• Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991)
• Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984)
  • "A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety."
• Nobuyoshi Araki (Japanese, b. 1940)
• Diane Arbus (American, 1923-1971)
  • "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."
• Eve Arnold (American, 1912-2012)
• Eugene Atget (French, 1857-1927)
• Bruno Barbey (Moroccan-French, b. 1941)
• E.J. Bellocq (American, 1873-1949)
• Wendy Bevan *
• Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980)
• Ilse Bing (German, 1899-1998)
• Erwin Blumenfeld (American, 1897-1969)
• Édouard Boubat (French, 1923–1999)
• "Every moment has to be lived as unforeseeable."
• Guy Bourdin (French, 1928-1991)
• Brassaï (Hungarian-French, 1899–1984)
  • "There are two gifts which every man of images needs to be a true creator: a certain sensitivity to life, to living things, and at the same time, the art which will enable him to capture that life in a certain specific way. I’m not talking about a pure aesthetics: a confused photo just isn’t capable of penetrating the viewer’s memory. I’ve always felt that the formal structure of a photo, its composition, was just as important as the subject itself … You have to eliminate every superfluous element, you have to guide your own gaze with an iron will. You have to take the viewer’s gaze, and lead it to what is interesting."
• Harry Callahan (American, 1912-1999)
• Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815–1879)
• Robert Capa (Hungarian, 1913-1954)
• Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004)
• Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883–1976) *
• Robert Doisneau (French, 1912-1994)
• William Eggleston (American, b. 1939) *
• Hugo Erfurth (German, 1874-1948)
• Elliot Erwitt (French, b. 1928)
• Walker Evans (American, 1903-1976)
  • "Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long."
• Robert Frank (American, b. 1924)
• Leonard Freed (American, 1926-2006)
• Nan Goldin (American, b. 1953)
• Emmet Gowin, (American, b. 1941)
• Horst P. Horst (German, 1906-1999)
• Frank Horvat (Italian, b. 1928)
• Alfred Cheney Johnson (American, 1885-1971) *
• Seydou Keïta (Malian, 1921-2001)
• André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985)
  • "I write with light."
• Irwin Klein (American, 1933-74) *
• Josef Koudelka (Czech-French, b. 1938)
• Les Krims (American, b. 1942)
• Ernst Haas, (American, 1921-1986)
• Jacques-Henri Lartigue (French, 1894–1986)
• Saul Leiter (American, 1923-2013)
  • “I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learnt to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything.”
• Helen Levitt (American, 1913-2009)
• Danny Lyon (American, b. 1942)
• Sally Mann (American, b. 1951)
• Vivian Maier (American, b. 1926-2009)
• Mary Ellen Mark (American, b. 1940) *
• Angus McBean (Welsh, 1904-1990)
• Joel Meyerowitz (American, b.1938)
• Ryan McGinley (American, b. 1977)
• László Moholy-Nagy (Hungarian, 1895-1946)
• Henry Peach Robinson (British, 1830-1901)
• Irving Penn (American, 1919-2009)
• Edouard Plongeon *
• Man Ray (American, 1890–1976)*
  • "It has never been my object to record my dreams, just the determination to realize them."
• Paolo Roversi (Italian, b. 1947)
• Viviane Sassen (Dutch, b. 1972)
• Steve Schapiro (American, b. 1934)
• Cindy Sherman (American, b. 1954)
• August Sander (German, 1876-1964)
• Stephen Shore (American, b. 1947)
• Malick Sidibe (Malian, b. 1936)
• Paul Strand (American, 1890-1976)
• Edward Steichen (American, 1879-1973)
• Josef Sudek (Czechoslovakian, 1896-1976)
• Miroslav Tichý (Czech, 1926–2011) *
• Wolfgang Tillmans (German, b. 1968)
• Shomei Tomatsu (Japanese, 1930-2012)
• Ed van der Elsken (Dutch, 1925-1990)
• Tim Walker (British, b. 1970) *
• Weegee/Arthur Fellig (American, 1899-1968)
• Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953)
• Francesca Woodman (American, 1958-1981)

"The photographer is an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitering, stalking, cruising the urban inferno, the voyeuristic stroller who discovers the city as a landscape of voluptuous extremes." - Susan Sontag, On Photography