10. Robert Capa was an epic photojournalist and wartime photographer who covered five wars and multiple other major conflicts before ultimately losing his life while photographing the First Indochina War. He was also a co-founder of Magnum Photos, the world’s first collective for freelance photographers.
9. Stuart Franklin is a photojournalist who also specializes in documenting conflicts from around the world. His work has been featured in both TIME magazine and National Geographic.
8. Brian Duffy was a well-known portrait and fashion photographer in the 1960s and 1970s. His work was published in Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue, and he’s probably best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, including the iconic cover art for his album, “Aladdin Sane.”
7. George Rodger was a noted photojournalist whose photos documenting the atrocities at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of WWII are among some of the most recognizable in the world today. Along with Capa, he was also a founding member of Magnum Photos.
6. Steve McCurry is a well-known photographer specializing in capturing images of armed conflicts. He is best known for his photograph titled the “Afghan Girl,” one of National Geographic’s most famous covers.
5. Dorothea Lange’s work revolutionized the field of photojournalism. Her shots of depression-era America commissioned by the Farm Security Administration exposed the Great Depression as it was truly experienced by the American people. You’re probably very familiar with Migrant Mother, her stunning 1936 portrait of struggling mother Florence Owens Thompson.
4. Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer best known for her striking portraits created through the use of daring poses and colors. Her photographs of celebrities and dignitaries are among some of the most famous in the contemporary American memory. Leibovitz’s unique work helped define the photographic style for Rolling Stone magazine during her tenure as chief photographer.
3. David LaChapelle’s photos are colorful, hyperrealistic, and at times, subversive. Starting his career as a fine art photographer, he was given his shot at commercial photography with Interview magazine by none other than Andy Warhol.
2. Diane Arbus chose subjects on the outskirts of society, including cross-dressers, dwarfs, and nudists. She sought to capture these marginalized people as they truly were, not the freaks people thought them to be. In turn, her work helped her subjects become more visible to mainstream society.
1. Ansel Adams is perhaps the most recognizable name on this list — and for good reason. His long-standing career as a photographer gave the world some of the most breathtaking landscape photos ever taken. His work has been widely reproduced for calendars, postcards, and books, and he is especially well-known for his shots of the American West.