Photography is an incredibly multifaceted art. Magnificent landscapes, photographic portraits, and advertising photographs also attract the attention of the public. Therefore choose the best masters– it’s not an easy matter.
Our Top 10 included the best photographers of our time in a variety of genres. Their works are known all over the world and are practically recognized as classics of photography.
Anne Geddes has been photographing children for 30 years. Books, postcards and calendars with photographs of babies in a variety of images are known all over the world. Many photographers who begin working with children draw inspiration from Geddes’s photographs. Anna's secret to success is simple; she is sure that children are the only real joy in life.
9. Paul Hansen is the best photojournalist
Hansen is one of the most famous photojournalists in the world. Seven times he became the best photographer in Sweden, twice - winner of the prestigious photo competition POYi (International Photography of the Year). And in 2013, Paul won the World Press Photo competition with a photograph taken at the funeral of two young children killed in Palestine.
8. Terry Richardson - Best Advertising Photographer
Richardson's photographs are sometimes very unusual, but they always attract the eye and are remembered for a long time. Terry's clients include such famous brands as Gucci, Sisley, Levi's, Eres, Miu Miu, Chloe, APC, Nike, Carolina Herrera, Kenneth Cole and many others. Richardson's photographs are regularly published by Vogue, I-D, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed and Confused, W and Purple.
7. Denis Reggie – the best wedding photographer
Reggie has become a revolutionary in the wedding photography industry. After all, it was he who came up with the idea of taking photographs in a reportage style. Denis’s works adorn not only family photo albums, but also the pages of such publications as W, Elle, Vogue, Town and Country, Glamour, and Harper’s Bazaar
6. Patrick Demarchelier - best fashion photographer
Over his long career, Demarchelier has worked with such publications as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar. Dior, TAG Heuer, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Celine, Yves Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Ralph Lauren ordered their advertising campaigns from him.
5. Yuri Artyukhin - the best wildlife photographer
A researcher at the Laboratory of Ornithology at the Pacific Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he is a passionate fan of birds. It is the photographs of birds that have repeatedly received prestigious prizes and awards at various competitions in Russia and abroad.
4. Helmut Newton is the best nude photographer
Newton's nude photographs are known throughout the world. For his contribution to the art of photography, Newton was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Order of Arts and Letters, and the Monegasque Order of Arts, Letters and Science.
3. David Dubilet - best underwater photographer
Beneath the surface of the water, Dubile has been working for five decades. His work is often published by National Geographic. David is the winner of many prestigious awards in the field of photography. He films the underwater world both in equatorial waters and under the ice at the north and south poles.
2. Steve McCurry - National Geographic's most famous photographer
Steve became famous for his photograph of an “Afghan girl,” which National Geographic put on the cover in 1985. The photograph was soon recognized as the most famous photograph in the history of the magazine. In addition to the famous photograph, McCurry has many excellent works in the genre of photo reporting.
1. Ron Galella - the most famous paparazzi
Garella is a pioneer of the paparazzi industry. Among the stars who became Ron's “victims” are: Julia Roberts, Madonna, Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Sophia Loren. Marlon Brando broke Garella's jaw and knocked out five teeth, and Jacqueline Kennedy sued the photographer, who forbade Ron to approach Jackie closer than 20 meters.
Photographer is a profession that appeared less than two centuries ago. During this time, its representatives managed to gain popularity and respect throughout the world. The best photographers in Russia today are valued and earn good money. And this despite the fact that today digital camera Almost everyone has one. It is all the more important to know and understand who you need to look up to.
Profession: photographer
The best photographers in Russia are creative people who know how to cope with the difficult and constantly changing environment that is photography. It is worth recognizing that nowadays it has become much easier to make a career in this business. First, mass technologies appeared High Quality, which allow many people to do high-quality work.
Secondly, especially on the Internet, it has developed so much that it is possible to declare and advertise yourself much faster and easier than it had to be done in previous years. Nowadays, any aspiring photographer who shows talent can quickly make himself known to the whole world.
Digital technologies have brought to modern life another plus. Creating and distributing content has become easier and more accessible. Beginning photographers now have Free access to the works of the best masters, it became possible to follow new fashion trends and trends. The main thing is not to forget that a real master must also have his own look and vision in order to conquer the public. It is these skills that the best photographers in Russia are famous for. The rating of these specialists is headed by Andrey Baida. This list also includes Abdulla Artuev, Viktor Danilov, Alexander Sakulin, Denis Shumov, Larisa Sakhapova, Alexey Sizganov, Maria Melnik.
