10 famous documentary photographers who changed the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The middle of the last century can rightfully be considered the “golden age” of photography. At that time, photography was a complex and little-known craft, and becoming a photographer was not at all easy. In our review, a story about a photographer and photography of the last century, which shook society.

1. Richard Avedon

God of black and white portrait, interesting also because digging in his galleries, you will find anyone. The photographs of this genius New York Jew have absolutely everything. They say that Richard took his first picture at the age of nine, when the kid accidentally caught Sergei Rachmaninov in the lens.

2. Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson is a legendary man and the father of photojournalism, a French photographer, without whom it is impossible to imagine the photography of the 20th century. He was the founder of the street photography genre. His black-and-white photographs represent the history, atmosphere, breath and rhythm of life of an entire era, and hundreds of modern photographers learn from his photographs.

3. Sebastian Salgado

Sebastian Salgado is a Brazilian documentary photographer and one of the largest photojournalists in the world. He traveled to over 100 countries to collect material for his photographic projects. Exhibitions of his work are presented all over the world. Since 2001, Salgado has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He became an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and was awarded the Royal Photographic Society Centenary Medal and HonFRPS Fellowship in 1993.

4. William Eugene Smith

American photojournalist, representative of documentary photography, known for his works during the Second World War, William Eugene Smith was born in the USA, in the state of Kansas in 1908. Soon after his first photographic experiments, his skill was recognized, and two newspapers even invited him to collaborate as a photojournalist.

5. Guy Bourdin

French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin was born on December 2, 1928 in Paris. He loved cycling. And at the age of eighteen he took up painting seriously and was thinking of becoming an artist. At 20, Bourdin entered military service in Dakar as an Air Force photographer. He then returned to Paris and took a job as a lens salesman. Guy Bourdin continued to paint and began photographing for himself. The turning point in his life came when Bourdin saw Edward Weston's photograph "Pepper No. 30". This shot changed his perception of the environment and the course of his entire life.

6. Arthur Felliga

An immigrant from Eastern Europe, now - the great classic of street and crime photography. A person managed to come to any incident in New York - be it a fire, a murder, or a banal scuffle - faster than other paparazzi and, often, the police. However, in addition to all kinds of emergencies, his photographs show almost all aspects of life in the poorest quarters of the metropolis. Based on his photo, the film noir Naked City was shot, Stanley Kubrick studied from his shots, and Ouiji himself is mentioned at the beginning of the Watchmen comic film.

7. Alexander Rodchenko

Russian Soviet painter, graphic artist, poster artist, sculptor, photographer, theater and film artist. One of the founders of constructivism, the founder of design and advertising in the USSR, one of the representatives of New Vision photography. He worked together with his wife, artist-designer Varvara Stepanova.

8. Irwin Penn

Master of portrait and fashion genre. He is famous for the whole abundance of his own signature pieces - for example, to shoot people in the corner of the room or on all sorts of gray, ascetic backgrounds. He is famous for his catchphrase: "Shooting a cake can also be art."

9. Anton Corbijn

The most prominent rock photographer in the world, whose ascent began with iconic photography and video clips for Depeche Mode and U2. His handwriting is easily recognizable - strong defocus and atmospheric noise. Corbain also directed several films: Control, The American and The Most Dangerous Man. If you google the famous photos of Nirvana, Metallica or Tom Waits, chances are that Corbijn's photos will be the first to appear.

10. Diana Arbus

Diana Arbus is one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century. Diana became famous for her black and white photographs of children, famous figures, as well as portraits of those who live outside social rules and templates. Arbus was born and lived in New York for a long time. At the beginning of her career, she worked with her husband, and together they achieved good results, working in fashion photography. Diana later divorced her husband and began her own career, working with Alexei Brodovich and art director of Harper's Bazaar, Richard Avedon.