Film is where it all began. Hardcore purists may wag their fingers at me now and talk all day long about wet plate photography and all sorts of other arcane, historic practices.
But for the majority of us, including most working photographers active today, it is what we started out with. It’s the medium that the images that first inspired us were captured with. It’s what we loaded into the first camera we bought with our own, hard-earned cash. And let’s not forget, analog photography also forms a huge part of photographic history as a whole!
Today, decades after the beginning of the digital revolution, it is far from forgotten. Against all doomsday predictions, shooting film has firmly (re-)established itself as an integral part of the modern photographer’s toolkit, coexisting side-by-side with digital photography.
That is why I thought it would be an excellent opportunity today to take a look at the profiles of some of the most famous film photographers of all time. By examining their lives and their art, we can see not just what we owe to film from generations past. We can also understand how the medium has kept changing and evolving, and continues to do so today.
Excited? Then let’s get started!
Legendary Pioneers
Let’s begin by talking about some of the most celebrated photographers from the earlier days of the medium.
I am not talking about the famous artist-inventors of the 19th century who juggled wild and dangerous chemistry experiments with operating home-built view cameras. We certainly owe a lot to them and their generation, but unfortunately, their work as photographers alone is not of big interest, chiefly because much of that work didn’t survive due to imperfect chemistry and the damage of time.
Rather, I am referring to the first crop of modernist artistic photographers of the early and mid-20th century. This is the generation who helped to establish film photography as a distinct art form. Without them, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today!
Ansel Adams
A giant icon and a continuing role model for countless photographers, Ansel Adams showed the world what film was capable of.
Working with large format and medium format cameras, Adams took breathtaking black and white images, including many still lifes and his famous landscapes.
Adams’ work remains admired for its technical excellence, showcasing nearly superhuman control over his camera. He was also one of the founders of the Group f/64, a collective of photographers who sought to perfect composition, exposure, and pin-sharp focus through complex manual techniques.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Considered by many to be one of the founders of street photography as a genre, Henri Cartier-Bresson made history soon after he began taking pictures with a Leica that he received as a gift from a friend returning from the Great War.
Cartier-Bresson’s taste in pictures strongly gravitated towards animated urban scenes populated with unlikely characters whose faces and details often remain obscured. His modernist street photography is a time capsule of Paris during the early and mid-20th century, though he also worked in a variety of locations around the world.
Besides taking some of the most celebrated black and white film images ever, Cartier-Bresson also wrote about photography. The English title of his most famous book, The Decisive Moment, is about as revered as it is often misunderstood.
Diane Arbus
Barely out of her teens when she first picked up a camera, Diane Arbus’s career would take off like a rocket. Unfortunately, it would burn up just as soon with her untimely death from suicide in 1971 at the age of only 48.
Despite her short life filled with tumultuous relationships and mental health struggles, Arbus contributed more to the art of photography than most of her senior contemporaries.
A talented portrait photographer with an eye for the unconventional, Arbus became famous through her innovative street scenes and candid portraits of people on the fringes of society, often with unusual physical traits that make them stand out in portraits.
Her photography continues to be appreciated for its strange, unique atmosphere.
Edward Weston
Many of the most famous analog photos of all time can be found in Edward Weston’s portfolio. One of the most significant American visual artists of the early 20th century, Weston pioneered and innovated in not just one but many genres of photography, including architecture, still life, portraiture, landscapes, fine art, and more.
His highly experimental, modernist style earned him huge praise during his lifetime and beyond, and he continues to receive acclaim for his artful large-format images.
Imogen Cunningham
Most famous today for her flower photography, Imogen Cunningham was one of the first women photographers to gain international prominence.
A talented artist, Cunningham mastered many genres, including artistic nudes and landscape photography. During her earlier years, she shot intimate portraits in the then-popular pictorialist style before branching out later on.
At the height of her career, Cunningham was a member of Ansel Adams’ elite Group f/64, proving her dedication to perfecting the way she portrayed her subjects.
Gordon Parks
A star photojournalist who became one of the first black men in his line of work to gain recognition, Gordon Parks is remembered as an icon of the Civil Rights era.
Active for over three decades during the middle of the 20th century, Parks shot thousands of historic photos, many of them highlighting racial and social injustice.
His work as a documentary photographer during the 60s remains some of the best-remembered footage of civil rights protests and the tense atmosphere surrounding them.
Visionaries of the Analog Renaissance
Photographers who used film experienced a somewhat golden age throughout most of the 20th century.
The last couple of decades of the millennium brought some stark changes, though. Automation and high-tech gear began to greatly simplify the photographic process at all levels, beginning to change the definition of who was an artist, a professional, or an amateur.
