Photography: The 50 Most Influential Photographers of All Time

by Chris Dickie

In addition to profiling the most important photographers of past and present, this book presents a capsule history of photography and explores significant trends and developments in the field. Brief biographies with identifying photos include Matthew Brady, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Liebovitz, Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and 40 other major figures in portraiture, fashion, photojournalism, documentary, landscape, and photographic art. Small in size but filled with information and insights, each " Icons of Culture " title is a collection of brief, pithy, and enlightening biographies of men and women who have made their mark and left lasting influences in the lively arts. Scattered among these capsule biographies are two-page overviews that examine various aspects of the art. Handsomely designed and accessible to laypersons, these books make fine quick-reference sources while also providing enjoyable reading for inquisitive minds. Illustrations in color and black and white on most two-page spreads.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2010

Reviews

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book. Fav. quotes:

"I am not interested in shooting new things--I am interested to see things new." Ernst Haas

"To see life; to see the world; to witness great events ... to see, and to be shown, is now the will and the new expectancy of half mankind." Henry Luce

"War is like an aging actress: more and more dangerous and less and less photogenic." Robert Capa

"I feel that utter truth is essential, and to get that truth may take a lot of searching and long hours." Margaret Bourke-White

"Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness." Yousuf Karsh

I also enjoyed reading short bios of Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Leibovitz, Horst P. Horst, Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton,Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Edward Weston,Ansel Adams, Helen Levitt, and Cindy Sherman.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book if you want to familiarize yourself in the many masters of photography. It did a good job in showing a lot of photographers, some of which I hadn't even heard of. Even though the descriptions are somewhat short with the two page limitation, the book is a good launching point for further research on said photographers as well. Going through it, I essentially made a list of photographers in the book that peaked my interest, and looking for any documentaries on that certain person if I could. Overall, the book has widened my horizons in terms of creating a composition behind the camera.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

blisteringly fast history of photography, with not as many photographic examples as i would have liked (this goes double for the entries which featured a picture of the photographer themselves, as if that’s what the reader is looking for)

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I expected a coffee table book of pictures of the 50 most influential photographers of all time. INstead it was a small 5x4 book about the photographers with only one photo not even a photo of their most famous work.

[Roy McDine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography of the people who have shaped the world of photography as an art form.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a lot of good information about influential photographers.

Looking forward to requesting a HUGE number of photograpy books from my local library.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discusses the following photographers
Ansel Adams ; Robert Adams ; Diane Arbus ; Richard Avedon ; David Bailey ; Cecil Beaton ; Bernd Becher ; Hilla Becher ; Margaret Bourke-White ; Mathew Brady ; Bill Brandt ; Brassaï ; Julia Margaret Cameron ; Robert Capa ; Henri Cartier-Bresson ; Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre ; Robert Doisneau ; George Eastman ; William Eggleston ; Walker Evans ; Robert Frank ; Lee Friedlander ; Francis Frith ; Ernst Haas ; Horst P. Horst ; Yousuf Karsh ; André Kertész ; Edwin Land ; Dorothea Lange ; Annie Leibovitz ; Helen Levitt ; Auguste Lumière ; Louis Lumière ; Man Ray ; Robert Mapplethorpe ; László Moholy-Nagy ; Eadweard Muybridge ; Helmut Newton ; Martin Parr ; Irving Penn ; Alexander Rodchenko ; Sebastião Salgado ; August Sander ; Cindy Sherman ; Stephen Shore ; W. Eugene Smith ; Edward Steichen ; Alfred Stieglitz ; William Henry Fox Talbot ; Weegee ; Edward Weston ; Garry Winogrand.

[Christopher E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discusses the following photographers
Ansel Adams ; Robert Adams ; Diane Arbus ; Richard Avedon ; David Bailey ; Cecil Beaton ; Bernd Becher ; Hilla Becher ; Margaret Bourke-White ; Mathew Brady ; Bill Brandt ; Brassaï ; Julia Margaret Cameron ; Robert Capa ; Henri Cartier-Bresson ; Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre ; Robert Doisneau ; George Eastman ; William Eggleston ; Walker Evans ; Robert Frank ; Lee Friedlander ; Francis Frith ; Ernst Haas ; Horst P. Horst ; Yousuf Karsh ; André Kertész ; Edwin Land ; Dorothea Lange ; Annie Leibovitz ; Helen Levitt ; Auguste Lumière ; Louis Lumière ; Man Ray ; Robert Mapplethorpe ; László Moholy-Nagy ; Eadweard Muybridge ; Helmut Newton ; Martin Parr ; Irving Penn ; Alexander Rodchenko ; Sebastião Salgado ; August Sander ; Cindy Sherman ; Stephen Shore ; W. Eugene Smith ; Edward Steichen ; Alfred Stieglitz ; William Henry Fox Talbot ; Weegee ; Edward Weston ; Garry Winogrand.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprise is that this book is so diminutive in spite of its scope: the 50 most influential photographers of all time, and as such it gives us a wonderful appetizer of what you will have to find in much more detail in the weightier tomes. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book in spite of its restrictive form--two facing pages for each photographer and 10 two-page essays about photography as art, as document, as fashion and cultural icon, tracing its evolution from film to digital. And one wonders why there are so few women photographers, I counted eight, in a field that continues to be dominated by men.

[Deigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short two page bios of the "50 most influencial photographers of all time" which seems a bit presumptous of the author but whatever. This is photographic art history. I knew some of the photographers but many I did not. The book pointed me to some on-line searches for images and more information on the various photographers.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice snapshot (pun intended) of the top 50. The feature sections throughout the book were too repetitive of the main text. In a succinct book like this, it might have been better to use these pages to introduce more material or more photographs.

[HadiDee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A small slight book - more an amuse-bouche rather than an appetizer - 50 photographer each given two pages each. Not very many photographs which I felt was a fairly significant oversight.