Sasha Waters Freyer is a filmmaker and serves as the Chair of the Department of Photography and Film at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her documentary, Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable, premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize.

Yvonne Venegas is photographer based in Mexico City focused on expressing ideas through portraiture. She has published three monographs and has been a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Magnum Expression Award and a prestigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores grant. She has had solo exhibitions in cities around the world, including Los Angeles, Toronto, Madrid and Ottawa.

Steven “Sweatpants” Irby is a Brooklyn-based photographer, director, and co-founder of the quarterly photography publication Street Dreams Magazine. A life-long New Yorker inspired by hip-hop, video games, and the energy of the city, Steven captures candid moments poetically.

Danny Clinch is an accomplished photographer and film director who has shot and filmed a wide range of artists, from Johnny Cash to Tupac Shakur, from Bjork to Bruce Springsteen.

James W Mataitis Bailey (also known as Yimmy Yayo) is a multifaceted creative from Sydney, Australia based in Los Angeles. Bailey has worked across various creative industries in numerous roles including design, direction, photography and branding for the likes of Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Nike, LVMH, and The Weeknd.

Matt Day, George Muncey, and Willem Verbeeck are three of our favorite photographers on YouTube. Because they use old and new technology, they find solace and inspiration through photo books.

Kathryn MacLeod is an award-winning visuals producer and creative consultant based in New York City. She collaborates chiefly with Annie Leibovitz, along with a range of other leading and emerging photographers, to portray the most notable cultural figures of our time.

Jack Davison is a self-taught photographer whose work blends cinematic surrealism with gritty shadows, harsh contrast, and mystery. Davison’s work covers a wide spectrum, from a clenched fist, a dog suspended in the air, or raw portraits of Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson.

Wunika Mukan is a Nigeria-based curator who works passionately with interdisciplinary artists, creatives, and organizations to create meaningful productions and sustainable initiatives that build strong communities.

Ricky Powell is a legendary NYC street photographer known for his timeless environmental portraits of icons such as Basquiat and Warhol, The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, and many more.

Katherine Harris Pomerantz is the Director of Photography at TIME magazine.

Adam Goldberg is a photographer, actor, director, producer, and musician. Perhaps best known for his roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in Dazed and Confused, Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind, Zodiac, Friends, and Entourage.

Adenrele Sonariwo is an award-winning curator, art entrepreneur, founder of the Rele Art Gallery and Rele Art Foundation. 

Robert Clark is a photographer based in New York City, working with the world's leading magazines, publishers, and cutting edge advertising campaigns, as well as the author of four monographs.

Micaiah Carter is an editorial and fashion photographer based in Brooklyn, NY who blends fine art, portraiture, and purpose. His images are warm, welcoming, and totally open. 

Sunil Gupta is a photographer, educator, and curator based in London and New Delhi. His work focuses on race, migration, and queer issues.

Larry Fink is a photographer known for his black-and-white images of people at parties and social situations. Fink's best-known work is Social Graces, a series of photographs he produced in the 1970s that depicted and contrasted wealthy Manhattanites at fashionable clubs and social events alongside working-class people.

Hannah Reyes Morales is a Filipina photographer and National Geographic Explorer whose work documents tenderness amidst adversity. Her work explores the universal themes of diaspora, survival, and the bonds that tie us together.

Ronan Mckenzie is a photographer, curator, and publisher of HARD EARS. Her photography focuses on themes that unearth the hidden beauty and cultural imagery that’s needed today.

Léonard Pongo is a documentary photographer and educator. His long-term project, The Uncanny, started in 2011 and is a deep dive into the daily life of Congo, DR. The project has earned him several international awards and worldwide recognition. 

Mustafah Abdulaziz is an American documentary photographer living in Berlin. He started a 15-year-long project called Water in 2011—a photographic documentation of human beings and their interaction with water—and intends on shooting this project until 2026.

Kathy Ryan is the Director of Photography at The New York Times Magazine since 1987. She is known for her impeccable eye and in taking risks by cross-assigning photographers to different assignments outside of their realm.

Joseph Rodríguez is a documentary photographer and educator born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Rodríguez’s eye is drawn towards social documentary and capturing the struggles of everyday life.

Bruce Davidson is an award-winning photographer known for documenting New York City in his book Subway,  and for photographing communities where most outsiders weren’t welcomed.

Eva Barois De Caevel is an independent curator drawn towards moving images, experimental cinema, and the history of production structures.

Jonas Åkerlund is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning director of music videos, who leaves his mark through distinctive storytelling and a visually driven style that pushes the boundaries of the status quo.

Delphine Diallo is a Brooklyn-based French and Senegalese visual artist and photographer who uses photography as a tool for healing and connection.

Jamel Shabazz is an African-American, fashion, fine art, and documentary photographer. Shabazz has gained international recognition through his various books, exhibitions, and editorial magazine works.

Rosie Matheson is a London-based documentary film photographer. Her latest project, Boys, challenges the notion of masculinity through intimate portraits of young men.

Cheryl Dunn is an American documentary filmmaker and photographer, known for her award-winning film, Everybody Street.

Elliott Erwitt is a living legend known for his humorous and iconic black and white photography. He has been a member of Magnum since 1954.

Miranda Barnes is a Caribbean-Anglo American photographer who’s work is focused on the quiet and easily felt expressions of the human spirit.

Joel Meyerowitz is a street photographer, author of 24 books, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Lisa Sutcliffe is the Hertzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Vanessa K. De Luca is the former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and a best-selling author.

Wynne Neilly is a Toronto based, queer identified, visual artist and award winning photographer.

Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review, a photographer, and writer.

Tyler Mitchell is a fashion photographer, filmmaker, and the first African American photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue.

Dr. Makeda Best is the Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography at the Harvard Art Museums.

Stephanie Baptist is a Brooklyn based cultural producer and editor.

Pauline Vermare is a French photography curator based in New York City and the cultural director at Magnum Photos, New York.

Pete Souza is an American photojournalist, the former Chief Official White House Photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Greg Lutze is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of VSCO.

Holly Andres is an American painter turned award-winning photographer.

John Loengard is an American photographer who joined the staff of Life magazine and then became its magazine's picture editor.

Coreen Simpson is an African-American photographer and jewelry designer focused on African-American themes.

Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker.

Christian Witkin is a New York-based photographer and cinematographer.

Yumna Al-Arashi is a photographer, filmmaker, and writer based in London whose work has been shown world wide.

George Lois is a legendary art director, designer, and author. Lois is perhaps best known for the 92 covers he designed for Esquire magazine from 1962 to 1972.

Sam Valenti IV is the founder and leader of of Ghostly International.

Nadine Ijewere is a fashion photographer focused on disrupting gender norms and widening the understanding of different cultures.

Robin de Puy is a portrait photographer based in Amsterdam whose work has been featured and exhibited world wide.

Martin Parr is a legendary British documentary photographer, photojournalist, and photo book collector.

Shaniqwa Jarvis is an editorial and portrait photographer based in New York City.

Nadav Kander is a London-based photographer who received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2015, won the Prix Pictet and a World Press Photo award.

Mirjam Kooiman is an art historian and recently started working as a curator at Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam.

Alec Soth is a Magnum photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota with over a dozen photo books to his name.

Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer whose work was awarded an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 2012.

Andre D. Wagner is an African-American photographer based in Brooklyn, New York and a contributor to the New York Times.

The creators of The Observers shares two photo books each that inspire their photography.