On top of that, research and development on digital cameras was already well underway, even if most of us weren’t aware of it yet.
Nonetheless, countless brave and creative artists continued to produce stellar analog photography during this time. These are some of the best of them!
Nan Goldin
Rising to fame through her groundbreaking analog photos documenting the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, Nan Goldin has always been a provocative and innovative photographer with a deep passion for social causes.
Her work, rooted in traditions of portrait photography but with an emotional twist, explores both the male and female form, conventional and queer sexuality, as well as issues of addiction, relationships, and autobiographical themes.
Cindy Sherman
To say that Cindy Sherman’s work consists largely of self-portraits is partly accurate, but there’s more to these images than meets the eye.
A talented visual designer, Sherman uses intricate makeup and costuming techniques to transform herself into countless different characters, starring in her own scenes as subjects.
These characters have ranged from recognizable pop culture figures to symbolic representations of modern life to fictionalized portrayals of Sherman herself, and more. Though controversial, her work is now considered an icon of post-modernist art.
Mary Ellen Mark
A fearless documentary photographer, Mary Ellen Mark still reigns as one of the most important figures in the genre to date. Some of the most famous images of the late 20th century came courtesy of her shutter finger.
At a time when the SLR was the sine qua non of pro photography and color was quickly asserting itself over black and white film in photojournalism, Mark insisted on shooting monochrome with small rangefinder cameras.
Her choice of subjects was equally unusual, consisting in large part of the downtrodden and disadvantaged in society. Immigrant cultures, sexual minorities, and the poor and homeless were a frequent focus of her photo work.
William Eggleston
William Eggleston was one of the first serious artists to lend credibility to color photography at a time when black and white was still the gold standard in the gallery world.
Eggleston’s analog photography carries a cinematic quality, often picturing desolate scenes from small-town America with a sense of sentimental depth and an unsettling mood. Many filmmakers, including David Lynch, have cited Eggleston as an aesthetic influence.
Larry Clark
Some of you may recognize Larry Clark as the director behind the scandal-ridden 1995 movie Kids, among others. But though it is perhaps less widely appreciated, the daring director is also an accomplished photographer who achieved some notable fame (and notoriety) back in the 1970s with his legendary photo book, Tulsa.
Just like his movies, the photo series is shot in a very candid style, with intimate staging and only natural light. And again just like his films, Tulsa chronicles the troubled lives of suburban teenagers and their diverse stories of abuse, addiction, and violence.
Though it’s not for the faint of heart, Larry Clark’s photography is for sure something that stays with you!
Vivian Maier
A modern icon of street photography with a distinctive style, Vivian Maier’s story is the stuff of legends.
Totally unknown throughout her lifetime and entirely self-taught, Maier nonetheless digilently took thousands of street photographs with her trusty TLR film camera from the 1950s to the 80s. Primarily active in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Maier traveled around the world, incorporating her journeys into her photography as she went.
Only years following her death in 2009 did her personal work get any public recognition after an acquaintance uploaded it online. The rest is history, with Maier nowadays regarded as one of the most talented and important street photographers of her era.
Modern Masters of Film Photography
Around the turn of the millennium, many doubted the future of film due to the rapid rise in digital adoption. While we now know that these fears were exaggerated, to continue to market your own work during this period took resilience and lots of determination.
These are some of the greatest analog photographers from the 1990s up to the present day who defied trends by sticking with traditional media.
Ryan McGinley
A passionate portrait photographer with the eye of a street artist, Ryan McGinley has been promoting his own brand of film photography since the late 1990s.
His images convey a distinct sense of fleeting beauty, with scenes from everyday life interspersed with cathartic musings on sexuality, society, and modern lifestyles.
McGinley makes frequent use of unusual angles, hand-held photography with deliberate camera shake, and harsh lighting to create images that can be both shocking and yet surprisingly romantic.
Sally Mann
Unlike most who maintained a commitment to film into the digital era, Sally Mann never extensively worked in the standard 35mm format.
Instead, she has and continues to create the bulk of her work using a large format view camera, an unorthodox choice for the 21st century to say the least!
Strongly autobiographical and somewhat controversial for its intimacy and frank depictions of Mann’s own life and family, her work nevertheless continues to receive praise from critics.
Alec Soth
One of the most innovative photographers in recent years, Alec Soth has made a career out of dissecting the American Dream.
Through architecture, portraits, and landscapes, Soth expresses monotony, loneliness, and the search for meaning that’s so central to many of our lives.
Capturing strangers close to their homes and workplaces in candid scenes, Soth gives us glimpses into detailed life stories, all but one picture at a time.
Bryan Schutmaat
Exploring loneliness, isolation, and stark beauty against backdrops of post-industrial despair, Bryan Schutmaat’s photography has helped to define the aesthetic trends of the early 21st century in North American fine art.
