25 Photographers Who Shaped How We See: From Atget to Salgado
A recent survey featuring 25 prominent photographers showcases nearly 200 years of work, ranging from Eugène Atget to Cindy Sherman. Among the distinguished artists are Henri Cartier-Bresson, who introduced the term 'the decisive moment' and was a co-founder of Magnum Photos in 1947; Dorothea Lange, whose iconic 1936 photograph Migrant Mother became emblematic of the Great Depression; and Ansel Adams, a co-founder of Group f/64 established in 1932. Robert Capa, originally named Endre Friedmann, passed away on May 25, 1954, after stepping on a landmine. Diane Arbus made history as the first American photographer to participate in the Venice Biennale in 1972. Other significant mentions include Margaret Bourke-White's 1936 Life cover, Edward Weston’s 1937 Guggenheim Fellowship, and Steve McCurry's renowned 1984 Afghan Girl portrait, illustrating the progression of photography as both art and documentation.
Key facts
- Henri Cartier-Bresson co-founded Magnum Photos in 1947 with Robert Capa, David Seymour, and George Rodger.
- Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother was taken in March 1936 at a pea-pickers' camp in Nipomo, California.
- Ansel Adams co-founded Group f/64 in 1932 with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham.
- Robert Capa died on May 25, 1954, after stepping on a landmine near Thai Binh.
- Diane Arbus became the first American photographer included in the Venice Biennale in 1972.
- Gordon Parks became Life magazine's first Black staff photographer in 1948.
- Vivian Maier's archive was discovered at a 2007 Chicago storage auction by John Maloof.
- Sebastião Salgado died in Paris in May 2025 at age 81.
Entities
Artists
- Eugène Atget
- Cindy Sherman
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
- André Lhote
- Robert Capa
- David Seymour
- George Rodger
- Dorothea Lange
- Florence Owens Thompson
- Ansel Adams
- Fred Archer
- Edward Weston
- Imogen Cunningham
- Diane Arbus
- Allan Arbus
- Lisette Model
- Gordon Parks
- Ella Watson
- Red Jackson
- Malcolm X
- Muhammad Ali
- Vivian Maier
- John Maloof
- Sebastião Salgado
- Lélia Wanick Salgado
- Steve McCurry
- Sharbat Gula
- Annie Leibovitz
- John Lennon
- Yoko Ono
- Demi Moore
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Man Ray
- Marcel Duchamp
- André Breton
- Kiki de Montparnasse
- Lee Miller
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Edward Steichen
- Pablo Picasso
- Henri Matisse
- Auguste Rodin
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- Walker Evans
- James Agee
- Margaret Bourke-White
- Alfred Eisenstaedt
- Thomas McAvoy
- Peter Stackpole
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Berenice Abbott
- August Sander
- Alfred Döblin
- Walter Benjamin
- Erich Sander
- William Eggleston
- John Szarkowski
- Robert Frank
- Jack Kerouac
- Weegee
- Arthur Fellig
- David Scherman
- Adolf Hitler
- Antony Penrose
- Yousuf Karsh
- Winston Churchill
- Albert Einstein
- Ernest Hemingway
- Marilyn Monroe
- Garry Winogrand
- Nan Goldin
- Madonna
Institutions
- Magnum Photos
- Resettlement Administration
- Farm Security Administration
- San Francisco News
- Sierra Club
- Group f/64
- Life magazine
- Venice Biennale
- Vogue
- Ebony
- Black Panther Party
- Rolling Stone
- Vanity Fair
- French Vogue
- Harper's Bazaar
- Photo-Secession
- Camera Work
- 291 gallery
- Museum of Modern Art
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- Fortune magazine
- Grove Press
- Saturday Night magazine
- Metro Pictures
- P.A.I.N.
- Purdue Pharma
- Sackler family
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Louvre
- Instituto Terra
- National Geographic
- Esquire
- Sygma
- Gamma
- The Learning Tree
- Shaft
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Nipomo
- California
- United States
- Yosemite National Park
- Hernandez
- New Mexico
- Budapest
- Hungary
- Omaha Beach
- Normandy
- London
- Thai Binh
- Vietnam
- Roselle
- New Jersey
- Washington, D.C.
- Harlem
- New York
- Chicago
- Brazil
- Minas Gerais
- Peshawar
- Pakistan
- Afghanistan
- Mecca
- Saudi Arabia
- Philadelphia
- Carmel
- Point Lobos
- Alabama
- Montana
- Moscow
- Russia
- Buchenwald
- Dachau
- Germany
- Munich
- Memphis
- Tennessee
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- Ottawa
- Canada
- Coney Island
- Central Park Zoo
Sources
- Quartz —