Lewis Hine

September 26, 1874 - November 3, 1940

Noted for his use of photography for social form, such as changing child labor laws in the U.S.

The building of the Empire State Building

Mill Girl

Used Work Wear

Hine documented child labor in the U.S. to help the NCLC's efforts to end child labor

Photographed American Red Cross relief, the building of the Empire State, worked for the TVA and the WPA

Rating: *****

I like how his photographed are beautiful as art but were used for social reform

Annie Leibovitz

October 2, 1949

Noted for her portrait photography of famous celebrities and other notable people

John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Queen Elizabeth II

Scarlett Johanssen as Cinderella for Disney

After Leibovitz photographed Lennon for the cover of the Rolling Stones, he was killed five hours later

She was influenced by the portraits of Richard Avedon

Rating: ****

I like how she is creative with her portraits and makes different images than anyone else

Dorothea Lange

May 26, 1895 - October 11, 1965

Noted for her photojournalism work in the Depression era for the Farm Security Administration

Migrant mother

Young girl, migratory worker

Migratory cotton picker

She covered the rounding up of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor and her photographs were so obviously critical that the Army impounded them.

Lange was inducted in the California Hall of Fame in 2008, announced by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Rating: *****

She does a great job of showing how devestating the Depression was on working families, and that sadness really shows through her work.

Walker Evans

November 3, 1903 - April 10, 1975

Noted for his documentation of the Great Depression for the Farm Security Administration

Reedsville

Allie Mae Burroughs

Sharecropper's family, Alabama

Evans was rarely involved with the development of his photographs, not spending much time in the darkroom

He was a professor for photography at the Yale University School of Art

Rating: ****

I like how he captures emotion through a simple family or portrait; his subjects are very interesting

Robert Doisneau

April 14, 1912 - April 1, 1994

French photographer noted for photographing the "marvels of daily life" in Paris, photojournalism

Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville

Cafe noir et blanc

Musician in the rain

For his photograph Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville, he had a couple repeat their initial kiss - the kiss was posed. He had to reveal this when sued by a couple believing the photograph to be of themselves

In 1984, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d'honneur

Rating: *****

I really like his style of photography. He really captures life in Paris and it has such a romantic yet realistic feel.

Berenice Abbott

July 17, 1898 - December 9, 1991

Noted for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 30's

Under the El at the Battery

Nightview

James Joyce

Working on a project in New York, Abbott's goal was to display the interactions of three aspects of urban life: the diversity of the city, the places the people live, work, and play, and their daily life/activities

Invented photographic tools such as the distortion easel and the autopole

Rating: *****

I love how she uses perspective to give her photographs a feel of movement and shape

Ansel Adams

February 20, 1902 - April 22, 1984

Noted for his black-and-white photographs of the American West (nature)

The Tetons and the Snake River

Winter Sunrise

Moonrise

His father taught him the importance of the values of Ralph Waldo Emerson (modesty, morality, responsibility to both man and nature)

President Jimmy Carter commissioned Adams to make the first presidential portrait made by a photograph

Rating: *****

There's no wonder why he is one of the most highly acclaimed photographers - his work is stunning!