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0 / 29 Fotos
Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002)
- Acknowledged as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century, the Armenian-Canadian photographer captured the personality of many notable individuals.
© Getty Images
1 / 29 Fotos
Yousuf Karsh
- Known professionally as "Karsh of Ottawa," his 1941 photograph of Winston Churchill brought him worldwide prominence.
© Public Domain
2 / 29 Fotos
Ansel Adams (1902–1984) - An American photographer and environmentalist, Adams remains one of the great pioneers of landscape photography, and is especially known for his black and white images of the American West.
© Public Domain
3 / 29 Fotos
Ansel Adams
- Technically brilliant, he co-developed a precise system of image-making called the Zone System to produce stunning work like 'Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park' (1942).
© Public Domain
4 / 29 Fotos
Dorothea Lange (1895–1965)
- Distinguished by her Depression-era wok for the Farm Security Administration, Dorothea Lange was one of the foremost documentary photographers of her generation.
© Public Domain
5 / 29 Fotos
Dorothea Lange - One of the American photographer's most iconic images is 'Migrant Mother' (1936).
© Public Domain
6 / 29 Fotos
Robert Capa (1913–1954)
- Regarded by many as the world's greatest combat photographer, the Hungarian photojournalist covered five wars, including the Spanish Civil War, WWII, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.
© Public Domain
7 / 29 Fotos
Robert Capa - This image shows a woman, with her baby whose father is German, and her mother jeered at and humiliated by crowds in Chartres after having their heads shaved as punishment for collaborating with German troops.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) - Besides working as a photographer, Stieglitz, an American citizen, was an enthusiastic promoter of modern art. He was instrumental in introducing many avant-garde European artists to the United States.
© Public Domain
9 / 29 Fotos
Alfred Stieglitz - An early photographic success was this award-winning image, 'The Last Joke, Bellagio' (1887).
© Public Domain
10 / 29 Fotos
Walker Evans (1903–1975) - Another American photojournalist celebrated for his work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, Evans was also a writer and held down a position at Time magazine.
© Public Domain
11 / 29 Fotos
Walker Evans - This image, 'Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama,' is typical of the Depression-era photographs Evans is known for.
© Public Domain
12 / 29 Fotos
Andre Kertész (1894–1985) - A master of the photo essay, Hungarian-born Kertész based himself in Paris before emigrating to the United States in 1936 as the threat of war loomed in Europe.
© Public Domain
13 / 29 Fotos
Andre Kertész - His skills as a photojournalist are perfectly embodied in this simple study, 'Circus, Budapest' (1920).
© Public Domain
14 / 29 Fotos
Edward Steichen (1879–1973) - Collaborating frequently with Kertész on several photographic projects, Steichen began his professional career as a fashion photographer, but is also highly regarded for his work as director of the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit (pictured) during WWII.
© Public Domain
15 / 29 Fotos
Edward Steichen - Moving in high society, the photographer's subjects included artists and authors. This image is called 'Henri Matisse and La Serpentine' (1909).
© Public Domain
16 / 29 Fotos
Gordon Parks (1912–2006) - Multi-talented Parks was a photographer, musician, writer, and film director. He worked as a photojournalist in the 1940s through the 1970s
© Public Domain
17 / 29 Fotos
Gordon Parks - His image 'American Gothic, Washington, D.C.' typifies his coverage of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Parks is also remembered as the director of the 1971 film 'Shaft.'
© Public Domain
18 / 29 Fotos
Eugène Atget (1857–1927) - Picking up a camera in the late 1880s, Atget was an early pioneer of documentary photography. His specialist subjects were street photography and architecture.
© Public Domain
19 / 29 Fotos
Eugène Atget - The French photographer never received the recognition he deserved during his lifetime and it was only after his death that images like 'Organ Grinder' (1898) and many others were published.
© Public Domain
20 / 29 Fotos
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) - One of the very first "celebrity" photographers, Cameron managed to capture many illustrious figures of the day during her short 11-year career as a portrait photographer.
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
Julia Margaret Cameron
- The British photographer persuaded the likes of poet Lord Tennyson, naturalist Charles Darwin (pictured, 1868), and eminent scientist Sir John Herschel to sit for her.
© Getty Images
22 / 29 Fotos
Lewis Hine (1874–1940) - Lewis Hine's raw, powerful images of child laborers in the early 20th century were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the United States.
© Public Domain
23 / 29 Fotos
Lewis Hine - Typical of his work is this haunting portrait 'Adolescent Girl, a Spinner, in a Carolina Cotton Mill' (1908).
© Public Domain
24 / 29 Fotos
Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) - This English photographer is distinguished for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and, in particular, animal locomotion.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
Eadweard Muybridge
- He used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs. These were then projected as motion pictures. The image here depict's Muybridge's 'The Horse in Motion' (1878).
© Public Domain
26 / 29 Fotos
Mathew Brady (1822–1896) - Brady covered the American Civil War as one of the country's earliest photographers. He used a mobile studio and darkroom to shoot on location, in places that included the Antietam battleground.
© Public Domain
27 / 29 Fotos
Mathew Brady
- He also photographed many famous Americans of the era, including presidents Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and Abraham Lincoln, shown here on the day of Lincoln's Cooper Union Address (1860). See also: Top tips for sunset photography
© Public Domain
28 / 29 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 29 Fotos
Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002)
- Acknowledged as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century, the Armenian-Canadian photographer captured the personality of many notable individuals.
© Getty Images
1 / 29 Fotos
Yousuf Karsh
- Known professionally as "Karsh of Ottawa," his 1941 photograph of Winston Churchill brought him worldwide prominence.