Andrey Baida
The best wedding photographers in Russia - welcome guests at any celebration. Andrei Baida certainly belongs to them. He manages to capture the most unforgettable and amazing moments of the reality around us. He is one of the most famous wedding photographers in the capital. His portfolio includes thousands of photographs taken in all corners of the globe.
He himself admits that photography for him is not just a job, but a hobby to which he devotes his entire life. He became interested in photography as a child. Then, of course, I didn’t think about genres yet, but filmed everything I saw.
Now a division into genres has appeared, but Andrey is trying not to concentrate on just one, but to work in different ones in order to constantly improve.
Abdulla Artuev
The list of the best photographers in Russia, according to many specialists and experts, includes Abdulla Artuev. This is one of the most promising young artists in the capital, who made a name for himself by working for glossy publications. It is noticeable that he puts not only skill and professionalism into his work, but also his soul.
Victor Danilov
Many of the best photographers in Russia today deliberately go into social media, where they collect tens of thousands of likes and subscribers. One of those who made a name for themselves on Instagram was Viktor Danilov. This is a modern fashion photographer who works with models and girls who dream of getting on the catwalk.
Today he has about 50 thousand subscribers on Instagram, which brings him popularity in professional circles and in public. Danilov has long earned fame in fashion houses; his photographs are readily featured on the front pages.
At the same time, he is a very young photographer. He is a little over 20 years old.
Alexander Sakulin
The best photographer in Russia, according to some experts, is Alexander Sakulin. This master specializes in advertising photographs. He often shoots for major business magazines and is ready to present almost any product in a favorable and original light.
Sakulin says about himself that he grew up on Far East, far from the lights of big cities. He moved to Moscow after serving in the army. At first I started taking photographs for fun, but soon my hobby grew into a profession. Sakulin constantly improved, went to exhibitions, studied albums of recognized masters. This desire to reach the bar set by professionals allowed him to enter the top of the best photographers in Russia.
In 2009, Sakulin began producing advertising projects. Photographed various popular brands. For example, the products of the famous watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin.
He began his independent photography career in 2012. Worked together with modeling agencies, online stores, fashion designers and electronic online publications.
In 2014, he founded his own agency, which specialized in commercial photography. Was engaged in the production of printed products and object photography. Since then, he has regularly filmed major popular projects of famous advertising brands.
Denis Shumov
If you are looking for a unique and unusual representative school of contemporary photography, then you should pay attention to the works of Denis Shumov. This is a versatile photographer who, despite his young age, has already achieved success in shooting models and advertising. His travel portfolio attracts the attention of hundreds of fans.
In fact, Shumov manages to do the almost impossible - to combine in his work all known areas of modern photography. But this is not the only thing the master is famous for. Among his photographs you can find hundreds of works with domestic and Hollywood celebrities who willingly worked with the young and talented photographer.
Larisa Sakhapova
Master Larisa Sakhapova appeared on the domestic photo horizon relatively recently. Her portfolio is filled with photographs of the most charming and attractive Russian girls. You need to be able to capture true beauty. Larisa proves every day that she is capable of doing this.
In all her photographs you can notice an amazing feature; she knows how to subtly notice the most unexpected features female beauty and bring them to the forefront. The tenderness and grace of her models are simply mesmerizing. No one remains indifferent.
Maria Simonova
You have already noticed that the best photographers in Russia are not only men, but also women. IN Lately Many talented girls have appeared in this profession who look at things familiar to everyone in a new way.
Maria Simonova exceeds all our wildest expectations. Her fame spread not only to Moscow, but also to America. She works overseas as a fashion photographer. She is regularly invited to fashion shows, models call Maria, to create a bright and high-quality portfolio. For example, Jared Leto and Nick Wooster already worship her camera.
Maria Simonova is also a wonderful family master. The best children's photographers in Russia celebrate her work, which depicts happy families with their babies.
She notes to herself that her passion is individual photography. It is when you work with a person one on one that he can fully open up and reveal the most secretive sides of his personality. And that's great.
Elena Melnik
Speaking about the most promising and talented photographers, one cannot fail to mention Elena Melnik. She has a special place in this list. Her works are distinguished by the fact that they reveal an individual, independent direction of photography. A direction that practically no one had developed before Elena.
