The most popular photographers in the world
“Photography is a language understood by everyone on Earth”
Six geniuses, six different directions, one common passion - to stop time and reveal the truth. Their photographs hang in museums, appear on magazine covers, and are preserved in the memory of humanity. These are their stories.
Ansel Adams
1902 — 1984 · USA
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
One of the greatest landscape photographers of all time, Ansel Adams transformed the wilderness of the American West into monumental black-and-white poems. He was born in San Francisco and first entered Yosemite Valley at the age of fourteen - and fell in love forever.
Adams developed the revolutionary “Zone System” - a technical method of controlling exposure and development that gave photographers unprecedented power over the tonality of the image. His works “Moonrise” and “Clearing Winter Storm” are among the most expensive photographs in auction history.
Co-founder of the Department of Photography at MoMA, New York (1940)
Presidential Medal of Freedom, USA (1980)
Author of over 40 books and photography manuals
His photographs became a tool for the preservation of national parks in the USA
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1908 - 2004 · France
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
“The father of modern photojournalism” and the author of the concept of “the decisive moment” - the moment when form, content, and time merge into a single perfect shot. Cartier-Bresson carried his Leica camera discreetly under his coat to avoid scaring people.
He documented the Spanish Civil War, the liberation of Paris, the death of Gandhi, and the proclamation of India’s independence. In 1947, together with Capa and Seymour, he founded the legendary agency Magnum Photos, which revolutionized photojournalism.
Co-founder of Magnum Photos agency (1947)
First living photographer with a retrospective at the Louvre (2003)
His book “The Decisive Moment” is a classic of photographic thought
Honorary Doctor of Oxford University.
Steve McCurry
1950 - present · USA
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
An American photographer, best known as the author of one of the most recognizable images of the 20th century - the photograph “Afghan Girl” (1984), which graced the cover of National Geographic. Sharbat Gula with her piercing green eyes became a symbol of millions of refugees.
McCurry secretly crossed the Afghan border in Pashtun clothing just before the Soviet invasion and brought back film with images that became the first iconic testimonies of that war. For forty years, he has photographed India, Tibet, Yemen, and conflict zones, adhering to the principle: to find beauty even in chaos.
Four World Press Photo awards
Gold Medal from the National Press Photographers Association
More than 15 photo books translated into 30 languages
Member of Magnum Photos agency (1986–2017)
Sebastião Salgado
1944 - present · Brazil
SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY
A former economist who chose a camera over numbers to speak about the most painful issues: hunger, forced labor, migration, destruction of nature. His black-and-white photographs possess the power of painting - they have both Michelangelo's epicness and deep compassion.
The project “Genesis” (2013) - an eight-year journey through untouched corners of the planet - made Salgado an ecological ambassador. Together with his wife Lélia, he planted 2 million trees on the site of a destroyed farm in Brazil, restoring the tropical forest. An Oscar-winning documentary film “The Salt of the Earth” was made about him.
Honorary member of the Royal Academy of Arts (London)
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Hasselblad Award - “Nobel Prize of Photography” (1989)
Founder of Instituto Terra - restoration of tropical forests in Brazil
Annie Leibovitz
1949 - present · USA
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
The most influential portrait photographer of modern times, whose name has become synonymous with the art magazines Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. Leibovitz photographed John Lennon just hours before his death, Damien Hirst, Cate Blanchett, Queen Elizabeth II, and countless cultural legends.
Her photographs are theatrical productions: complex scenes, meticulously constructed worlds, and psychological depth that reveal something completely unexpected in celebrities. She became the first woman to exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.
The first female photographer with a retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery of the USA
Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors
Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (France)
Her photo book “Women” co-authored with Susan Sontag is a classic of feminist thought
Yousuf Karsh
1908 - 2002 · Canada (Armenian descent)
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
“Photographer of great people” - this is how Yousuf Karsh, an Armenian refugee who became the official portraitist of the 20th century, entered history. His photograph of Winston Churchill from 1941 is one of the most reproduced portraits in history, and the session itself lasted only two minutes.
Karsh photographed over 15,000 celebrities: Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Audrey Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway. His secret is the ability to capture the moment of vulnerability when a person drops their mask. Before photographing Churchill, he simply yanked the cigar from his mouth - and got an invaluable look.
Order of Canada - the highest civilian award of the country (1967)
Gold Medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain
His photograph of Churchill was chosen as the “photo of the 20th century” by Popular Photography
Collections in the National Archives of Canada and galleries around the world
