Famous British Photographers

Painter, photographer, printmaker, and stage designer David Hockney is best known for his works such as Portrait of an Artist, which became the most expensive piece of art by a living artist ever auctioned, at $90 million. His works have explored themes such as homosexuality. He has synesthesia, too.

David Bailey is an English portrait and fashion photographer. He is credited with co-creating the Swinging London movement along with Brian Duffy and Terence Donovan during the 1960s. Bailey is also known for his work with the famous Vogue magazine. The character played by David Hemmings in the 1966 mystery thriller film Blowup was inspired by David Bailey.

Cecil Beaton was a British war, portrait, and fashion photographer. A multi-talented personality, Beaton is also known for his work as a painter, diarist, interior designer, and costume designer. Cecil Beaton worked with popular publications like Vogue before becoming a leading war photographer. His work as a costume designer for the theatre and films earned him Oscars and Tony Awards.  

English sculptor, artist, and photographer Andy Goldsworthy has revolutionized outdoor art by creating masterpieces with naturally available material such as rain, snow, and rocks. A farm laborer in his younger days, he developed an early love for nature and the elements. Rain Shadows remains one of his best-loved works.

Mary McCartney is a British photographer best known as the daughter of Linda and Paul McCartney. McCartney is credited with capturing portraits of popular personalities like Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes, and Sam Taylor-Wood. Apart from being a photographer, Mary McCartney is also an animal rights activist. She is a Global Ambassador for initiatives like Green Monday and Meat Free Monday.

Minnie Weisz is an English visual artist and photographer. Weisz specializes in a technique called camera obscura which she uses to turn rooms into cameras. Minnie Weisz is also known as the younger sister of Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz.

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer best remembered for his contribution to photographic studies of motion. Muybridge achieved international prominence when he exhibited photographs of Yosemite Valley in 1868. He is said to have inspired several artists and inventors like Sol LeWitt, Thomas Eakins, William Dickson, and Francis Bacon.

Count Nikolai von Bismarck is a British-German photographer who became the youngest person to shoot for Condé Nast, a global mass media company. He is also credited with photographing prominent personalities like Princess Beatrice of York. In addition to capturing the portraits of others, Von Bismarck has also posed for publications like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, The Telegraph, and GQ.

Chris Jagger is an English musician best known as the younger brother of Sir Michael Philip Jagger aka Mick Jagger. Apart from being a musician, Chris Jagger has also worked as a journalist; he has contributed articles for prominent publications like The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and The Daily Telegraph. Jagger is also credited with organizing charity concerts.

Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer best remembered for her close-up portraits of popular Victorian men. Widely regarded as one of the 19th century's most important portraitists, Cameron is credited with capturing the beauty and innocence of children, women, and men. Julia Margaret Cameron is also credited with popularizing the close-ups in photography.

Amanda de Cadenet is an English author, photographer, and media personality. As a photographer, De Cadenet has worked for popular magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, Jane, and Spin. Amanda de Cadenet has also appeared in a couple of films like Grace of My Heart and The Rachel Papers.

From working as a photographer to becoming one of the members of the British royal family, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon had an amazing journey. Despite being known for his marriage with Princess Margaret, he was also known for his philanthropy and charity work. He also co-designed the Snowdon Aviary, which is now part of the famous London Zoo.

Nigel Barker is an English fashion photographer, TV personality, filmmaker, spokesperson, author, and former model. Barker is best known for his work as a photographer in the popular reality TV series America's Next Top Model where he has also appeared as a judge. He has also judged beauty pageants like Miss America and Miss Universe. 

Don McCullin is an English photojournalist best known for his work as a war photographer. He achieved national recognition when he exhibited his hard-hitting photos of the Northern Ireland conflict and the Vietnam War. His photographs have also showcased the downtrodden, impoverished, and unemployed. McCullin's career has inspired a couple of documentary films, namely Just One More War and McCullin.   

Dave Lee Travis is a British radio presenter, TV presenter, and disc jockey. Apart from presenting popular radio shows like A Jolly Good Show, Travis is also renowned for presenting TV shows like The Golden Oldie Picture Show. A controversial personality, Travis was convicted of indecent assault in 2014. Travis has been inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame.

Martin Parr is a British photojournalist, photographer, and photobook collector. He has also worked as a professor of photography at prestigious institutions like the University of Wales, Newport and Ulster University. Over the course of his career, Martin Parr has won several awards, such as the Dr. Erich Salomon Award and Lucie Award.