This is food photography. Elena Melnik is the brightest representative of this field of photography. At one time, food pictures filled social networks, especially Instagram. Elena Melnik on by example proves that even a plate of food can be an object of art. For this reason, today the best Moscow restaurants dream of getting it. After all, Elena’s photographs often evoke a conditioned reflex, like Pavlov’s dogs, as many visitors to her exhibitions admit. After viewing these pictures, your mouth waters so much that you want to immediately try all the captured dishes.
In her works, she pays special attention to the appetizing nature of food, the colors and colors that accompany the presentation of the dish. To force a person to go to the restaurant where she just completed a photo shoot is her ultimate goal, Elena Melnik herself admits.
Elena has been photographing professionally for 10 years. She has a diploma in her specialty. Personal exhibitions were held several times.
Of course, the photographers listed in this article are not all the talented and original masters that exist in Russia. However, the most famous, those who managed to gain fame in last years, are mentioned here.
The profession of photographer today is one of the most widespread. Perhaps it would be easier here to become the best of the best at the beginning or middle of the 20th century. Today, when every second or third photographer, well, at least considers himself one, the criteria for good photography, at first glance, are blurred. But this is only at first, superficial glance. Quality standards and focus on talent have not gone away. You always need to keep before your eyes a kind of standard, an example that you can follow. We have prepared for you a list of the 20 best photographers in the world, which will become an excellent tuning fork...
Alexander Rodchenko
Revolutionary photographer. Rodchenko means as much to photography as Eisenstein does to cinema. He worked at the intersection of avant-garde, propaganda, design and advertising.
All these hypostases formed an inextricable unity in his work.
By rethinking all the genres that existed before him, he made a kind of great turning point in the art of photography and set the course for everything new and progressive. The famous photographs of Lily Brik and Mayakovsky belong to his lens.
- He is also the author of the famous phrase “Work for life, not for palaces, temples, cemeteries and museums.”
Henri-Cartier Bresson
A classic of street photography. Native of Chanteloupe, Seine-et-Marne department in France. He started out as an artist painting in the “surrealism” genre, but his achievements did not end there. In the early 30s, when the famous Leica fell into his hands, he fell in love with photography forever.
Already in 1933, an exhibition of his works was held at Julien Levy, a gallery in New York. He worked with director Jean Renoir. Bresson's street reports are especially appreciated.
Contemporaries especially noted his talent for remaining invisible to the person being photographed.
Therefore, the unstaged, authentic nature of his photographs is striking. Like a true genius, he left a galaxy of talented followers.
Anton Corbijn
Perhaps, for fans of Western rock music, this name is not an empty phrase. In general, one of the most famous photographers in the world.
The most original and extraordinary photographs of such groups as: Depeche Mode, U2, Nirvana, Joy Division and others were taken by Anton. He is also the designer of U2 albums. Plus he shot videos for a number of teams and performers, including: Coldplay, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, country legend Johnny Cash, thrash metal mastodons Metallica, and singers Roxette.
Critics note the originality of Corbijn's style, which, however, has countless imitators.
Mick Rock
There are paparazzi photographers who intrude into the personal lives of stars without permission and are mercilessly thrown out of there. And then there are people like Mick Rock.
What does it mean? Well, how can I tell you? Remember David Bowie? Here is Mick - the only person with a lens at the ready who was able to enter the personal space of the discoverer of new musical horizons, the trickster and the Martian from rock music. Mick Rock's photographs are a kind of cardiogram of Bowie's creative period from 1972 to 1973, when Ziggy Stardust had not yet returned back to his planet.
During that period and earlier, David and his associates worked hard on the image of a real star, which as a result became a reality. In terms of budget, Mick's work is inexpensive, but impressive. “Everything was created on a very small scale with smoke and mirrors,” Mick recalled.
Georgy Pinkhasov
An original photographer of his generation, a member of the Magnum agency, a graduate of VGIKA. It was Georgy who was invited by Andrei Tarkovsky to the set of the film “Stalker” as a reporter.
During the years of Perestroika, when the nude genre was a priority among advanced photographers, Georgy was one of the first to draw attention to the importance of a reportage photograph. They say that he did this at the suggestion of Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra.
As a result, today his photographs of that everyday life are not only masterpieces containing authenticity, but also the most important evidence of that era. One of the famous cycles of Georgy Pinkhasov is “Tbilisi Baths”. Georgy notes the important role of chance in art.
Annie Leibovitz
An essential name for our list of the best photographers. Annie made immersion into the life of a model her main creative principle.
