17 Famous Portrait Photographers

Famous portrait photographers are known for iconic portraits photographed in their unique style and distinctive vision. They have approaches to composition and content that set them apart. Their portraits tell stories that engage the viewer, and most have strong technical skills in exposure, focus and lighting.

Here are 17 famous portrait photographers of the past and present and why their portrait work puts them in the spotlight.

1. Annie Leibovitz

Leibovitz is considered one of the best portrait photographers in the world. She is known for her intimate and iconic portraits of celebrities and culturally relevant subjects including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Queen Elizabeth II and LeBron James. Annie Leibovitz got her start with Rolling Stone magazine in 1970 and worked there for more than a decade before moving to Vanity Fair where her stylish lighting, use of bright colors and unique posing of subjects were on display for 20 years. Her favorite equipment is a medium format Hasselblad camera.

Features of Annie Leibovitz portraits are subjects posed in intimate and unconventional ways, such as the members of Fleetwood Mac all in one bed, dramatic lighting that inspires an emotional response, and the use of objects or props with symbolic value or to convey a message or theme.

2. Irving Penn

Penn made his name among portrait photographers with his minimalist portraits using plain and simple backgrounds devoid of clutter or props. He often photographed famous people such as Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Salvador Dali and Indira Gandhi. His work has been described as stark but elegant. Penn is also known for still life photography and fashion photography. He was a photographer for VOGUE Magazine for many years and photographed many fashion models during that time.

Other features of Penn’s portraiture are close up shots, lighting with dramatic contrast between light and shadow, and a timeless quality to his photos. He was a master of the photographic gray scale as part of his minimalist aesthetic. His approach allowed him to capture the genuine essence of his subjects, apart from their fame or renown, which is the goal of every serious portrait photographer. Penn used large-format cameras including models from Deardorff and Sinar.

3. Helmut Newton

This German-Australian photographer has been described as a “prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative…black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications,” by the New York Times. Newton worked with top designers and models in the fashion industry. His career began in the 1930s and ended in 2003, shortly before his death. Newton’s preferred camera was a Nikon 35mm camera.

Features of Helmut Newton’s portrait photography included sensuality with nude or partially nude subjects, excessive glamor and luxury, and the use of power, often depicting women in domineering positions. His goal in much of his work was to produce shock value that would arrest the attention of the viewer and give them something to think about.

4. Dorothea Lange

Lange was an American photojournalist and documentary photographer who used portrait photography throughout her career. She is best known for her work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression documenting the rural poverty of sharecroppers, displaced families and migrant workers. Migrant Mother, a portrait of Florence Thompson, is her most iconic photograph.

Lange’s portrait photography is known for its documentary style and straightforward photos depicting hardship in the human condition. Her images are carefully composed to show social realism and evoke an empathetic response, whether the plight of the rural poor or the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. Lange’s work shows a raw side of humanity, but shot with empathy for those in economic struggle. Lange preferred to shoot in natural light with her large-format camera.

5. Diane Arbus

Arbus gained notoriety in the 1960s for her black and white street photographs of people living on the margins. Her portraits have been called “direct and unadorned.” Arbus’ work was viewed as controversial at the time, as it challenged traditional views of the normal human experience. She photographed the often overlooked subcultures of urban populations including carnival performers, the elderly and people with physical abnormalities. The results are dramatic and evocative narratives that have held up well over time.

Diane Arbus sought a direct connection with her subjects. She spent the time necessary to get to know them, so that her images of the subjects captured their true essence. Her compositions are straightforward, with the subject in the center rather than shot using the rule of thirds. Arbus preferred natural light and used a variety of cameras including a 35mm Nikon, a twin-lens reflex Rolleiflex with an 80mm lens and later a Mamiya C33. She employed a flash when necessary due to low light or even in daylight when she wanted to create a dramatic image with high contrast between her subject and the background.

6. Richard Avedon

Avedon was a top fashion photographer who worked for Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Vogue. His genres were portrait photography and fashion photography with a specialty in capturing the grace, elegance and vibrancy of movement in his photography. The New York Times said of Avedon, “his fashion and portrait photography helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture.” Clients included Gianna Versace and Calvin Klein – he shot the campaign featuring Brooke Shields when the actress was 15. He also has iconic photos of John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, Audrey Hepburn and Tupac Shakur.

Richard Avedon shot in a minimalist style to put all the focus on the subject to capture their expression or form. Avedon used few props, preferring an open, bare background. He used dramatic lighting techniques for drama and emotional impact. Richard used a Rolleiflex 2.8F medium format camera and large format Deardorff and Sinar cameras.

7. Steve McCurry

McCurry remains active as a photographer specializing in portraits and photojournalism. His most iconic photo is the portrait titled Afghan Girl which was used on the cover of National Geographic, a magazine he has often done photoshoots for.

Steve McCurry has also covered wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Cambodia and the Philippines. He said, "Most of my images are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face. I try to convey what it is like to be that person."

McCurry shoots with a Leica SL-2 fitted with a 24-90mm lens, 15-35mm lens and a 90-280mm lens. His portrait photography features intimate and candid images of people going about their daily life in their unique cultural setting. McCurry’s style is considered documentary. Other famous photographs from Steve McCurry are The Girl in the Red Dress and The Yellow Bus.

8. Yousuf Karsh

Karsh was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and migrated to Canada where he blossomed as a portrait photographer. His iconic photograph of Winston Churchill in 1941, titled The Roaring Lion, made him famous.

