Sally Mann: The Beauty of Family

Every so often, a photographer will find himself embroiled in scandal because of the sensitivity of his chosen subject. Photographers like W. Eugene Smith and Lewis Hine experience some criticism for their photographs many decades ago, but these days it seems the most innocent subjects can be the most controversial. When portrait photographer Sally Mann began documenting the beauty of her own family, she found herself in the middle of a heated debate on what exactly passes for natural and indecent in the medium. (WARNING: This post contains NUDITY).

Li Wei: Unphotoshopped Photoshops of Flying Men

In this age of awesome Photoshop manipulations, it can be easy to look at unrealistic photo images and chalk them up to simple photo editing. The majority of photographers have no qualms using photo editing software to enhance their photographs, but a few others do it the old way and resort to more back-breaking methods to achieve their vision. Artist and photographer Li Wei has become famous for his seemingly unphotoshopped Photoshops showing men flying and cars floating through the air.

Irving Penn: 20th Century Portrait Master

While W. Eugene Smith was busy capturing the unflinching honesty of people, another photographer was busy photographing the compelling beauty in people. Irving Penn moved seamlessly from portraiture to fashion and back again, producing some of the most striking portraits of his time and proving that he was undoubtedly the 20th century's master of portraiture.

Phillip Toledano: Put Your Game Face On

"Put your game face on" is a popular saying when trying to encourage a person to go the extra mile, but what exactly does the "game face" look like? Artist and photographer Phillip Toledano has discovered and documented how it looks like in his comical series "Gamers".

Diane Arbus: The Weird and the Wonderful

Looking through the images of Helmut Newton in the last post, one might think that most of the world is glitz and glamour, and everything easy on the eyes. Of course, that's far from the truth, and most photographers just take pictures that sell the most. Some other photographers, however, made it their mission to capture the weird and wonderful, insisting on recording the beauty of the person as the whole. Photographer Diane Arbus made a name for herself doing just that.

Helmut Newton: Bare and Naked Fashion

Turn the pages of almost any fashion magazine and it's very likely that you'll find a scantily clad lady or ladies in a number of advertisements. While most of them will be very tame compared to the bare and naked fashion photographs of David LaChapelle and Herb Ritts, these images wouldn't exist without the pioneering work of the fearless Helmut Newton.

Walker Evans: Depression Era Portraits

With the likes of Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks already featured here for their Depression era portraits and images, you would think that everything that needs to be said about that time has already been said. This blog would be remiss, however, if it did not feature the stark images of photojournalist Walker Evans.

Gordon Parks: Issues in Black and White

Most photographers stay true to their field of specialty; rarely do photojournalists successfully delve into studio portraiture without going back to their documentary background, and vice-versa. There are of course a few rare instances where a photographer can go beyond his field and be recognized internationally. Gordon Parks is one who jumped from one field to another, dealing with different issues in black-and-white and in color, all with seemingly little difficulty.

The Glory that was Kodachrome: Old Color Photographs from the Shorpy Archive

In today's digital age, there doesn't seem to be any limitations when it comes to color photography. It's become so easy to alter the color and look of your images with tools like Instagram, but over 50 years ago when commercial color photography was just in its infancy, some of the most beautiful images were made without any kind of special filters. That was the glory of Kodachrome, and now these old color photographs are easily viewable courtesy of Shorpy.com.

Caroline Briggs: Double Identity

Martin Schoeller's Twin Portraits was an interesting look at the world of identical twins. Through his unique photography style, viewers could see the small physical differences that distinguish monozygotic twins from each other. But what about their similarities? And what about the differences that go beyond the physical? Caroline Briggs seems to have found the answer in her series, Double Identity.

Martin Schoeller: Twin Talk

Nope, you're not seeing double; they're actually twins... in which case you actually are seeing double... or are you really? Twin talk has been a mind-boggling topic for discussion to scientists, so it's not surprising to find that portrait photography would be utilized to aid in this endeavor. Portrait photographer Martin Schoeller turns his lens towards the odd couples here as he takes twin portraits for National Geographic.

Julian Wolkenstein: Symmetrical Faces, Asymmetrical Beauty

Is perfection synonymous with beauty? The answer seems so obvious, but when applied to the real world, the question becomes more complex than one would think. Symmetry is oftentimes associated with equality and perfection, but in the photographs of Julian Wolkenstein, symmetrical faces most often equal to asymmetrical beauty.

Vee Speers: Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

From the grim and morbid images of James Nachtwey's war photographs, it's probably a good time to take a break and focus on the beauty and vitality of the world. In this particular case, it seems beauty isn't just in the eye of the beholder, but innate to humans. Or is it? That's what portrait photographer Vee Speers questions in her series "Immortal".

Absolutes Rules of Photography: Unhelpful Tips for Beginner Photographers

Browsing through the entries of this blog, one might think that photography is all work and no play, something that is to be approached with absolute solemnity and only when one is mature enough to differentiate between aperture and ISO. Nothing could be further from the truth as all photographers started their passion for photographers breaking a few rules here and there. If you've just bought a camera, or you're just looking to refresh your memory, these "Useful advices for photographers" by Ivars Gravlejs might be exactly what you're looking for.

Mika Ninagawa: Color is Life

Ever since the advent of color photography, the process of taking still images has never been the same. Suddenly, the real world could be more accurately captured to great effect. While the correct use of color can portray life more faithfully, its more imaginative use lends itself well to more fantastical creations. Portrait and fashion photographer Mika Ninagawa has been applying this very principle to advertise to the rest of the world that color is indeed life.

Martin Munkácsi: A Portrait in Motion

In the early decades of the last century, photography was just breaking into the world of fine portraiture and fashion. Most photographers were content with the drab backdrops of the studio, but a few broke out of the studio's claustrophobic corners and sought out a more animated backdrop. One of these was Martin Munkácsi who made his name as a man who made fashion and portraits in motion.

The World Press Photo 2012 Winners

Last week, the winners of the prestigious World Press Photo awards for 2012 were announced. As with previous years, the international competition revealed the world, both often seen and unseen, in a series of exciting, devastating and thought-provoking images. The following is just a preview of the full gallery of winners of the World Press Photo 2012.

Herman Leonard: The Art of Jazz

A whiff of cigarette smoke, a touch of spotlight, a tenor saxophone taking the lead, it's as if you're in the very presence of the late great Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis or Ella Fitzgerald or Duke Ellington. It's an unlikely scenario now, but for Herman Leonard, photographing the art of Jazz was an everyday song.

The Middle Kingdom: Photographs of Old China

From the glorious cities and fields of the USA, it's time now to travel to the other side of the globe, to a place and time when the present world power that is the People's Republic of China was just breaking out of its centuries old dynastic monarchy and laying the foundations of its present day republic. These old photographs of China are now testament to what once was the Middle Kingdom.

James Mollison: Human Like Us

It's mostly easy to brush aside sentiments about animals because they're just that: animals. Most comments about the previous post on Pieter Hugo's Hyena Men were centered more on the novelty of wild animals as pets and not so much on the treatment of the hyenas and baboons. Will it be the same for this post? Photographer James Mollison doesn't make it easy in his series "James & Other Apes" as his subjects are a little bit more human like us.