15 Famous Fashion Photographers

Famous fashion photographers are known for bringing a fresh and unique aesthetic to their work, often pushing boundaries with revolutionary techniques. Many of the top fashion photographers have discovered subjects that went on to be top supermodels.

Here are 15 famous fashion photographers, both current and from the past. Each has made a talented contribution that sets their work apart.

1. Tim Walker

Walker is a highly creative and imaginative fashion photographer with photoshoots bordering on the surreal with heavy doses of theatrical enchantment and visual storytelling. Guy Bourdin is a major influence. The career of this British photographer gained steam in the 1990s working in New York as the assistant to renowned photographer Richard Avedon. His best work has appeared on the cover of magazines like British Vogue, W Magazine, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and Another Man. Tim Walker has photographed Tilda Swinton, Rihanna, Kate Moss and other high-profile fashion models.

Walker uses several medium format cameras, a choice common in the world of fashion photography. His preferred medium format models include the Hasselblad 503CW, Pentax 67 and Mamiya RZ67. He’s known to use Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Nikon D850 digital cameras too. Favorite lenses are wide angle 40mm and 50mm on medium format cameras when he wants to capture more of the scene, standard lenses like an 80mm or 90mm and telephoto lenses.

2. Ellen von Unwerth

Von Unwerth started her career as a model before picking up a camera and working from behind it. Her style is considered light, provocative and sensual with plenty of playfulness included. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Interview and i-D.

Ellen von Unwerth, a German fashion photographer, pushes boundaries in her photoshoots and is known for her images of Claudia Schiffer, Madonna, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Adriana Lima, Cindy Crawford and Giselle Bundchen. Of her approach with models, she said, “I give them roles to play. You get those moments where they show emotion and not just their physical beauty—that’s what I’m looking for.”

Von Unwerth strongly prefers 35mm film cameras from the Nikon F Series and the Leica M Series, but also uses 35mm Nikon D Series digital cameras. She uses a range of wide angle, prime and telephoto lenses depending on the demands of the photoshoot. She’s also done photoshoots with medium format Mamiya and Hasselblad cameras.

3. Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

Known professionally as Mert and Marcus, the two have collaborated since 1994 and were strongly influenced by the photography of Guy Bourdin. One of the key features of their work is digital manipulation of images in post-processing.

Mert Alas, who is Turkish, and Marcus Piggott, who is Welsh, have done photoshoots for major brands like Louis Vuitton, Armani, Dior, Kenzo, Gucci, Lancome, and Roberto Cavalli. They have photographed top models and celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Linda Evangelista, Gisele Bundchen, Bella Hadid, Taylor Swift and Victoria Beckham.

Mert and Marcus prefer high-end digital cameras like the Canon EOS-1D and Canon EOS 5D Series. Those cameras are fitted with Canon L Series lenses with different features and focal lengths. They are known for artistic use of natural light combined with studio strobe lights.

4. Annie Leibovitz

After making a name for herself working for Rolling Stone magazine, fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz became the chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines, where her fame increased.

Leibovitz photographs fashion models with a bold, dramatic style bordering, using movement and light to produce a cinematic effect. Her style is to produce rich scenes for models to inhabit, including art, glamor and sophistication into each photoshoot. Models photographed by Annie Leibovitz include Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista.

The cameras used by Leibovitz for fashion photography include a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Mark IV, medium format Leica S and Hasselblad cameras. Her preferred lenses on the Canon are EF Series 24-70mm, 50mm, 85mm and 70-200mm USM lenses.

5. Mario Testino

Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer well known for his glamorous photoshoots that give viewers an intimate look at models and their clothing. He stages photos to produce a bigger-than-life vibe. Mario Testino’s credits include work for Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue and V Magazine while producing advertising images for brands like Gucci, Estee Lauder, Michael Kors, and Chanel.

Fashion photographer Mario Testino has photographed many of the most famous models in the world like Gisele Bundchen, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Bella Hadid, and Kendall Jenner. Testino prefers high-resolution Hasselblad digital cameras in combination with Hasselblad XCD series lenses.   Wide-angle 35mm lenses are used for full-body pictures, portrait lenses from 85mm to 135mm for close ups, and macro lenses for capturing fine detail.

6. Steven Meisel

Meisel is an American photographer who became a top fashion photographer through his work with Vogue and Vogue Italia plus W magazines. His photoshoots are designed to produce a narrative, with each picture telling a new piece of the story. Part of his claim to fame has been his success in finding or promoting the careers of Linda Evangelista, Karen Elson, Stella Tennant, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Lara Stone and many other top fashion models.

The client list of fashion photographer Steven Meisel includes Loewe, Calvin Klein, Alberta Ferretti, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Barneys New York.

Meisel prefers to shoot with his Pentax 67 medium format camera fitted with a range of lenses from wide angle to prime to telephoto. He also uses Canon digital cameras with L Series lenses.

7. David LaChapelle

LaChapelle is a contemporary fashion photographer known for whimsical photoshoots full of energy and movement. Some images have a surreal quality, sometimes meant for shock quality, with the goal of communicating a socially relevant message. His style has been called hyper-real and kitsch pop.

Fashion photographer David LaChapelle has cover credits for GQ, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue Paris and i-D. He has photographed many famous models including Kate Moss, Christy Turlington and Amanda Lepore. LaChapelle’s favorite cameras are his medium format Hasselblad 503CW and Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 35mm camera. His studio contains softboxes, strobes and LED studio lighting.

