Iconic Documentary Photographers

Since the very beginning of photography, the earliest daguerreotype and calotype 'surveys' of the ruins of the Near East, Egypt, and the American wilderness areas, photographs meant to accurately describe otherwise forbidden, unknown, hidden, or difficult-to-access places or circumstances. The term document applied to photography antedates the mode or genre itself. Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.

But documentary is a category of photographic practice that likely has the bluriest boundaries. It generally relates to longer term projects with a more complex story line, while photojournalism concerns more breaking news stories. The two approaches often overlap.

Even if we can define documentary photography as a style of photographs that presents straightforward records of events, people and places, often recording important historical or political moments, the fact is that the photographs that can arguably sit under the umbrella of documentary range from the conflict photojournalism of Don McCullin to the atmospheric and haunting portraits of Diane Arbus.

Since the late 1970s, the decline of magazine-published photography has led to the vanishing of traditional forums for such work. Many documentary photographers have now focused on the art world and galleries as a way of presenting their work and making a living. Traditional documentary photography has found a place in dedicated photography galleries alongside other artists working in painting, sculpture, and modern media.