All this time, we only know that the world of photography is dominated by male photographers. There are some famous names like James Natchwey in photojournalist photography or Ansel Adam in landscape photography, Chase Jarvis in fashion and commercial photography, Joey Lawrence and many more. But did you know that there are some phenomenal female photographers around that can give those men a run for their money. They have created some great and iconic pieces and these are the most popular and famous female photographers in the world:
1. Dorothea Lange
She was born in May 26 1895 and people consider her as the most influential American photographer. She claimed her fame with the photo of Florence Leona Christie that she took entitled “Great Depression”. At that time, in the most terrible crisis and economic depression before the World War II; she was assigned by the government to make a documentation of the most difficult time in the history of America. And the result was very dramatic and touching. She died on October 11 1965 after suffering of esophageal cancer (cancer that attacks the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach) at age 70.
2. Sally Mann
She is a female American photographer who is known for her black and white candid moments. Her favorite objects were her own children. Sally often took pictures of them posing naked and this often created controversy. For her, those images depict the innocence and natural side of a child. But for some critics, those images tend to picture child pornography. During her career, she accepted several awards. The last one was from Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society in 2012.
3. Jill Greenberg
The piece of work of Jill Greenberg revolved around art to commercial photography. The objects of her photos were commonly animals, toddlers, and celebrities. One of her famous works is the “End Times”. In this album of her photo collection, she shows toddler who cried in variety of expressions. Those images try to show her desperation and disappointment towards the American government under the power of Josh Bush. She made those kids cry by giving them lollipop and then taking it back. This method got some flak and criticism from some people.
4. Cindy Sherman
Unlike the other famous female photographers, Cindy Sherman claimed her popularity not only because of her pieces of work. She often participated in her own work as the object herself. In her career, she often used her own body in her own creation that created quite a controversy. The 58 years old woman often took images for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar in the 90’s and some other exclusive fashion brands such as Comme des Garçons, Marc Jacobs, and Balenciaga.
5. Annie Leibovitz
Who does not know about the photo of naked John Lennon embracing Yoko Ono on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine? That is one of the most phenomenal works of Annie Leibovitz. The 62 years old lady is the last photographer to take the picture of John Lennon. Actually, it was 5 fours after the photo was taken; Lennon got shot and died. Apart from that, she is also the one who photographed Miley Cyrus who posed topless for Vanity Fair magazine. It created quite a controversy since Miley was just 15 at that time and it was considered as an attempt to show pornography in order to sell the magazine.
