This article looks at some of the best work by the most famous photojournalists working today.
You might not be aware of the important role photojournalism plays in our lives. Whether you’re a TIME magazine subscriber or read your news online, you’ll see some of the finest examples of photojournalism.
Photojournalists are brave, adventurous, and have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. They are also masters of their cameras, being able to capture stunning images in some of the most heated situations in the world. They cover war zones and conflicts, social issues, and politics, and they do it with skill, bravery, and empathy.
Below, we’re showcasing the work of some of the finest contemporary photojournalists. All these artists are active today, covering all the hot topics from around the globe.
Be warned, much of their work is not easy on the eye. With topics as extreme as war, civil disobedience, and destruction of habitat, you have to brace yourself for extreme, unfiltered imagery.
But that’s the key to great photojournalism: not turning away when the heat is on.
Our list of famous photojournalists is arranged in no particular order, so you can browse their work to see the images that truly inspire you. Click the links to see the photographers’ websites and Instagram pages.
Anastasia Taylor-Lind is an English-Swedish photojournalist with decades of experience. She has spent years photographing issues related to population, women, and war.
Her analog photos are intimate and raw. Despite their candid nature, they’re always emotive and well-lit. She writes powerful stories for The New York Times, TIME, and National Geographic.
One of Anastasia’s most recent projects, At what cost? The brutal math of caring for children in America, is a must-see for fans of photojournalism.
Instagram: @anastasiatl
Deborah Copaken is a Boston-born Harvard graduate who moved to Paris to pursue a career as a photojournalist. As a result of her dedication, skill, and bravery, Copaken quickly made a name for herself in the photography world.
During her time as a war photographer, she documented conflicts in Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union. Copaken’s iconic images were published in TIME, Newsweek, Liberation, and many other top magazines and journals.
But Deborah’s skills are not limited to the camera. She has also worked as a TV and film producer, as well as an award-winning writer of fiction. She has to be one of the most inspiring female photographers of all time.
Instagram: @dcopaken
Gabriele Galimberti is an Italian documentary photographer who works for National Geographic. He focuses on long-term photography projects. Most of his projects and short stories have been made into books.
Gabriele’s images are friendly and straightforward. He often photographs people and their prized possessions. His latest project features children from around the world and their toys.
Instagram: @gabrielegalimbertiphoto
Rena Effendi is an award-winning social documentary photographer. Her documentary photography has appeared in TIME, Vogue, and National Geographic.
In her photography, Rena focuses on stories that are either well-known or underrated. Her images feature notable women and wildlife conservation.
Some of her famous images follow people trying to reconnect with their families. Her entire gallery is hopeful, graceful, and authentic.
Instagram: @renaeffendiphoto
Mel D. Cole is one of the hottest photographers working on the East Coast of the US. He’s covered some of the most important political moments of the last few years, capturing images of the Black Lives Matter protests and the January 6 Capitol attack.
His work has also taken him further afield, having made photo documentaries that look at poverty and pollution in Senegal and Ghana. Cole is not afraid to focus on hard-hitting topics, as his photo essays cover everything, including HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and immigration.
As well as photojournalism and documentary photography, Mel D. Cole is also one of the top music photographers. He’s worked with icons like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and The Roots.
Instagram: @meldcole
Gillian Laub is a New York-based photographer and director. She’s known for her documentary Southern Rites and her life-changing photo projects. In her documentary, she focuses on a Georgian community that has segregated proms.
Gillian also photographs women in the military, her own family, and isolated tribes from the world’s remaining wildernesses.
Instagram: @gigilaub
Matthieu Paley is a National Geographic and TIME photographer based in Portugal. His latest project focuses on one of the hottest cities in the world, Jacobabad.
His gallery includes intimate portraits and majestic landscapes. His unique perspective makes his work both relatable and approachable.
Matthieu also leads National Geographic workshops. On his Instagram, you’ll find photos of families, third world countries, and people in need.
Instagram: @paleyphoto
Motaz Azaiza is probably the youngest photographer on this list. And before October 2023, he was practically unknown in the wider world. But Azaiza has fast become one of the most prominent photojournalists in the world.
Azaiza is Palestinian, more specifically from the Gaza Strip. He was on the ground as the colonialist occupiers began their terrible assault on the encircled people of Gaza. His harrowing images shone a light on the brutal reality of Israel’s attacks.
Bravery is something that always comes up when discussing photojournalists. But Azaiza and his colleagues are even braver than most. As the international rules of war are torn to shreds, photojournalists have become targets.
For many photojournalists, the old fear was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But in Palestine, there is no right time or right place. It’s all wrong.
Free Palestine!
Instragram: @motaz_azaiza
Dina Litovsky is a Ukrainian contemporary photographer living in America.
She uses elements of psychology and social change to take stunning photos of people. Her subjects range from famous celebrities to villagers.
Dina’s background living in a foreign country gives her photos an original style. She’s grown up as an outsider looking in, giving her a unique perspective that give her images a satirical edge.
Instagram: @dina_litovsky
Stuart Palley is a writer, speaker, and photojournalist based in Southern California. He mainly photographs wildfires all over the US. He started by taking photos of droughts and ended up becoming a climate change activist.
Stuart has published a book featuring over one-hundred long exposure photos of wildfires.
This American photographer has also worked for National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, and TIME magazine.
Instagram: @stuartpalley
Nora Lorek is a German photojournalist and documentary photographer. She’s based in Gothenburg, Sweden, but her work documents peoples and issues from Western Europe to Sudan.
A photographer with a focus on human rights, emigration, and other political issues, she doesn’t shy away from the big issues. Her images show the bleak reality of being a refugee. The humanity in her work helps the viewer understand the plight of the homeless and displaced.
