The UNP 20 Top Photographers Who Keep/Kept It Personal

Opinions, Photo Education, Photo Talk, The UNP Top 20

The UNP 20 Top Photographers Who Keep/Kept It Personal

05/07/2026

Most photographers photograph their friends, friends of friends and family, but to turn those images into an extended and meaningful body of work takes a considered sense of dedication and intention. This list contains photographers who evidence both of these qualities.They document the people in their lives. Maybe for life, maybe for just a few minutes. Either way, the images they create are proof, that you don’t have to travel too far, to find meaningful stories. As always this list, is in no particular order.

Sian Davy www.siandavey.com

Jim Mortram https://smalltowninertia.co.uk

Deanna Dikeman https://deannadikeman.com

Joseph Szabo https://josephszabophotos.com

Nan Goldin www.moma.org/artists/7532-nan-goldin

Larry Clark www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/larry-clark

Billy Monk www.billymonk.com

Richard Billingham www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/richard-billingham-2749

Larry Sultan www.larrysultan.com

John Deakin http://thejohndeakinarchive.co.uk

Sally Mann www.sallymann.com

Billy Name www.instagram.com/billynameofficial/?hl=en

Tish Murtha https://tishmurtha.co.uk

Ralph Eugene Meatyard www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/ralph-eugene-meatyard

Tom Hunter www.tomhunter.org

Bruce Silverstein https://brucesilverstein.com

Harry Callahan www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/harry-callahan

Peter Hujar https://peterhujararchive.com

Cig Harvey www.cigharvey.com

Josef Sudek www.upm.cz/photographer-josef-sudek/

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020) and Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, (Orphans Publishing 2024). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.