Terry O'Neill was a British photographer best remembered for capturing the fashions and celebrities of the '60s. O'Neill was renowned for documenting his subjects in unconventional settings or candidly. His work has been showcased in several exhibitions and art galleries, including the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2011, Terry O'Neill was honored with the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal.

Mark Fiennes was an English illustrator and photographer best remembered for his architectural studies. Among his works were some of Britain's most celebrated estates as well as the world's most popular museums. Mark Fiennes is also known as the father of actors Joseph and Ralph Fiennes.

Nick Knight is an English fashion photographer best known for his work as the official photographer of Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday celebrations in 2016. Knight is credited with founding SHOWstudio.com where he also serves as the director. In 2015, he was honored at the British Fashion Awards with the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator.

Mario Testino is a Peruvian portrait and fashion photographer best known for his work with famous brands like Gucci, Versace, Michael Kors, Burberry, and Chanel. His work has also been featured in international magazines like GQ, Vanity Fair, V Magazine, and Vogue. Also a well-known philanthropist, Mario Testino has worked with several charitable organizations like the Naked Heart Foundation. 

Henry Fox Talbot was an English photography pioneer, inventor, and scientist. He is best remembered for inventing the calotype and salted paper processes that served as predecessors to photographic processes of the 20th century. He is also credited with inventing the photoglyphic engraving process. Henry Fox Talbot also played a major role in the progression of photography as an art.

Scarlet Page is a British photographer best known as the daughter of popular musician and multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Page. Over the years, Scarlet Page has worked for popular publications like Raw Magazine. She has also been involved in projects with celebrities and bands like Robbie Williams, The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes, and Linkin Park. 

Tim Hetherington was a British photojournalist who produced films and books among other work that ranged from fly-poster exhibitions to multi-screen installations. Hetherington is remembered for co-directing the 2010 documentary film Restrepo, which received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Hetherington was killed at the age of 40 while covering the Libyan civil war in 2011. 

Bob Klose is an English photographer, musician, and printmaker. From 1964 to 1965, Klose served as the lead guitarist of a rock band that came to be known as Pink Floyd. Before starting his musical career, Klose worked as a photographer.

William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington is a British nobleman, photographer, and aristocrat. Lord Burlington, who developed an interest in photography at an early age, is credited with establishing Lismore Castle Arts, a contemporary art gallery within a wing of Lismore Castle.

Rankin is a British photographer best known for his photography of celebrities and models like Heidi Klum, Elizabeth II, and Madonna. Prominent magazines like Marie Claire, Vogue, and GQ have featured his photos. Rankin is also credited with co-founding or founding magazines like Dazed & Confused, Rank, and Another Magazine.

Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield was an English photographer who achieved popularity after capturing beautiful pictures of the wedding of the Princess and Prince of Wales in 1981. A pioneer of digital photography, Lichfield was also chosen by the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II to take pictures of the golden jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.

Suze Randall is an English photographer, model, and pornographer. Randall worked as a staff photographer for Hustler and Playboy, becoming the first woman staff photographer for both the publications. In 1980, she directed a pornographic film titled Kiss and Tell, becoming one of the earliest woman porn film directors. Suze Randall has also modeled for magazines like Hustler and Playboy.

Pamella Bordes is an Indian former beauty queen and photographer. Before starting her career in photography, Bordes was a beauty pageant contestant. In 1982, she won the Miss India title and went on to represent India at the 1982 Miss Universe pageant. She then took to photography after studying in New York's International Center of Photography.

Bill Brandt was a German-born British photojournalist and photographer best remembered for his work with popular magazines like Picture Post and Lilliput. Widely regarded as one of the 20th century's most important British photographers, Brandt is credited with capturing all levels of British society, which was uncommon at that time.

Alison Lapper is a British artist who uses art forms like painting, digital imaging, and photography to question physical beauty and normality. Born with a condition called phocomelia, Lapper often uses herself as a subject. Lapper achieved national recognition when she posed for Marc Quinn's sculpture. Titled Alison Lapper Pregnant, the sculpture occupied the fourth plinth between 2005 and 2007.

Michael Kenna is a British photographer renowned for his black and white landscapes. Many of his photographs, which depict man-made structures against a natural landscape, are exhibited in popular museums and art galleries like the National Gallery of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. He has also received many awards, including the Imogen Cunningham Award.

George Rodger was a British photojournalist best remembered for capturing the events at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp towards the end of World War II. His photographs of the concentration camp were highly influential in showcasing the reality of such Nazi-led concentration camps. He is also remembered for his work in Africa and much of his photojournalism was published in National Geographic. 