One of the most famous portraits of John Lennon was made by her, and quite spontaneously.
“At that time I didn’t yet know how to control models, ask them to do what I needed. I was just metering the exposure and asked John to look into the lens for a second. And clicked...”
The result immediately made it onto the cover of Rolling Stone. The last photo shoot in Lennon's life was also carried out by her. The same photo of a naked John curled up around Yoko Ono, dressed all in black. Who hasn't been captured by Annie Leibovitz's camera: pregnant Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg bathing in milk, Jack Nicholson playing golf in a dressing gown, Michelle Obama, Natalia Vodianova, Meryl Streep. It’s impossible to list them all.
Sarah Moon
Real name is Mariel Hadang. Born in Paris 1941, during the Vichy regime her family moved to England. Mariel started out as a model, posing for various publications, then she tried herself on the other side of the lens and got a taste for it.
One can note her sensitive work with models, since Sarah knew firsthand about their profession. Her works are distinguished by their particular sensuality; Sarah is noted for her talent for especially sensitively conveying the femininity of her models.
In the 70s, Sarah left the modeling field and turned to black and white artistic photography. In 1979 he made experimental films. Subsequently, she worked as a cameraman on the set of the film “Lulu,” which would receive an award at the Venice Film Festival in 1987.
Sally Man
Another female photographer. Native of Lexington, Virginia. She almost never left her native place. Since the 70s, it has essentially worked only in the South of the United States.
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He shoots only in the summer; all other seasons he develops photographs. Favorite genres: portrait, landscape, still life, architectural photography. Favorite color scheme: black and white. Sally became famous for her photographs depicting members of her family - her husband and children.
The main thing that distinguishes her work is the simplicity of the subjects and interest in Everyday life. Sally and her husband belong to the hippie generation, which has become their signature style of life: living away from the city, gardening, independence from social conventions.
Sebastian Salgado
Magic realist from photography. He draws all his wonderful images from reality. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
So, Sebastian is able to discern it in anomalies, misfortunes and environmental disasters.
Wim Wenders, outstanding director of “Deutsche new wave”, spent a quarter of a century exploring Salgado’s work, resulting in the film “The Salt of the Earth,” which received a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Weegee (Arthur Fellig)
Considered a classic of the crime genre in photography. During the period of his active work, not a single urban incident - from a fight to a murder - went unnoticed by Weegee.
He was ahead of his competitors, and sometimes got to the crime scene even earlier than the police. In addition to crime topics, he specialized in reporting on the everyday life of the slums of the metropolis.
His photographs formed the basis of Jules Dassin's noir Naked City, and Weegee is also mentioned in Zack Snyder's Watchmen. And the famous director Stanley Kubrick studied the art of photography from him in his youth. Check out the genius's early films, they're definitely influenced by Weegee's aesthetic.
Irving Penn
Master in the portrait genre. One can note a number of his favorite techniques: from shooting models in the corner of a room to using a plain white or gray background.
Irwin also liked to photograph representatives of various working professions in their uniforms and with tools at the ready. Brother“New Hollywood” director Arthur Penn, famous for his “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Diane Arbus
Her name at birth was Diana Nemerova. Her family emigrated from Soviet Russia in 1923 and settled in one of the neighborhoods of New York.
Diana was distinguished by a desire to violate generally accepted norms and to commit extravagant acts. At the age of 13, against the wishes of her parents, she married Alan Arbus, an aspiring actor, and took his last name. After some time, Alan left the stage and took up photography, involving his wife in the business. They opened a photography studio and shared responsibilities. Creative differences led to a break in the 60s. Having defended their creative principles, Diana became a cult photographer.
As an artist, she was distinguished by her interest in freaks, dwarfs, transvestites, and the weak-minded. And also to nudity. You can learn more about Diana’s personality by watching the film “Fur,” where she was played perfectly by Nicole Kidman.
Evgeniy Khaldey
A very important photographer for our list. Thanks to him, captured key events first half of the 20th century. While still a teenager, he chose the path of a photojournalist.
Already at the age of 22, he was an employee of TASS Photo Chronicles. He made reports about Stakhanov, photographed the construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station. He worked as a war correspondent throughout the Great Patriotic War. Walking from Murmansk to Berlin with his trusty Leica camera, he took a series of photographs, thanks to which we can at least imagine everyday life in war.