Instagram: @noralorek
Krisanne Johnson is an American photojournalist who takes documentary and fashion photos. Her personal projects focus on young women and HID/AIDS in Swaziland.
Most of Krisanne’s images are black & white. This emphasises the emotions and movements in her photographs. Every image is candid, filled with life, and perfectly timed.
This famous photojournalists work has been exhibited all over the world. Her images have appeared in publications like The New Yorker, TIME, and Vanity Fair (Italy).
Instagram: @kirsannejohnson
Marcus Yam is a Pulitzer Prize winner, photojournalist, and Los Angeles Times staff photographer. He left his career as an aerospace engineer to pursue photography and storytelling.
His short feature film, The Home Front, won an Emmy award.
Marcus’s Malaysian roots give him a fearless voice. His images focus on dangerous and heartbreaking events in the US and Hong Kong, among others.
Instagram: @yamphoto
Acacia Johnson is an Alaskan writer, photographer, and expedition guide. She focuses on the relationship between people and nature in her work.
Acacia’s photos are visually stunning, showcasing the incredible landscapes and wildlife of the great northern regions.
In her gallery is a harmonious melting pot of people, landscapes, and animals. TIME, National Geographic, and others have featured her graceful yet breathtaking images.
The Anchorage Museum and the Smithsonian Museum of American History house her photography.
Instagram: @acacia.johnson
William Daniels is a French documentary photographer and National Geographic contributor. His photos focus on social issues in vulnerable communities.
William has photographed the effects of illnesses and disasters all around the world. No matter where or when he shoots, he never compromises the quality of his photos. All of his images are perfectly lit and composed.
He has been featured by TIME, Newsweek, and Le Monde, among others. He has won the World Press Photo awards, Pictures of the Year International awards, and a Visa d’Or.
Instagram: @williamdaniels
Daniella Zalcman is a Vietnamese-American documentary photographer and the founder of Women Photograph. This is an organization that seeks to support independent female photojournalists.
She’s the grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the National Geographic Society.
Daniella focuses on themes like identity, homophobia, and cultural differences in her work. She gives all of her subjects, especially ones in minorities, a powerful voice.
Instagram: @dzalcman
Sebastiao Salgado is has been one of the most influential photojournalist of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He’s worked in every continent on Earth, covering mine workers in Africa and rain forest destruction in central and south America.
Salgado has had one of the loudest, most powerful voices in the movement against climate change and the destruction of our natural world. He was covering climate change long before it became trendy, providing some intense images that have stuck in the public consciousness.
He was a a member of Magnum, before starting his own photography agency. Salgado has been featured in all the top magazines and journals, but his work goes beyond photography. He’s been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2001.
Instagram: @sebastiaosalgadooficial
Ben Lowy is an American photographer who made his name covering conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lybia. He produced some of the most striking and harrowing images from the US involvement in Iraq, but the life under fire took it’s toll on him.
Lowy refers to himself as a “recovering conflict photographer” and now focuses on less violent subject matter. He covers US politics but mainly dedicates himself to ocean wildlife.
His wildlife photography is breathtaking, and his portrait work is also impressive. But his best work remains the images of war. He’s a photojournalist who has genuinely earned his stripes.
Instagram: @benlowy
A native of Venezuela, Andrea Hernandez grew up in a tumultuous environment. This tumult has become the main focus of her photography, but her work is far from chaotic. Her intimate understanding of the country, the people, and the politics gives her work warmth, empathy, and meaning.
Hernandez is the co-founder of Ayun Fotografas, an all-woman collective uniting artists from across Latin America. Her work with Ojo Pelao, a charitable foundation, also brings photography to those who would not otherwise have access.
Instagram: @andrernandez
Saiyna Bashir is a Pakistani photographer based in her native country. She’s covered assignments for international publication like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and National Geographic. Her work is also used by NGOs such as Unicef, WHO, and UNHCR.
Vibrant and energetic yet sorrowful and empathetic, her work is an intimate document of a country she clearly cares deeply for. But she isn’t limited to Pakistan. She has also covered US politics and riots in America.
Instagram: @saiynabashirphoto
Emanuele Satolli is one of the biggest names in contemporary war reportage. Covering conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, he’s never been afraid to get to the heart of the action.
Although his work has graced the pages of TIME magazine on several occasions, the images are not for the faint-hearted. Raw, real, and often harrowing, Satolli shows the reality of modern warfare, especially amongst civilians and non-conscripted combatants.
Instagram: @Emanuelesatolli
Radcliffe “Ruddy” Roy is a Jamaican photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. He’s a photojournalist and documentary photographer who combines candid images and environmental portraits to show the people, atmosphere, and culture of grass-roots movements.
Civil rights and grass-roots politics are threads that run through his photography, as he captures the lives of black Americans on the front line. He hasn’t forgotten his own roots, and much of his work explores culture in his native Jamaica.
Instagram: @ruddyroye
It’s hard to say if Nina Riggio is an adventurer first and photographer second or the other way around. Either way, both feed into each other, and her adventurous spirit is clear in her work.
The relationship between humans and nature is at the heart of her photojournalism. And her focus is usually on the areas of conflict within that relationship. The narratives explore sustainability, wildlife destruction, and corporate overstep.
Her work has been published in publications as wide-reaching as National Geographic, TIME, and Wired magazine.
Instagram: @ninareeg
These famous photojournalists have given us some of the most breathtaking, harrowing, and inspiring images of the last decade or more. From war zones to remote wildernesses, they venture far and wide to capture the true essence of a story.
We hope the work of these incredible photojournalists inspires you. Now it’s time to grab your camera, head out the door, and find the interesting stories near you.
