’s work, you will need many epithets. They are sensual, provocative, shocking, exotic, surreal, and sometimes sinister. And Bourdain brought all this to fashion photography.


Photographer's website

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Henri Cartier-Bresson

The list of ten influential photographers continues with the founder of the greatest photographic agency "", the French documentary photographer, the father of documentary photography and photojournalism, in general, the greatest. One of the first to use 35 mm film when shooting. Creator " "The Decisive Moment", the so-called “decisive moment”. He believed that a real photograph cannot be subject to any modification. He worked on the creation of the “Street Photography” genre, in which he defended the principles of sudden, unstaged photography. He left behind a great photographic legacy, which today serves as educational material for anyone who wants to become a professional documentarian and photojournalist.




10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Diane Arbus

The only female photographer on our list is an American photographer. During her short, fast-paced life, Arbus was able to say so much that her photographs are still the subject of controversy and discussion. She was the first to pay close attention to people who are outside the norm as such.

The 10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Elliott Erwitt

Next up is French advertising and documentary photographer Elliott Erwitt. Elliott is one of the masters of Henri Cartier-Breson's "decisive moment". Member of the photographic agency Magnum Photos. He has an unrivaled sense of humor with which he approaches every photograph. everyday life. Master of documentary street photography. Big fan of dogs in the frame.




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10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Walker Evans

In ninth position of our influential ten is an American photographer known for his series of works dedicated to the Great Depression - Walker Evans. Considered a chronicler American life, who through composition created order and beauty in the frame.

10 Most Influential Photographers of All Time - Martin Parr

The top ten most influential photographers are completed by British photographer and photojournalist Martin Parr. A member of the photographic agency Magnum Photos, Martine Parr had a major influence on the development of documentary photography at the end of the 20th century. Unlike classic black and white genre photography, Parr uses intense colors, thereby elevating the everyday photograph to the level of art. Considered the leading chronicler of daily life in England.


The sea is incomprehensible, mysterious and clean. It leaves no one indifferent... Breathtaking photographs by Josh Adamski

The sea is incomprehensible, mysterious and clean. It leaves no one indifferent... Breathtaking photographs by Josh Adamski

Josh Adamski is a famous British photographer, master of modern photography. He gained his fame thanks to the art of conceptual photography. Talented photographer Josh Adamski creates true masterpieces of photography, not only improving his work with digital processing, but also putting his soul into it, displaying the idea and meaning. Josh Adamski is of the opinion that there is no certain rules creating a good photograph, but there are good photographers who do nice photos. And he considers his main motto to be Ansel Adams’ statement: “You don’t take a photograph, you make it,” which translated means: “You shouldn’t take a photograph, you should make a photograph.”

They say that the sea is endless. WITH geographical point This is, of course, not the case. However, if you look at it even for a moment, all doubts immediately disappear. The endless horizon is so vast, so distant.

I love walks by the sea. I never get tired of them, because they are always different. The sea itself is never the same. It is changeable in nature. Today it is calm and quiet and as if there is nothing more gentle than its light waves. Water reflects warm sun rays and blinds eyes not accustomed to bright light. The warm sand pleasantly warms my feet, and my skin turns golden tan. And tomorrow the sea will be stirred up by a strong wind and majestic waves are already beating against the shore with the force of a huge beast. The blue sky will turn gray and stormy. And that calm happiness of the quiet sea is no longer there. However, this also has its own charm. This is the beauty of rawness and strength. Even the color sea ​​water It often changes - sometimes it is almost blue, sometimes dark blue, sometimes greenish. It’s impossible to even list all its shades.

How much beauty lies within depths of the sea. Small fish swim in schools among green and yellowish algae. And the sandy bottom is covered with shells, as if precious stones. I love collecting shells. I like to imagine that I am finding lost treasures from sunken ships. How many such jewels are still hidden in the depths of the sea?

There is nothing better than spending a day at sea. You can have fun and swim with your family and friends. And sometimes you just want to take a walk alone, feel the peace while listening to the sound of the waves.

The sea is incomprehensible, mysterious and clean. It leaves no one indifferent.