The Potsdam Conference, the hoisting of the red banner over the Reichstag, the act of surrender fell into the eye of his lens fascist Germany and others major events. In 1995, two years before his death, Evgeniy Khaldei received the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Mark Riboud
Master of the reporting genre. His first famous photograph, published in Life - “Painter on Eiffel Tower" Recognized as a photographic genius, Riboud had a modest character.
He tried to remain invisible both to those photographed and to his admirers.
The most famous photograph is of a hippie girl holding out a flower to soldiers standing with machine guns at the ready. He also has a series of photographs from the everyday life of the USSR in the 60s and a lot of other interesting things.
Richard Kern
And a little more rock and roll, especially since this is the main theme of this photographer, along with violence and sex. Considered one of the most important photographers for the New York underground.
Captured many famous, one might say extremely famous, musicians. Among them is the absolute monster and transgressor punk musician GG Allin. Kern also collaborates with men's magazines, where he submits his erotic works.
But his approach is far from the generally glossy one. In his spare time from photography, he shoots music videos. Among the groups with which Kern collaborated are Sonic Youth and Marilyn Manson.
Thomas Morkes
Do you want peace, silence, or maybe even solitude? Then this is one of the most suitable candidates. Thomas Morkes from the Czech Republic is a landscape photographer who chose the charm of autumn nature as his theme. These photographs have it all: romance, sadness, the triumph of fading.
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One of the effects of Thomas’s photographs is the desire to get away from the city noise into some such jungle and reflect on the Eternal.
Yuri Artyukhin
Considered the best wildlife photographer. He is a researcher at the laboratory of ornithology at the Pacific Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Yuri passionately loves birds.
It was for his photographs of birds that he received (more than once) a variety of awards not only in Russia, but throughout the world.
Helmut Newton
What about the nude genre? An excellent, very subtle and delicate genre that has its own masters.
Helmut became famous throughout the world for his works. His unspoken motto was the expression “Sex sells,” which means “sex helps sell.”
Winner of the most prestigious competitions, including the French “Order of Arts and Letters”.
Ron Galella
Having covered various areas of photography, it is impossible not to say about the pioneer of such a dubious and at the same time important for understanding modern world genre, like paparazzi.
You probably know that this phrase comes from the film by Federico Fellini “ Sweet life" Ron Garella is one of those photographers who will not ask permission to shoot, but on the contrary, will catch stars when they are not ready for this in general.
Julia Roberts, Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Sophia Loren - that's far from full list those whom Ron had willfully caught. One day, Marlon Brando got so angry with Ron that he knocked out several of his teeth on the spot.
Guy Bourdin
One of the most important photographers needed for a correct understanding of the world of fashion, its origins and aesthetics. He combines eroticism and surrealism in his works. 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.
He published his first photographs in the mid-50s. The photo was, to put it mildly, provocative. A girl in an elegant hat against the backdrop of calf heads looking out of the window of a butcher shop. Over the next 32 years, Bourdain regularly contributed entertaining photographs to Vogue magazine. What set him apart from many of his colleagues was that Bourdain was given complete creative freedom.
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. Died at 84 after crashing his car into 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 of 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 a dangerous person"(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, where the role of Diana was played by Nicole Kidman.
David LaChapelle, USA, 1963
Master of pop photography (“pop” in in a good way words) 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 real-life scenes 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.
In fact, ratings are not a rewarding thing and are very subjective. When summing up the best of the best in rating lists, we still use some kind of inner tuning fork. We also decided to make our own ranking list of the 10 greatest Soviet photographers, according to the site.
Let us immediately note that the list will include several photographers who worked long before the formation of the Union of Soviets, however, their influence on the development of photography, both Soviet and world, is so great that it was simply impossible to say anything about them. And also, taking into account the subjectivity of this list, we tried to reflect in it the brightest representatives in each individual photographic genre.
The first place in our ranking undoubtedly belongs to. This is the greatest figure of culture and art. His influence on the development of Soviet art cannot be overestimated. He concentrated everything on himself art of the young country of the Soviets - he was a sculptor, an artist, a graphic designer, and a photographer. Considered one of the founders of constructivism. Rodchenko is a universal and multifaceted figure. It became an effective impetus for the development of photography and design. His methods of constructive construction of photographs are used as canons.