8. Chen Man

Chen Man, born in Beijing in 1980, creatively combines traditional Chinese style elements with cutting-edge contemporary aesthetics. Her work exhibits strong technical skills with artistic touches. Man’s photographs have appeared in major fashion magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, i-D and Vogue. Some of the most prominent brands she’s done shoots for are Adidas, Dior and MAC cosmetics. Man has photographed Chinese supermodel Liu Wen, Fei Fei Sun, Meng Lu, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Campbell.

Top features of Man’s fashion photography are striking use of bright colors and images including cultural symbols. A hint of surrealism can be seen in some of her most iconic photographs. Man uses professional grade Nikon and Canon DSLR and mirrorless cameras. She also takes photos with a Hasselblad medium format camera. Digital post-processing is essential to Man’s finished photography.

9. John Rankin Waddell

Known simply by his middle name Rankin, this British photographer works in fashion and celebrity photography. He’s known for bold and edgy images of Queen Elizabeth II, Madonna, Kate Moss and Bjork. Rankin’s stylized work has been called “high-gloss…and hyper-perfect.”  His goal is to provoke thought and emotion. He includes Bailey, Avedon, Eggleston, Teller, Knight, Newton, Blumenfeld, McCullin, Leibovitz and Penn among his influences.

Fashion photographer Rankin is best known in the fashion industry for his photoshoots for i-D and Vogue. Rankin says his photography equipment includes Canon DSLR models like the 1DS Mark III and the 5D and 7D series. He is also known for using the Mamiya RZ 67 medium format camera, the Leica S large format camera and an old Phase One DF.

10. Patrick Demarchelier

Demarchelier was a French fashion photographer who learned the craft from renowned pioneering street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. He died in 2022. His chief talent was capturing the true personality of his subjects, which makes his fashion photography more appealing by humanizing the models. Demarchelier preferred natural light and uncluttered composition that produced authentic and realistic images.  

Fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier was mainly a freelancer who has worked for Elle, Marie Claire, and Vogue while working on ad campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Ann Taylor and Ralph Lauren. Along with photographing top models, he is known for his photos of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Patrick Demarchelier used a wide range of cameras and formats in his work. Among his preferred equipment were a Hasselblad 553ELX, Pentax 67II and a 35mm Nikon F5 film camera.

11. Peter Lindbergh

Before his death in 2019, Lindbergh was famous for his black and white images that portrayed the raw, unretouched beauty of his models – usually young models like Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Tatjana Patitz and Christy Turlington. His 1990 British Vogue photoshoot featuring those models is said to have launched the era of the supermodel. He believed that shooting the most beautiful women in the world in color made the images look “like a bad cosmetics advert.”

Fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh also took well-known photos of celebrities and musicians. His equipment included mainly film cameras including a medium format Pentax 67 and models from the Nikon F film camera series. He favored natural lighting and sought to capture unposed, candid photographs.

12. Richard Avedon

Avedon, who died in 2004, was highly influential in shaping modern fashion photography. He is remembered for his elegant style with a minimalist sensibility in his photoshoots for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other top fashion magazines. Fashion photographer Richard Avedon had a knack for photos that highlighted fashion while also exhibiting the authentic personalities of the models.

Famous models photographed by Avedon include Lauren Hutton, Veruschka, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and Dovima. He photographed celebrities like Audrey Hepburn and The Beatles as well. Avedon used a Rolleiflex 2.8F medium format camera and large format Deardorff and Sinar cameras.

13. Irving Penn

Penn combined his talents for portrait photography and fashion photography into a brilliant career, ending with his death in 2009. His work is known for dramatic lighting, close-up headshots, and the use of grayscale to get the tone he wanted. Penn’s fashion photographer shows a minimalist style with simple composition and plain backgrounds that highlighted the model and not the surroundings and gave the pictures a timeless vibe. He’s known for an emphasis on detail.

Irving Penn favored large format cameras including a Deardorff and a Sinar. Penn fitted his cameras with lenses with a standard focal length and those in the 150mm to 210mm range.

14. Guy Bourdin

Bourdin was a French fashion photographer who specialized in dramatic imagery that could be unsettling, evocative and other-worldly. His unique style has been called narrative-driven, and some of his work was controversial in its time as it explored themes of sexuality, violence and death.

Fashion photographer Guy Bourdin influenced the surreal school of fashion photography with dark, even macabre images, stating, “Surrealism is not a method. It’s a state of mind.” He died in 1991. Bourdin mostly worked for Vogue but also Harper’s Bazaar. His famous work included campaigns for Chanel, Pentax, and Bloomingdale’s. There’s not a lot of information on Bourdin’s equipment, though it is known he favored medium format cameras like those from Rolleiflex and Hasselblad.

15. Norman Parkinson

Parkinson began his fashion photography career with Vogue magazine where he was credited with discovering several models who would go on to great fame including Nena von Schlebrugge, Jerry Hall and Celia Hammond. Other iconic Parkinson photos are of Audrey Hepburn and Raquel Welch. Parkinson, who was British and died in 1990, was known for the elegant glamor of his photographs, often with a humorous twist. His work included being one of the official royal photographers, photographing Charles III, Princess Anne and Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Fashion photographer Norman Parkinson approached his work “as a craftsman and not an artist.” He employed strong technical skills and was one of the first fashion photographers to choose outdoor settings for his photoshoots in addition to studio work. His initial work was shot with large format cameras, but he later started using a Hasselblad medium-format camera, which he stuck with for the remainder of his career.