The UNP Top 20 Photographers of Nudes

10/07/2026

Photographing nudes was once a mainstay of photography. Just as it was of painting and sculpture. Primarily men were dressed and holding the camera and women were undressed and posed. Times and attitudes have changed and this is an issue, when it comes to reflecting upon nude photography created throughout the history of the medium. However, many photographers today are working to reclaim the documentation of the naked male and female body. This is invariably from a political standpoint, rather than a purly aesthetic one, which is to be encouraged. This list brings together both the historical and the contemporary, with the intention of raising awareness of work that may have been forgotten, dismissed or maybe undiscovered or unknown. I make no judgement of the work, I will leave you to do that, so please do not shoot the messenger, if you don’t like the work or the photographer! As always this personal list is in no particular order.

Robert Mapplethorpe www.mapplethorpe.org

Bill Brandt www.billbrandt.com

Jean Loup Sieff https://jeanloupsieff.com

Frantisek Drtikol www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/48-frantisek-drtikol/

Edward Weston www.edward-weston.com

Imogen Cunnigham www.imogencunningham.com

Peter Hujar https://peterhujararchive.com

George Hoyningen-Heune www.georgehoyningenhuene.org

Nobuyoshi Araki www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/32-nobuyoshi-araki/

Eikoh Hosoe www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/89-eikoh-hosoe/

Erwin Olaf www.erwinolaf.com

Herb Ritts www.herbritts.com

Elinor Carucci www.elinorcarucci.com

Pixy Liao www.pixyliao.com

Mona Kuhn www.monakuhn.com

Denise Ariana Perez https://denissearianaperez.com

Harley Weir www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/239-harley-weir/

Maria Clara Macrì www.meryornotphotography.com

Olivier Valsecchi https://www.instagram.com/oliviervalsecchi/?hl=en

Steph Wilson www.steph-wilson.com

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.