The UNP ‘GOATS’ of Photography

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

The UNP ‘GOATS’ of Photography

16/07/2026

I believe in ‘the specialist’ in all things, but the GOATS of photography have proven themselves as consumate masters, of more than one area of photographic practice. They are the photographers that everyone should be aware of. Not neccesarily like, but certainly respect, for the impact their work has had on the photographers that have followed them. Inevitably, the GOATS come from the history of photography. They have paid their dues over decades. You can’t become a GOAT over night. Therefore, my list may be seen, by some, as being full of names that everyone knows, but remember that these photographers are constantly being discovered and rediscovered, by those new to the medium. It is for this reason that I make no apology for including names, that may seem obvious to some of you. This list is compiled in no specific order.

W. Eugene Smith www.life.com/photographer/w-eugene-smith/

Walker Evans www.metmuseum.org/essays/walker-evans-1903-1975

Edward Steichen www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/edward-steichen

Alfred Steiglitz www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/alfred-stieglitz

Bill Brandt www.billbrandt.com

Richard Avedon www.avedonfoundation.org

William Klein www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artists/66-william-klein/

Diane Arbus https://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/diane-arbus

Irving Penn https://irvingpenn.org

David Bailey www.instagram.com/bailey_studio/?hl=en

Henri Cartier Bresson www.henricartierbresson.org/en/hcb/

Paul Strand www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/paul-strand

Annie Leibowitz www.instagram.com/annieleibovitz/?hl=en

Gordon Parks www.gordonparksfoundation.org

Edward Weston www.westongallery.com

William Egggleston https://egglestonartfoundation.org

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.