In second position is the Russian photographer of the early 20th century, Georgy Goyningen-Hüne. Despite the fact that Georgy spent his entire professional life and activity in France, England and the USA, he is still Russian by origin. And in this case, he serves as an example of how immigrants from Russia achieved recognition and success abroad. Georgiy is one of the greatest fashion photographers of the 20s and 30s. By 1925, he became the chief photographer of French Vogue. In 1935 - American Harper's Bazaar. In 1943, two of his books were published, after which all his photographic attention concentrated on Hollywood celebrities.
The contribution of Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky to the development of photographic art is great. Prokudin-Gorsky was a chemist and a photographer, and his occupation helped him improve the other. He went down in history as the first experimenter to propose the possibility of creating color photography in Russia. The method of acquiring color in a photograph that Prokudin-Gorsky used was not new. It was proposed back in 1855 by James Maxwell; it involved the superposition of three negatives, each passed through a filter of a certain color - red, green and blue. These three negatives, superimposed on each other, produce a color image in projection. Today, thanks to Prokudin-Gorsky, we have the opportunity to see Russia at the beginning of the 20th century in color.
Continuing our top ten greats is the Soviet war photographer, author of two of the greatest, iconic photographs of the Great Patriotic War– “The First Day of the War” and “The Banner over the Reichstag” – Evgeniy Khaldei. As a war photographer, Khaldei went through the entire Great Patriotic War, and his most significant works were made in the period from 1941 to 1946. Chaldea's photographs are filled with a sense of historical importance. It is no secret that many of the photographer’s works, including the work “The Banner over the Reichstag,” were staged. Khaldei believed that photography should convey the spirit of the times and events as fully as possible, therefore there was no need to rush. The author approached the creation of each work responsibly and thoroughly.
Our list continues with the classic of photographic journalism - Boris Ignatovich. Ignatovich was a close friend and associate of Alexander Rodchenko, with whom he organized the photographic association “October Group” in the late 1920s. It was a time of aspiration and search for new forms. Creative people, as a rule, were fruitfully engaged in several directions at the same time. So Ignatovich was a photographer, a photojournalist, a documentary filmmaker, a journalist, and an illustrator.
Next comes the greatest Soviet portrait photographer -. Nappelbaum went down in the history of photography as an unsurpassed studio portrait photographer. Nappelbaum, a master of compositional solutions, had a surprising and original approach to light composition, in which all the viewer’s attention is concentrated on the person being portrayed. As in the case of , through whose studio all the foreign celebrities of the 20th century passed, the greatest representatives of the Soviet country, right up to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, passed through Nappelbaum’s lens. Nappelbaum enjoyed enormous success and popularity as a good photographer. It is noteworthy that it was he who was invited to photograph the place of death of the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
The first Russian landscape photographer, Vasily Sokornov, continues our list of ten great Soviet photographers. One of the first landscape painters who captured the beauty of Russian nature, and primarily Crimea, with a camera, was an artist by education and a photographer by vocation - Vasily Sokornov. Sokornov’s works were extremely popular during the photographer’s lifetime. Just like the works of Sokornov, who spent his entire life photographing the nature of Virginia, Sokornov’s works are mostly dedicated to the Crimea. They were published in magazines and postcards were sent all over Russia. Today he is considered the main chronicler of Crimean nature in the first decades of the 20th century.
Founder of Russian, Soviet journalistic, social photography– Maxim Dmitriev, occupies the eighth position in our ranking. Dmitriev's life and work is a story of incredible rise and equally incredible fall. A native of the Tambov province, a student at a parochial school, by the early 1900s, Dmitriev became a leading photographer in Moscow. The founder of the photo studio, through which the leading people of the time pass - Ivan Bunin, Fedr Chaliapin, Maxim Gorky. But we love and remember Dmitriev for his chronicle photographs of the Volga region. They contain the original life and way of life of Russia, skillfully noted by the brilliant photographer. The downfall of Dmitriev was the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and widespread dispossession. By the early 1930s, the artist's photographic studio had been selected, along with more than seven thousand magnificent local history photographs.
In our rating, we could not help but write about the only Soviet representative in the photographic agency -. Pinkhasov’s very presence in the agency speaks for itself. An iconic documentary photographer, Pinkhasov is fluent in the genre of reportage street photography, camera, composition, light and color.
Our top ten, so to speak, is completed by the glamorous Soviet photographer Valery Plotnikov. Plotnikov is the author of portraits of Soviet icons of the 20th century, such as Vladimir Vysotsky, Anastasia Vertinskaya, Sergei Parajanov. No one soviet magazine, was not released without Plotnikov’s original work.