His other credits include more than 20 cover photos for Life Magazine. Other well-known subjects of Karsh are Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, Humphrey Bogart, Martin Luther King Jr., Fidel Castro and Queen Elizabeth II.

Yousuf Karsh used dramatic lighting to highlight his subjects, often shot close up. He focused on creative composition and expressive posing that portrayed the personality of the people. His portraits are unique and memorable. Karsh used a 1940-era 8x10 Calumet camera.

9. Platon Antoniou

Known professionally simply as Platon, this portrait photographer is known for his commercial work with IBM, Nike, and Levi’s, plus portraits of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama. His style is bold and without clutter or distraction, an approach considered modernistic. His goal, according to one review, is to find truth in his subject and bring it out in photographs. Platon is the founder of People’s Portfolio, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting for the human rights of oppressed peoples.

Platon seeks to form an intimate bond with his subjects in order to get them to reveal their true selves, which he captures in photographs. He often has the subject look directly into the camera, and Platon prefers natural light. Platon’s go-to camera is a Hassleblad 553ELX, and he also uses the Hasselblad H6D.

10. August Sander

Sander was a portrait and documentary photographer considered to be the most significant German portrait photographer of the early 20th century. His book People of the 20th Century includes portraits of people from a wide spectrum of German society.

The portrait photography of August Sander is characterized by a systematic, logical approach to his subjects. He arranged them in categories including Workers, Women, and Farmers. His style is social documentation of day to day life and challenges. Most of his portraits are taken with neutrality, simply capturing people in their natural setting without attempting to tell a story or sway his viewers. Sander worked mainly in black and white using a classic large-format camera.

11. Bruce Weber

Weber is a filmmaker in addition to his work as a portrait photographer specializing in fashion. He has done commercial photoshoots for Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Armani and many others. Weber’s work has appeared in top fashion magazines including GQ, Elle and Vogue. His most famous subjects include Kate Moss, Mark Wahlberg and Leo DiCaprio.

Portrait photographer Bruce Weber often creates an ethereal vibe in his images. He prefers natural light in outdoor settings including beaches, fields and forests. Weber’s equipment includes a Pentax 6x7, Rolleiflex and Leica 35mm.

12. Sally Mann

Mann is an American photographer who shoots in black and white. Her favorite subjects are things familiar to her including her rural property in the South, husband and children. She has also taken self-portraits throughout her career. Her best-known collection is At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women. She was named “America’s Best Photographer” in 2001 by Time magazine.

Portrait photographer Sally Mann emphasizes intimacy in her work using themes of morality and family. Many of her images capture raw human emotions and challenge common understanding of experiences such as violence and death. Mann’s preferred camera a is her large format 8x10 bellows-style camera.

13. Alex Webb

Webb is a photographer known for publishing collections of his photographs in book form including Under a Grudging Sun and Brooklyn: The City Within. His credits also include Time, the New York Times Magazine and National Geographic. His greatest influence is in street photography.

Key features of Webb’s portrait photography include candid portraits taken on the street, a preference for vibrant colors, composition with a sense of movement and energy, and diverse cultural exploration with portraits taken of peoples in various countries including Mexico, India and Cuba. Alex Webb typically uses Leica rangefinder cameras including the Leica M6 and M9.

14. Jeff Wall

Wall is a Canadian portrait photographer who was instrumental in the development of the Vancouver School of post-conceptual photography. He worked as a university professor before his retirement.

Jeff Wall’s portrait photography is conceptual and often includes references to history, art movements or cultural events. His photographs are typically carefully staged, so that the combination of the lighting and composition produce an evocative portrait that represents reality in a way the viewer might not have considered. Wall prefers large format cameras. And his work is often presented in a large-scale lightbox with backlighting to illuminate a transparency.

15. Martin Parr

Parr is a British portrait photographer specializing in documentary photography and photojournalism. His approach to photography is called “humorous” and “anthropological” as he explores the social classes of England and other parts of the world. More than 40 of his photo books have been published.

Portrait photographer Martin Parr seeks to present satirical humor in his photographs. They are shot in a documentary style that gives the viewer an understanding of the daily life of his subjects. The content can be provocative at times, providing social commentary from his point of view.

Parr uses a variety of equipment including a medium format Mamiya 7 and 35mm Leica M and Contax G2. He prefers the use of a ring flash when needed.

16. Ryan McGinley

McGinley is a young American portrait photographer who was given a solo exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art at just 25. His work focuses on youth culture exploring themes of friendship, romance, and the transition to adulthood.

Other features of portrait photographer Ryan McGinley’s work include forming a close connection with subjects to gain their trust and get realistic images of their lives. He preferred a natural, candid style in his early work but also began “making pictures happen,” because, he says, “I got to the point where I couldn’t wait for the pictures to happen.” McGinley’s content is often provocative, reflecting challenges common to youth in America.

17. Alex Prager

Prager is known for her staged portrait photography using surreal images that straddle the line between reality and make believe. Her photographs have been called “cinematic.” Prager also makes films and writes screenplays. Prager’s work has appeared in Vogue and other fashion major publications.

The key features of Alex Prager’s portrait photography are staged poses with careful composition and lighting. Her subjects typically wear costumes. The goal is to create drama that tells a story. There’s a retro vibe to much of Prager’s portrait photography. Most of her most iconic photographs were taken with a Contax 645 camera.