Photographer Profiles

Mandy Lea is an American freelance photographer with a love of the great outdoors. She’s also a nomad of sorts, living and traveling in a stylish teardrop trailer as she searches for the majestic sights our country has to offer.

How does an out of work, amateur photographer manage to acquire a following of 18 million people and publish two best-selling books? “Through a lot of hard work and a refusal to fail,” Brandon Stanton says. Known internationally for his groundbreaking books, Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories, Stanton took the simple concept of taking photos of everyday people on the streets of New York City and is now using his popularity to bring attention to the daily struggles of people throughout the world.

Yesterday’s story on the winners of the 2017 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest was so popular that we decided to feature these incredible images of a diver getting up close and personal with great white sharks near Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

Astrophotographer and professional astronomer Sergio Montufar makes some gorgeous images of starlit skies. And we thought the romantic image you see above, of Montufar proposing to his girlfriend beneath the Milky Way, would be a fitting shoutout to all our fans on Valentines Day.

Proximity was a factor: corporate and advertising photographer Robert Rathe lives about 10 miles from the long-closed Lorton Correctional Complex in Fairfax County, Virginia. So was a fascination with the concept of what constitutes a prison—physical structure or state of mind? And so was the attraction of documenting and preserving a bit of local history.

Last week we shared an interesting clip from CNN Style, in which famous photographers and collectors discussed “The Power of Photography.” In the new six-minute segment below, acclaimed celebrity photographer Martin Schoeller reveals his unique approach to portraiture.