who are the best photographers of 20th century?

[Hawkins]

Hi, im new here and I need some help.

Im a doing a multimedia aplication about photography of 20th century based on Ludwig Museum of Cologne. Its a work for the university.

I would like to do a selection of the best 15/20 photographers of 20th century. Its a bit difficult for me to do this small selection and I would like to see if you could help me.

You could choose between 5/10 photographers or even less and I do a list of the photographers with your votes here on this post. What do u think?

Ill start:

Ansel Adams
Alfred Stieglitz
Helmut Newton
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Margaret Bourke-White
Robert Capa


-rank - name ------ votes

1 - Ansel Adams 3
2 - Henri Cartier-Bresson 3
3 - Edward Weston 2
4 - Jock Sturges 2
5 - Margaret Bourke-White 2
6 - Paul Strand 2
7 - Alfred Eisenstaedt 1
8 - Alfred Stieglitz 1
9 - Andre Kertesz 1
10 - Annie Lebowitz 1
11 - Arnold Newman 1
12 - Barry Goldwater 1
13 - Charles M Gurkin 1
14 - Craig Blank 1
15 - Daniel Colvin 1
16 - David LaChapelle 1
17 - Diane Arbus 1
18 - Don McCullin 1
19 - Elliot Erwitt 1
20 - Emogene Cunningham 1
21 - Ernst Haas 1
22 - Galen Rowell 1
23 - Gordon Parks 1
24 - Helmut Newton 1
25 - Herb Ritts 1
26 - Irving Penn 1
27 - James Natchwey 1
28 - Jan Sudek 1
29 - Jay Maisel 1
30 - Jerry Uelsmann 1
31 - Joe Cornish 1
32 - Joel Meyerowitz 1
33 - Joel Peter Witkin 1
34 - Joseph & David Muench 1
35 - Lange Dorothea 1
36 - Larry Burrows 1
37 - Lewis Hine 1
38 - Man Ray 1
39 - Matt Needham 1
40 - Richard Avedon 1
41 - Robert Capa 1
42 - Robert Mapplethorpe 1
43 - Sally Mann 1
44 - Steve McCurry 1
45 - Terri Sprinkle 1
46 - Thomas D. Mangelsen 1
47 - W. Eugene Smith 1
48 - Walker Evans 1
49 - Weegee 1
50 - Werner Bischof 1

Thanks.
Joao.

 

[j_mcquillen]

I would add to that list:

Don McCullin - for his coverage of various conflicts, trouble-spots and the gritty side of life
Larry Burrows - coverage of the Vietnam War
Joe Cornish - British landscape photographer

 

[KevinR]

How about:

Paul Strand
Edward Weston
Emogene Cunningham

 

[Ripnowell45]

I would add to that list:

Don McCullin - for his coverage of various conflicts, trouble-spots and the gritty side of life
Larry Burrows - coverage of the Vietnam War
Joe Cornish - British landscape photographer

Don McMullin although very good some of his work disturbs me... Guess its something inside that doesnt want to believe that some of that stuff exists

 

[ladyphotog]

I would also add to that:
Arnold Newman
Annie Lebowitz
Herb Ritts

And Edward Weston is one of my favorites.

 

[Torus34]

Man Ray
Diane Arbus
Irving Penn
Richard Avedon
Alfred Eisenstaedt
Weegee

 

[Pirate]

Please include my vote of David LaChapelle his stuff is captivating.

 

[Hawkins]

Updated!

Well, I would like to have a list of the best 20 photographers not a list of the best 100! And if you find a photographer in the list that is one of them vote on him again so we ll get a good selection in the end.

Thanks for your help.

 

[danalec99]

Updated!

Well, I would like to have a list of the best 20 photographers not a list of the best 100!

Well, you asked the wrong crowd.

Couple more names...
Elliot Erwitt
Werner Bischof
W. Eugene Smith

And a vote for Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Welcome aboard, btw!

 

[Jeff Canes]

Terri Sprinkle
Daniel Alexander
Matt Needham
Daniel Colvin
Charles M Gurkin

 

[danalec99]

Terri Sprinkle
Daniel Alexander
Matt Needham
Daniel Colvin
Charles M Gurkin

You missed Jeff Canes.

 

[CMan]

What? Not one vote for Thomas D. Mangelsen yet? This guys stuff is amazing.

Add him, and throw in a vote for Ansel Adams from me.

 

[craig]

What? Not one vote for Thomas D. Mangelsen yet? This guys stuff is amazing.

Add him, and throw in a vote for Ansel Adams from me.

Proud to say that I have met Mangelsen on numerous occasions. Cool dude. Not a fan of his work.

Anyway. I do not envy your multimedia presentation. That is a lot of ground to cover. Of course the presentation goes much deeper than a popularity contest. All the photographers on the list represent photography in the 20th Century. As a matter of fact you could probably throw 15 darts at the list and still come out with a comprehensive display of work. As always the main thing will be the photographs and your text.

If we could edit the list... Add the incomparable Craig Blank and maybe the incomparable Jay Maisel (my hero). Take out has beens' like Steiglitz, Adams and Bresson and add JeffCanes, Danalec99, and Corey17.

 

[Digital Matt]

Not to complicate things further, but you missed one of the most influencial photographers in the last century, Ernst Haas.

I would also put James Natchwey on that list.

My top votes would go for Ansel Adams, Haas, Natchwey, and Bourke-White, not neccessarily in order of importance.

 

[Alex_B]

as we can see here, there is no definite list of the best 20 ... there were many good and outstanding ones, each of the the best or one of the best for his/her type of photography/subjects. you can certainly make a list with 100 extremely good photographers/photoartists, but to say 20 of them are the best will always be very much subject to personal taste.