Very Sadly, time, budget and distance are often against us nowadays. But we can still get many insights and inspiration from some of the best living photographers by following their posts on Instagram. In the article, we have brought together our most favourite Insta feeds from some of the planet’s greatest photographers. Covering a very wide range of styles and disciplines, each of these accounts is frequently updated, creatively curated, and utterly addictive in a very good way
David Bailey
If you ask most of the average person to name a very famous photographer, they will almost certainly say the name of “David Bailey”. You do not get much more famous than that.David Bailey was born and raised in East London, Bailey started photographing for Vogue in 1960, and his fashion work and celebrity portraiture quickly became very popular for its stark backgrounds and dynamic lighting effects, as well as breaking down old and rigid class barriers. He was, in short, a big influence on both the emerging discipline of photography, and the Sixties counterculture in general.Also still working at the age of 81, Bailey’s Instagram is a medium of classic and new work, alongside behind-the-scenes studio photo shots, and pictures from his everyday life. With so many decades of iconic and classic work under his belt, his feed has a large amount to offer any photographer.
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry is a very very famous photojournalist from Philadelphia who’s probably best known for his National Geographic work, particularly his famous cover photo shot, ‘Afghan Girl’. He is a Magnum member of photography since 1986, he’s won a number of awards, Starting with Magazine Photographer of the Year,won the Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal, and also the two World Press Photo prizes.His Instagram feed is full with incredible examples of his photojournalism from around the world wide. From a study of weapon makers in Pakistan to the shots of a Serbian couple making out on a park bench, every picture tells a story in its own right, while the escort text also fills you in with the salient details.
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle Dubbed the ‘Fellini of photography’, Connecticut-born commercial and fine art photographer David LaChapelle has a very unique style that’s been variously described as ‘hyper-real’, ‘subversive’, ‘surreal’ and ‘kitsch’. He is a pioneering figure and a huge influence on modern photography, he has won multiple renowned awards and his work appears in public collections around the world.Packed with modern ultra-colourful and gloriously OTT images that are sure to grab your attention – even within the noisy world of social media – his Instagram feed is one long visual buffet of art of photography.The Photos are taken from both past and present, plus there’s some very nice videos to add further interest and context.
Bruce Gilden
@bruce_gilden
Famous street photographer Bruce Gilden assured his place in photographic history with his ground-breaking method of shooting the faces of passers-by with a flashgun. A Magnum member since 1998, he’s produced long and detailed photographic projects in Haiti, France , Ireland, India, Russia, Japan and England, as well as in his native town New York.
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman was born in New Jersey, Cindy Sherman is an American photographer who is best known for her socially critical photography. Initially painting in a super-realist style in an art school, she turned to photography towards the end of the 1970s to question the massive influence of mass media on our individual and collective identities. Also, she is often mentioned as a major influence on contemporary portrait photographers.Sherman’s feed is full of her surreal digital manipulations and more straightforward landscape photos(and some videos), shot during the course of her work and travels. All, though, are infused with her very unique and enticing perspective on the world and its inhabitants.
Pete Souza was born in Massachusetts, Pete Souza is a photojournalist and White House photographer who worked for The Chicago Tribune’s Washington, D.C. bureau from 1998 to 2007. He is better known, though, for having been the chief official photographer of White House for two Presidents, Reagan and Obama. In the last couple of years, he has published two books based on his time with the latter.
While Souza’s Twitter account is politics all over, his Instagram feed is so much balanced, with his master photographic subject matter ranging from pop stars to landscapes, proving that he is no one-trick pony.
Alec Soth
Minnesota photographer Alec Soth is well known for his popular documentary projects exploring the midwestern of the USA. Alec Soth is a Magnum member since 2008, his work has been compared to that of Walker Evans and Stephen Shore, and also focuses on topics such as the banality of modern American life and outcasts from normal society of America. Soth makes very effective and also inspired use of his Instagram account to service his fans and followers. See, for instance, the FAQ slideshow subordinate to his logo, which answers common questions on everything from what camera he uses, to how to hire him for commercial photography work. Next to it is another fascinating slideshow, answering other questions he’s been asked, such as ‘What is your favourite F-stop?’.His feed itself, meanwhile, is a fascinating and enlightening combination of photos from his in-depth, long-term commercial projects, along with background shots that provide good context. Each comes with an extensive and well-crafted caption for understanding, too, so you really feel you are getting an insight into the man and his creative process.
Ellen von Unwerth
Ellen von Unwerth was born in Frankfurt, Germany, ex-model Ellen von Unwerth now works as a photographer and director. Specialising in erotic photos of the female form that convey a feminist perspective, her work has been released in magazines including the Vogue, Vanity Fair and Interview, and in many other monographs.Not surprisingly at all, Unwerth’s Instagram feed is a stimulated feed of glamorous fashion shots and eroticised photography, featuring both burlesque stars and mainstream famous celebrities such as Miley Cyrus. Occasionally running disgusting of Instagram’s decency rules, the photos she posts here are very colorful, unrepentantly sexual and always, always fabulous, darling.
Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard is a California-based art photographer who is known for his use of natural light and photojournalistic way of shooting landscape, lifestyle, surf, outdoor and travel subjects. With commercial clients including the Apple, Land Rover, Microsoft, his work has been published in very famous magazines including GQ, National Geographic, New Yorker, Vogue and Wired.An inebriating mix of panoramic landscapes and watersports action shots, Burkard’s feed is one long stream of very expressive and breathtaking photos.
Ami Vitale
Ami Vitale is a highly powerful photojournalist and documentary film-maker. He is based in Montana, the National Geographic photographer, Nikon Ambassador, author, and the five-times World Press Photo winner, he is also a founding member of Ripple Effect photos, a global organisation of female scientists and creatives.