John Tams is an English actor, musician, composer, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for portraying the role of Daniel Hagman in the television drama series Sharpe. As a musician, John Tams worked with Ashley Hutchings before forming a folk-rock group called Home Service in late 1980.

Nick Brandt is a British photographer whose work focuses on memorializing various aspects of the natural world that are on the verge of destruction. Among his works is On This Earth which memorializes the disappearing grandeur of East Africa. Also a conservationist, Nick Brandt founded a non-profit organization called Big Life Foundation which aims at conserving Africa's wildlife and ecosystems.

John Willie was a British fetish photographer and artist. He is credited with editing and publishing the first 20 copies of a fetish magazine named Bizarre. The magazine had a major impact on several future fetish-themed publications. In 2009, John Willie was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.

Terence Donovan was an English film director and photographer best remembered for his fashion photography captured during the 1960s. Donovan worked for popular fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. He also directed 3000 TV commercials, apart from making several music videos and documentaries. Terence Donovan committed suicide at the age of 60 after suffering from depression.

William Friese-Greene was a British photographer and inventor. A pioneer of motion pictures, Friese-Greene is remembered for devising a series of cameras with which he shot moving pictures in London. Despite earning substantial amount of money throughout his career, Friese-Greene died in poverty as he spent his earnings on his inventions. His life inspired a biopic titled The Magic Box.

Felice Beato was an Italian-British photographer whose work focused on capturing events, people, and countries that were unfamiliar to most people in North America and Europe. Beato is credited with capturing important events like the Second Opium War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. One of the earliest war photographers, Felice Beato influenced other photographers in places like Japan.

William Kennedy Dickson was a Scottish inventor best remembered for his association with Thomas Alva Edison. Dickson invented a motion picture camera when he was working under Thomas Edison. William Kennedy Dickson is also credited with directing The Dickson Experimental Sound Film which was the first film to use the Kinetophone.

Bert Hardy was an English press and documentary photographer best remembered for his contribution to the popular Picture Post magazine from 1941 to 1957. A self-taught photographer, Hardy also served as a war photographer from 1942 to 1946; he was part of the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU), a branch of the British armed forces. 

Tim Walker is an English fashion photographer best known for his association with popular magazines like Vogue, Love, and W. Walker has also directed several short films like The Lost Explorer and The Mechanical Man of the Moon. Over the years, he has been honored with prestigious awards like Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator and Infinity Award.

Deborah Anderson is an English photographer, musician, and film director. She is best known for directing a critically acclaimed documentary film titled Aroused, which features interviews of 16 famous adult film actresses. As a photographer, Deborah Anderson's work has been featured in popular magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

Robin Derrick is a British photographer best known for his work with the fashion industry. From 1994 to 2011, Derrick worked for Vogue UK where he became the creative director. Robin Derrick has been honored with the PPA Magazine Designer of the Year Award on two occasions.

Roger Fenton was a British photographer best remembered for his contributions as one of the earliest war photographers. One of the most prominent photographers of his generation, Fenton played an important role in founding the Photographic Society which was later renamed the Royal Photographic Society. Fenton is also credited with capturing the final few stages of the famous Crimean War.

Richard Billingham is an English artist, photographer, art teacher, and filmmaker. He is best known for Ray's A Laugh, a photography book that documents the lives of his parents. In 1997, he won the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. In 2007, his work was featured in The Genius of Photography, a BBC television series.

Alvin Langdon Coburn was an American photographer who played a major role in the progression of American pictorialism. Coburn is often credited with producing some of the earliest completely abstract photographs. 

Oscar Gustave Rejlander was a British photographer best remembered for pioneering Victorian art photography. He is also remembered for his contribution to Charles Darwin's third-major work of evolutionary theory, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Many of Rejlander's photographs are preserved in institutions like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Wolfgang Suschitzky was an Austrian-born British photographer and cinematographer best known for his association with documentary film-maker Paul Rotha. His photographs have been showcased at prestigious institutions like the National Gallery and The Photographer's Gallery. Wolfgang Suschitzky's work has been honored with the creation of the Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize which is awarded biennially.

Frederick Rolfe was an English photographer, writer, and artist. A prolific writer, Rolfe wrote several novels and letters. He also took an interest in painting and photography throughout his life. Although many of his novels are held in high regard today, they did not help him earn a substantial amount of money during his lifetime.