Want to know more about some of Vogue's most notable photographers? Look no further as we have compiled a list of some of the best photographers, accompanied by some of their most striking images, who have created forever lasting editorial fashion artwork for Vogue magazine and for the world.

 

#1 Cecil Beaton

'Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton CBE' had many talents, he was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, and an Oscar-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre. 1904-1980.

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton

Schiaparelli evening dresses, photograph, by Cecil Beaton, commissioned by French Vogue, 1936, France

Cecil Beaton, The New Soft Look, 1951. Photographed against a Pollock painting at the Betty Parsons show in March, 1951. Courtesy Vogue, © 1951 by The Condé Nast Publications. Copyright © 2019

Twiggy at 8 Pelham Place, by Cecil Beaton, 1967 Vogue © The Condé Nast Publications

 

#2 Lee Miller

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose, was an American photographer and photojournalist. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art photographer. 1907-1977.

Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub after the day with the troops discovering Buchenwald concentration camp, afterwards broke into Hitler's apartment in Munich. By David Scherman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. Image via Vanity Fair. 1945.

Lee Miller on fashion for British Vogue 1942

Women in fire masks, London, 1941, by Lee Miller

 

#3 Irving Penn

"Simple, sophisticated, and potent as a dry martini, Irving Penn's iconic covers for Vogue Magazine showcased the clean lines and tapered waists of Postwar Paris and New York, and transformed the aesthetic of the fashion industry. Penn removed everything from the shot but the clothing and the model. His dramatically lit figures are essentially living, breathing sculptures. Inspired by Surrealism, Modern dance, and film noir, his images register as provocative visual statements, not just commercial photographs." - theartstory.org

1917-2009

Irving Penn ‘The Black and White Idea’, Vogue US, April 1950, cover
‘The Black and White Idea’, British Vogue, June 1950, cover

Lipstick Advertisement, US Vogue 1995, Irving Penn

Irving Penn, The Tarot Reader (Bridget Tichenor and Jean Patchett), New York

 

#4 David Bailey

"Graduating from being an assistant with fashion photographer John French in 1959, Bailey began the 1960s with a contract with Vogue to become the decade's iconic chronicler with two defining portrait publications David Bailey's box of pin-ups (1965) and Goodbye Baby and Amen (1969). They focussed on a new social order that evolved from the decade of change. Bailey was a leading figure in the Swinging Sixties London scene and provided some of the inspiration for the role of the photographer, played by David Hemmings, in Antonioni's cult film Blow Up (1966.) Bailey had his first Museum exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 1971." - National Portrait Gallery

Jean Shrimpton, New York 1962 by David Bailey, Vogue

Jean Shrimpton, New York 1962 by David Bailey

Jean Shrimpton, New York 1962 by David Bailey

 

#5 Corinne Day

Born in 1965, Corinne Day was a self-taught fashion photographer. She introduced a new documentary feel to image making, creating works that were both candid and intimate.

"Photography is getting as close as you can to real life, showing us things we don't normally see. These are people's most intimate moments, and sometimes intimacy is sad." - Corinne Day

16-year-old Kate Moss for The Face, 1990, by Corinne Day

Angela Lindvall by Corinne Day, 2001

A young Kate Moss discovered at 14

 

#6 Patrick Demarchelier

Born in 1943, Demarchelier is now a world-renowned French fashion photographer. Responsible for countless iconic images created for publications such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, he is perhaps best known for his intimate portraits of Princess Diana that helped establish her popularity and accessible public image.

Gigi Hadid by Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue Italia April 2016

Anja Rubik, Patrick Demarchelier Vogue 2008 December

British Vogue, January 2009, 'The Night Shift' Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier Model: Karlie Kloss

 

#7 Nick Knight

"Nick Knight is among the world’s most influential and visionary photographers and founder and director of award-winning fashion website SHOWstudio.com. As a fashion photographer, he has consistently challenged conventional notions of beauty and is fêted for his groundbreaking creative collaborations with leading designers including Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen." - nickknight.com

Visionaire, 1997, Devon Aoki, photography Nick Knight

Duckie Thot by Nick Knight for British Vogue April 2019 

Fantastic Fashion Fantasy, Vogue UK, Nick Knight

 

#8 Herb Ritts

Born 1952, Herbert "Herb" Ritts Jr. was an American fashion photographer and director prolific for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Versace dress back view, el mirage, 1990, Herb Ritts

David Bowie, Hollywood 1989, Herb Ritts

 

Djimon with Octopus, Hollywood 1989, Herb Ritts

 

#9 Mario Testino

Mario Eduardo Testino Silva OBE HonFRPS, born 1954, is a Peruvian contemporary fashion and portrait photographer. His work has featured internationally in magazines such as Vogue, V Magazine, Vanity Fair and GQ.

Kate Moss, Mario Testino

Afrodisiaque Editorial for French Vogue October 2008, Mario Testino

Joan Smalls, Brasil Vogue, Mario Testino

 

#10 Tim Walker

Born in England in 1970, his photographs now entrance the readers of Vogue, month by month, for over a decade. Extravagant staging and romantic motifs characterise his unmistakable style. After concentrating on photographic stills for 15 years, Walker is now also making moving film.

"I like capturing stuff that is disappearing - that’s the point of photography. What I am photographing is an imaginary place that never existed, but is connected to something that has already been." - Tim Walker

Jennifer Lawrence, Tim Walker, W Magazine October 2012

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Nicola Erni Collection, Tim Walker, November 2017

"Mechanical Dolls" by Tim Walker for Vogue Italia October 2011

 

If you enjoyed this content be sure to check out our other Purple Blog post "10 Iconic Editorial Fashion Photos Of The Past 100 Years".

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