20 Visionary Portrait Photographers and Their Iconic Works

20 Visionary Portrait Photographers and Their Iconic Works

Portrait photography is said to be one of the oldest forms of photography. It has been in existence for more than 200 years and remains one of the most popular pursuits within the art form.

We have so many visionary portrait photographers in the industry like Annie Leibovitz, Helmet Newton, Philippe Halsman, and Erik Johansson among others.

In this article, we have discussed 20 visionary portrait photographers and their iconic works. Walk with us as we discuss their amazing work in the photography field.

1. Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is a portrait photographer from America. He was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S. Annie is well-known for engaging portraits, mostly for celebrities.

Annie has done amazing work like photographing the Rolling Stones in San Francisco back in 1971 and 1972. He is the author of the iconic photography of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

2. Elliott Landy

Capitol Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elliott Landy is a well-known photographer as well as a writer. Landy was among the first music photographers. He is remembered for his iconic photographs from the Sixties Classic Rock period.

Some of his portraits work include Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, John Lee Hooker, etc.

3. Richard Avedon

Photograph by Richard Avedon, Hand-enameled Chainmail by Douglas Ferguson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Richard Avedon was born on May 15, 1923, and died on October 1, 2004. He was a famous portrait photographer from America.

He worked with several fashion magazines to capture movement in still pictures of theater, dance, and fashion such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar among others.

4. Helmet Newton

Helmet Newton was one of the famous fashion photographers. He was well-known for his provocative photographs and mostly worked in black and white.

Newton photographed several notable portraits of iconic stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and David Bowie, and Sophia Loren among others.

5. Martin Chambi

Martin Chambi was a portrait photographer and he created amazing portraits of his social context in Peru. Chambi worked on personal work and commercial work like many photographers.

He has done amazing work, including Víctor Mendívil and the Giant Paruro, a portrait that symbolized Chambi’s belief, Queromarca Rural Woman with Child, and Pequineque Friends.

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6. Arnold Newman

Rochester Institute of Technology, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Arnold Newman is famously remembered as a photography teacher and talented portrait photographer.

Newman focused on creating environmental portraits. Portrait of Igor Stravinsky was one of his signature pictures taken back in 1946 in his environment. Another iconic portrait by Newman is a portrait of Martha Graham.

7. Philippe Halsman

Philippe Halsman was one of the best portrait photographers in France. Halsman photographed several iconic individuals such as Albert Einstein, Louis Armstrong, and Audrey Hepburn among others.

8. Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is a portrait photographer who is known for taking high-quality portraits. His work inspires many photographers and is something they should learn and practice.

Some of his notable portraits include The Afghan Girl which was taken in December 1984 and is a portrait of a girl known as Sharbat Gula.

9. Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus worked together with her husband, Allan Arbus, in several fashion magazines such as Glamour, Vogue, and Seventeen.

She has photographed many notable portraits such as New Jersey, Identical Twins, and Roselle among others.

10. Jimmy Nelson

 Jimmy Nelson is a well-known England photographer. He is famously known for his portraits of tribal and indigenous peoples. One of the iconic portraits by Jimmy Nelson is known as Gorgeous Portraits of the World’s Vanishing People.

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11. Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh / Fotocollectie Anefo, Nationaal Archief, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer and one of the notable portrait photographers of the 20^th century.

Yousuf focused on portraits of famous individuals. Some of the people he photographed include Winston Churchill. Winston’s portrait acted as the breakthrough of Karsh’s career.

12. Herb Ritts

Herb Ritts was lucky to work with well-known people in his 80s and 90s. Ritts has taken many cool images throughout his career and produced the most iconic images during his period.

His stylish portraits led him to a fashion photography career. Herb has worked with popular people such as Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Cindy Crawford among others.

13. Lee Jeffries

Lee Jeffries is a portrait photographer from British. Lee focuses on photographing people experiencing homelessness. Since 2008, Lee has made many portraits of people experiencing homelessness.

The photographer made a portrait of the band Metallica as the artwork of their album, 72 Seasons in 2023.

14. Irving Penn

Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Irving Penn was born on June 16, 1917, and died on October 7, 2009. He was famously known for fashion and portrait photography.

His work was amazing and was marked by simplicity and elegance. Some of his iconic portraits include Salvador Dalí, Audrey Hepburn, Pablo Picasso, and Miles Davis among others.

15. Omar Victor Diop

Omar is a great photographer from Senegal and his works have been recognized all over the world. He has experimented with landscape photography and has also worked as a fashion photographer.

 It is surprising how Omar did not study anything in art but ended up in that field and doing an awesome job. He produces his photography job in series. Some of his notable series include Fashion 2112, and The Future of Beauty which was shown at the pan-African Exhibition of the Africa Biennale of Photography. Other series include Liberty, Project Diaspora, and Re-mixing Hollywood.

16. Jill Greenberg

Jill Greenberg a Canadian Photographer who resides in America is a known artist and a pop artist. She started photography when she was 9 years old. She is known for making beautiful portraits and fine art which she features more on animals. Other than animals she is known for her stylized photography of celebrities.

She has even published a book of photographs called Horse which features pictures of horses. All through her career she has received numerous awards for good work in photography. One of her most iconic works was the series called End Times which featured more toddlers one of them being her daughter.

17. Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Erik Johansson is a Swedish artist. He is known for creating surreal images which involve combining photographic elements and other materials into surreal scenes. He says that his interest in art was influenced by his upbringing since his grandmother was a painter. Till today Erik works full-time as a photographer.

In an interview on Time, he revealed that he gets inspiration from painters more than photographers. Some of his notable art projects include The Light Keeper, Go Your Road, Lifetime, and Loyal Mail among many others.

18. Brooke Shaden

Brooke Shaden is a conceptual fine art photographer who specializes in surreal and dark self-portraiture. She is famous for her ability to create dreamlike and otherworldly scenes that draw viewers into the imaginative world. Her works create visual narrations that include emotions and imagination. One of her notable works includes the series called Invisible.

19. Kirsty Mitchell

Kirsty is a great photographer. She enrolled in higher education at the age of 16 years to study fine arts, photography, and history of art. Her works are well-known had have been published throughout the world. Her interest in photography began after the death of her mother.

The pain was too much and to escape the pain she spent most of her time on photography. She used to photograph to keep memories. Some of her iconic works include a series called The Wonderland series which was featured by the BBC News, Vogue Portugal, The British Journal of Photography, and many others.

20. George Hurrell

George Hurrell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

George Hurrell is a well-known portrait photographer from the golden age of cinema. He was the official photographer of MGM Studio. Most of his iconic portraits captured Hollywood actresses and actors.

 Some of the Screen Stars photographed by him include Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, etc.

Just try to imagine a world without a photographer. It could be so boring right? Photographers are important people in society, they help us document and keep memories.