Picture Perfect Names for the Photography Enthusiast

Smile! It’s camera day.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but for me, the photographs taken by these artists left me speechless.

Let’s dive deep into the history of photography and the photographers who captured the moments that changed the world.

Alfred - Alfred Eisenstaedt was a German-born American photojournalist who captured an American sailor kissing a young woman who was a complete stranger, on August 14, 1945 in Times Square. The celebration was the declare of Victory over Japan in which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, bringing the war to an end. The photograph is known as “V-J Day” in Times Square was captured with a Lecia IIIa camera. The people in the photograph were later identified to be George Mendonsa (1923-2019) and Greta Zimmer Friedman (1924-2016)

Anders - “Earthrise” - our first full color view of our planet from off into space was captured by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, exactly 75 hours, 48 minutes and 41 seconds after the Apollo 8 spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral en route to becoming the first crewed voyage to orbit the moon.

Ansel - Ansel Easton Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black and white images of the American West. Ansel also cofounded Group f/64 - a group of seven 20th century San Francisco Bay Area photographers who shared a common style characterized by sharp focused and full tonal range of western landscapes. In 2017, Ansel was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri.

Boston - Bernie Boston photographed “Flower Power” on October 21, 1967 during the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam’s “March on the Pentagon”. The photograph depicts protester George Harris placing a single white carnation into the barrel of a M14 rifle held by a soldier. The photograph was first published in the Washington Star newspaper and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize later that year.

Carter - Kevin Carter was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang Bang club, who photographed a young malnourished Sudanese child being eyed by a vulture in March of 1993. While Carter won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography the backlash and memories of the photograph haunted him, leading him to take his life that same year at the age of 33. The child in the photograph passed away in 2007 due to a fever.

Dorothea - Dorothea Lange was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist. She is best known for her work during the Depression-era. Her photographs documented and humanized the consequences of the Great Depression. Her most famous photograph taken in 1936, “Migrant Mother”, is of Frances Owens Thompson, a California mother of seven.

Drew - Richard Drew captured one of the clearest and most moving photographs from the September 11 attacks. The photo was taken at 9:41:15 a.m. of a man falling straight down, head first from the World Trade Center. While the identity of the “Falling Man” has never been confirmed, many speculate it was 43 year old Jonathan Briley, a sound engineer who worked at Windows on the World.

Edwin - Edwin Land was an American Inventor and Scientist best known as the cofounder of the Polaroid Corporation; inventing the Polaroid camera in 1948.

Franklin - Thomas E Franklin is an American photographer who is best known for his photograph “Rising the Flag at Ground Zero”, which depicts firefighters raising the American Flag at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2002 the USPS introduced “Heroes” stamps featuring the photo. Proceed from the stamps raised over 10 million dollars to help families and rescue workers from the attacks. An autographed original print signed by Franklin and the three firemen in the photo sold at an auction for $89,625 with the proceeds benefiting 9/11 charities.

Hiram - Yale archeologist Hiram Bingham photographed the first image of Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement of Peru on July 24, 1911. Hiram took 244 photographs during his time at Machu Picchu which were all published as a single article issue for National Geographic in 1913.

John - John Tlumacki has been a staff photographer for the Boston Globe for over 30 years. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in photography for his coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall. On April 15, 2013, John photographed the Boston Marathon Bombing taking one of the most iconic images moments after the explosion. The photograph features runner Bill Iffrig lying on the ground as police officers surround him, reacting to a second explosion. John has also covered three Winter Olympics, Superbowls and World Series.

Joseph - Joseph Nicephore Niepce was a French Inventor who is credited as the inventor of the first permanent photographic image and pioneered the field of photography.

List of names inspired by photographers made by anamingstory found @anamingstory on Instagram

Lennart - Lennart Nilsson was a Swedish Macro Photographer and Scientist noted for his photographs of human embryos. Lennart’s 1965 photo “Drama of Life Before Birth” revealed for the first time what a developing fetus looks like. The fetus was estimated to be at 18 weeks gestation. Many of Lennart’s images have been used without his permission for anti-abortion campaigns.

Louis - French artist, Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre is widely recognized for his inventions of the daguerreotype process of photography, the first practical process of photography. Louis took the first snapshot of a person in 1838.

Maxwell - James Clark Maxwell was a Scottish Scientist in the field of Mathematical Physics. Maxwell produced the first in color photograph in 1861 of a tartan ribbon. Maxwell is also credited as the founder of the theory of additive color.

Philippe - Engineer and Entrepreneur Philippe Kahn is credited for taking the first photograph with a camera phone. The photograph was taken on June 11, 1997 of his newborn daughter Sophie at Sutter Maternity Center in Santa Cruz, California. Philippe created cell phone photography as we know it today, changing many forms of communication via social media.

Porter - On the morning of April 19, 1995, Charles Porter IV, a banker and amateur photographer captured the still image of one year old Baylee Almon being carried out by firefighter Chris Fields. Almon passed away in the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Rich - Veteran photojournalist Richard “Rich” Lam took the iconic image of a couple kissing in the mist of a 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot. The couple photographs is Scott Jones from Perth and Canadian native Alexandra Thomas. The couple currently lives in Australia.

Robert -Photography student Robert Wiles gained iconic success after photographing “The Most Beautiful Suicide”. Wiles took the photo of Evelyn Frances McHale, an American bookkeeper who took her own life by jumping from the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. The photo shows Evelyn’s body laying peacefully on the ground four minutes after her passing May 1, 1947. She was only 23 at the time. Another well known photographer is Robert Cappa. Robert photographed the U.S. forces’ assaults on D-Day June 6, 1944 on Omaha Beach. Robert stated he took 106 photos but all except 11 were destroyed in a processing accident in London. The eleven photos are known as “The Magnificent Eleven”.

Russell - Russell Kirsch was an American engineer who is recognized as the developer of the first digital image scanner in 1957. One of the first photographs scanned was of Russell’s three month old son Walden.

Stanley - American Photojournalist Stanley Forman photographed the “Fire Escape Collapse” in 1975. The fire broke out on Marlborough Street where he witnessed a woman and child on the fifth floor of the fire escape. The fire escape suddenly gave away causing 19 year old Diana Bryant and her God-daughter 2 year old Tiare Jones to fall. Diana passed away, however Tiare survived thanks to Diana’s heroic efforts cushioning the fall.

Therese - Therese Frare photographed 32 year old David Kirby on his deathbed surrounded by family moments before his passing from AIDS in 1990. The photograph humanized the affects of the illness and became a symbol of compassion.

Wallace - James Wallace Black was an American Photographer who captured the first aerial image in collaboration with hot air balloon navigator Samuel Archer King. Wallace Photographed the city of Boston from 1,200 feet.

Wilhelm - A different point of view on photography, X-rays. Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen became the first person to discover x-rays making a great revolution in the field of physics and diagnostic medicine. Wilhelm was the first recipient of a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

Wilson - Wilson Bentley also known as “Snowflake Bentley” was an American meteorologist and Photographer who was the first person to capture detailed photographs of snowflakes on January 15, 1885.