Almost entirely working with black and white film, Schutmaat’s photography is grim and dark, but also full of hope and beauty in the unlikeliest places.
Taryn Simon
Blending documentary photography with abstract art, Taryn Simon is a multimedia genre-bender with a unique and unrelenting vision.
Her projects are continuously fresh and diverse, each dealing with different themes. These can range from the personal to the abstract to the political and beyond.
As of late, she has been gravitating towards huge, expansive, and even interactive art installations whose photography only forms one component of a carefully thought-out whole.
Todd Hido
Recontextualizing American glamour and midcentury fashion through a millennial lens, Todd Hido creates portrait shots and landscapes with raw emotion and an eerie atmosphere.
Much of his work can be characterized as belonging to the wave of ‘lo-fi’ fine art photography that sprang up during the late 90s.
Hido often shoots using very simple film cameras, harsh on-camera flash, and developing color film in unconventional ways to give it a deliberately imperfect, distorted look.
Joe Greer
Praised for his narrative street photography as much as his daring, carefully staged studio portraits and his big-ticket commercial work, Joe Greer is a real multi-talent in the contemporary film photography landscape.
Based out of Franklin, Tennesse, Greer has already traveled the world for both his personal and professional photography, creating a portfolio that is uniquely rich and diverse for someone so early into their career.
Emerging Film Photographers to Watch
Finally, let’s take a look at some of my personal favorites! The following lineup of photographers may not yet stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the photographers above, but what they lack in recognition, they more than make up for in potential.
If you are curious to know what the current young avant-garde of analog photography is up to, read on to find out!
Rosie Matheson
A rising star for sure, Rosie Matheson is most known as a street-style portrait photographer who, despite her young career, has managed to work with some of the world’s top models and celebrities of the entertainment world.
From Rita Ora to Lenny Kravitz and Taika Waititi, Matheson has pulled many familiar faces in front of her camera and captured them all in color film.
Matheson’s photography is both intimate and creative, using creatively picked scenery and staging to give each of her portraits a narrative feel that matches the subjects.
Francesca Allen
UK-based Francesca Allen has done a little bit of everything, from commercial campaigns for high-profile clients like Calvin Klein to fine art portraits that have made waves in the gallery scene.
Her highly-detailed, full-color closeups and creative use of both high and low contrast show that shooting film in this day and age, even as a young photographer, doesn’t have to be a handicap whatsoever!
Lina Scheynius
Formerly a model, Lina Scheynius made the brave decision to step behind the camera and turn to a career of innovative self-portraits.
Capturing a candid and honest view of her own life down to very intimate details, Scheynius’ images are nonetheless full of playfulness and beauty.
I can only recommend a stroll through her diary-style portfolio!
Johnny Martyr
A professional photojournalist with a passion for black and white film in 35mm, and recently, 6×6 format, Johnny Martyr is certainly a bit of an outlier in the current state of the industry.
However, he has quickly managed to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with, and that’s in large part due to the staying power of his photos.
Mia Sakai
Product and fashion photographer Mia Sakai has already made a splash in the commercial space despite only launching her career in earnest a few years ago.
Her work is characterized by a diverse use of color (including monochrome, as above) and careful lighting, favoring a soft look rich in detail that draws on a mix of influences from the past century.
Zhamak Fullad
A loyal lo-fi acolyte, Zhamak Fullad takes photos with a strong sense of place that feel equally at home in a gallery as on her Instagram feed.
At the intersection between beauty portraits and street photos, Fullad’s photography is the perfect companion to a long, dreamy road trip with childhood friends, or at least that’s what it feels like to me!
Alba Yruela
Likewise active as a fashion photographer but equally at home in the world of fine art and architecture, Alba Yruela is a daring visual artist with a clear love for thoughtful composition.
The dynamic range of color and black and white really suits her style, lending her images a breezy, almost nostalgic feel.
Leanne Surfleet
Another dedicated autoportraitist, London-based photographer Leanne Surfleet tries to use the medium to muse on the meaning of nostalgia, along with other themes from her personal life.
Besides self-portraits, she also takes photographs of others, of local landscapes, of flowers, and of various other subjects of her own interests.
Take Away
Styles, trends, and interests change and shift with the decades, as today’s feature has definitely shown too well. However, what has remained a constant in the analog tradition is that sheer creativity and the ability to put a new spin on familiar concepts, genres, and visual expressions will never get old.
Today, it co-exists with all sorts of digital media in a landscape that’s more diverse than ever before. The film photographers of today reflect that, too, bending genres and inventing new forms of expression at an amazing rate.
You should check out under_ground_camera on instagram, documents everyday life in rural Downeast Maine.