© Public Domain
2 / 29 Fotos
Ansel Adams (1902–1984) - An American photographer and environmentalist, Adams remains one of the great pioneers of landscape photography, and is especially known for his black and white images of the American West.
© Public Domain
3 / 29 Fotos
Ansel Adams
- Technically brilliant, he co-developed a precise system of image-making called the Zone System to produce stunning work like 'Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park' (1942).
© Public Domain
4 / 29 Fotos
Dorothea Lange (1895–1965)
- Distinguished by her Depression-era wok for the Farm Security Administration, Dorothea Lange was one of the foremost documentary photographers of her generation.
© Public Domain
5 / 29 Fotos
Dorothea Lange - One of the American photographer's most iconic images is 'Migrant Mother' (1936).
© Public Domain
6 / 29 Fotos
Robert Capa (1913–1954)
- Regarded by many as the world's greatest combat photographer, the Hungarian photojournalist covered five wars, including the Spanish Civil War, WWII, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.
© Public Domain
7 / 29 Fotos
Robert Capa - This image shows a woman, with her baby whose father is German, and her mother jeered at and humiliated by crowds in Chartres after having their heads shaved as punishment for collaborating with German troops.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) - Besides working as a photographer, Stieglitz, an American citizen, was an enthusiastic promoter of modern art. He was instrumental in introducing many avant-garde European artists to the United States.
© Public Domain
9 / 29 Fotos
Alfred Stieglitz - An early photographic success was this award-winning image, 'The Last Joke, Bellagio' (1887).
© Public Domain
10 / 29 Fotos
Walker Evans (1903–1975) - Another American photojournalist celebrated for his work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, Evans was also a writer and held down a position at Time magazine.
© Public Domain
11 / 29 Fotos
Walker Evans - This image, 'Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama,' is typical of the Depression-era photographs Evans is known for.
© Public Domain
12 / 29 Fotos
Andre Kertész (1894–1985) - A master of the photo essay, Hungarian-born Kertész based himself in Paris before emigrating to the United States in 1936 as the threat of war loomed in Europe.
© Public Domain
13 / 29 Fotos
Andre Kertész - His skills as a photojournalist are perfectly embodied in this simple study, 'Circus, Budapest' (1920).
© Public Domain
14 / 29 Fotos
Edward Steichen (1879–1973) - Collaborating frequently with Kertész on several photographic projects, Steichen began his professional career as a fashion photographer, but is also highly regarded for his work as director of the Naval Aviation Photographic Unit (pictured) during WWII.
© Public Domain
15 / 29 Fotos
Edward Steichen - Moving in high society, the photographer's subjects included artists and authors. This image is called 'Henri Matisse and La Serpentine' (1909).
© Public Domain
16 / 29 Fotos
Gordon Parks (1912–2006) - Multi-talented Parks was a photographer, musician, writer, and film director. He worked as a photojournalist in the 1940s through the 1970s
© Public Domain
17 / 29 Fotos
Gordon Parks - His image 'American Gothic, Washington, D.C.' typifies his coverage of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Parks is also remembered as the director of the 1971 film 'Shaft.'
© Public Domain
18 / 29 Fotos
Eugène Atget (1857–1927) - Picking up a camera in the late 1880s, Atget was an early pioneer of documentary photography. His specialist subjects were street photography and architecture.
© Public Domain
19 / 29 Fotos
Eugène Atget - The French photographer never received the recognition he deserved during his lifetime and it was only after his death that images like 'Organ Grinder' (1898) and many others were published.
© Public Domain
20 / 29 Fotos
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) - One of the very first "celebrity" photographers, Cameron managed to capture many illustrious figures of the day during her short 11-year career as a portrait photographer.
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
Julia Margaret Cameron
- The British photographer persuaded the likes of poet Lord Tennyson, naturalist Charles Darwin (pictured, 1868), and eminent scientist Sir John Herschel to sit for her.
© Getty Images
22 / 29 Fotos
Lewis Hine (1874–1940) - Lewis Hine's raw, powerful images of child laborers in the early 20th century were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the United States.
© Public Domain
23 / 29 Fotos
Lewis Hine - Typical of his work is this haunting portrait 'Adolescent Girl, a Spinner, in a Carolina Cotton Mill' (1908).
© Public Domain
24 / 29 Fotos
Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) - This English photographer is distinguished for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion and, in particular, animal locomotion.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
Eadweard Muybridge
- He used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs. These were then projected as motion pictures. The image here depict's Muybridge's 'The Horse in Motion' (1878).
© Public Domain
26 / 29 Fotos
Mathew Brady (1822–1896) - Brady covered the American Civil War as one of the country's earliest photographers. He used a mobile studio and darkroom to shoot on location, in places that included the Antietam battleground.
© Public Domain
27 / 29 Fotos
Mathew Brady
- He also photographed many famous Americans of the era, including presidents Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and Abraham Lincoln, shown here on the day of Lincoln's Cooper Union Address (1860). See also: Top tips for sunset photography
© Public Domain
28 / 29 Fotos
Celebrated pioneers of photography
May is Photography Month
© Getty Images
In this digital age of smartphone photography, it's easy to forget that photographs were once produced using glass plates and, later, film emulsion. Early pioneers of photography captured an extraordinary array of subject matter using techniques and processing methods that today appear simply archaic. But if it wasn't for these gifted and imaginative individuals, some of the most famous and groundbreaking photographs in the world would never have been taken.
Browse this gallery and focus on how the history of photography developed.
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