World Photography Day Special: The Most Famous Photographers of All Time
World Photography Day is celebrated around the world on August 19 each year. On this special day, photographers who have left their mark on history with their fascinating and striking frames, stretching from the depths of history to the present, are remembered with respect. Photographers set an example for new generations with their photographs, exhibitions, and books. Witnessing history by capturing each and every moment of life, the masters left a historical legacy with the photographs they took. Are you ready to discover the emotional and aesthetic richness of humanity by looking through the lens of photographers who left their mark on history on this special day? Here are the 5 most famous photographers of all time for World Photography Day…
1. Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry is undoubtedly the first name that comes to mind when it comes to the world’s most famous photographers. The photographer’s famous works manage to resonate in many parts of the world. McCurry is best known for his photographs for National Geographic. The master photographer begins his real photography adventure after his photojournalism journey to India in 1979. On this journey, he goes to Pakistan illegally and goes to the refugee camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In the camp, he announced his success to the whole world by taking a photo of the Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula, who was 12 years old at that time. The photographer is known for his photographs in various fields such as ancient traditions, human struggle, conflicts and disappearing cultures. The artist has many awards such as “National Press Photographers”, “World Press Photo” and “Robert Capa Gold Medal” for strikingly revealing the theme of civil war. Some of the works of the artist, who also has books in the field of photography, are: “Portraits”, “South Southeast”, “Monsoon” and “The Imperial Way.”
2. Robert Capa
Robert Capa, who lived between 1913-1954, is a world-renowned war photographer. The artist, whose real name is Endre Ernö Friedmann, was declared the world’s most famous war photographer by the famous British magazine Picture Post in 1938 with the photographs he took during the Spanish Civil War. During this war, the painting “The Falling Soldier”, taken by a republican soldier when he was shot on the Cordoba front, became an icon in the field of war photography. At the same time, the artist went down in history with his images of the first troops landing on the Omaha coast during the Normandy Landings, one of the important phases of the Second World War.
Robert Capa founded a photography agency called “Magnum Photos” in 1947 with David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and George Rodger. The agency is still among the best and most important photography agencies in the world to this day. The famous photographer lost his life by stepping on a land mine while taking pictures in Vietnam, which was under French occupation in 1954.
3. Phil Borges
Another name among the best photographers in the world is Phil Borges. Borges, who is also a cultural ambassador, is known for taking photographs of cultures that are on the verge of disappearing. The famous artist creates fascinating photographs that have left their mark on the adventure from the forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon to the Dharamsala mountains in India. The photographer, who has been pursuing tribal and indigenous cultures for more than 25 years, is also considered a cultural documentarian in the world. A documentary on indigenous cultures for National Geographic, Borges’s works are exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. The artist includes portraits of women and girls in his project “Stirring the Fire”. Focusing on their stories and the problems they face in this resounding work; the artist draws the attention of the whole world with this project.
4. Dorothea Lange
Born in New Jersey in 1895, Dorothea Lange made great contributions to documentary photography and newspaper photography with her works depicting the victims of the Great Depression in 1929. For that reason, it takes its place in the history of photography. During the Great Depression, she expanded her field of work by photographing homeless people on the streets. She received great attention from the photographers of “Group f.64” with her works, especially her photograph “White Angel Breadline,”, which depicts the despair that these people had experienced. With her works such as “Migrant Mother – Florence Owens Thompson” and “Nipomo”, which are about migrant workers, she revives great repercussions all over the world. So much so that the state decides to establish immigrant camps.
Dorothea Lange created photo series for “Life Magazine” during the Second World War. This successful photographer is one of the most famous and greatest document photographers of all time in the USA.
5. Ara Güler
Ara Güler, one of the world’s most famous photographers, worked as a Near East photojournalist in 1958 for Time-Life, Der Stern and Paris-Match magazines. From 1954 to 1962, he worked as the chief of the photography section of Hayat Magazine. Ara Güler went down in history by photographing and interviewing many famous people such as Winston Churchill, John Berger, Bertrand Russel, Alfred Hitchcock, Salvador Dali, Picasso and İsmet İnönü. The Photography Annual, published in the United Kingdom in 1961, lists Ara Güler among the seven best photographers in the world. The artist is accepted as a member of the “American Magazine Photographers Association” in the same year. As the only Turkish photographer to be accepted into this association, he once again succeeds in making his mark in history. The famous photographer wins the title of “Master of Leica” in Germany in 1962, which has been awarded to very few photographers. In addition, Ara Güler has many works published in the field of photography.
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