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Bernice Abbott, American photographer known for her gritty portraits of New Yorkers, is born on this day in 1898.

Margaret Bourke-White,  American photographer, is born on this day in 1904. Bourke-White got an early start as a commercial photographer and had a gift for solving technical problems that had eluded other photographers. She also understood the language of the medium, as can be seen in her portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, where the symbol of non-violence (the spinning wheel) is placed in front of the man himself, which is a metaphor for how Gandhi saw himself. Among her many “firsts,” Bourke-White took the first photo on the cover of Life magazine, was among the first female photographers in combat in WWII, and was the first western photographer to take photos of Soviet industry.

Irving Penn, American photographer, born on this day in 1917.

Weegee (Arthur Fellig), New York crime photographer, is born this day in 1899.  Weegee was known for stark black and white photos of urban life and death. He began as a freelance press photographer in the 1930s and followed police to the scene of crimes.  Just as Dorothea Lange’s 1930s migrant photos helped create the atmospheric backdrop for Depression-era films like Grapes of Wrath,  Weegee’s crime photos epitomized the dark and gritty urban life highlighted in film noir cinema classics like the Maltese Falcon.

Gruesome protest –  AP reporter Malcolm Browne takes photos of the suicide of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức on this day in 1963.  The monk had doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam, then under US occupation. Then-president John F. Kennedy said at the time that “no news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one.”

Marion Post Wolcott, a photographer with the Farm Security Administration, is born on this day in 1910.  Wolcott, like Dorothea Lange and others in the FSA, documented poverty in the United States during the Great Depression. She was also an advocate for women’s rights. Her advice:  “Women have come a long way, but not far enough. . . Speak with your images from your heart and soul.”

Thomas Wedgewood, the first experimental photographer, is born this day in 1771.  Wedgewood had the idea of creating permanent pictures by capturing images on material coated with a light-sensitive chemicals. Wedgewood’s experiments yielded shadow image photos that were not light-fast, but his conceptual breakthrough and partial success were significant.

Mathew Brady, one of the earliest and most famous photographers in American history, is born on this day in 1822.  Brady started one of the first photo studios in New York City in 1844 and opened a gallery featuring photos of famous Americans, including many of then-living presidents and first ladies. Brady is best known for taking over 10,000 photos of Civil War scenes and people between 1861 and 1865. The Library of Congress describes his work this way: “At the peak of his success as a portrait photographer, Brady turned his attention to the Civil War. Planning to document the war on a grand scale, he organized a corps of photographers to follow the troops in the field. Friends tried to discourage him, citing battlefield dangers and financial risks, but Brady persisted. He later said, “I felt that I had to go. A spirit in my feet said ‘Go,’ and I went.”  Although this led to serious financial problems, Brady had a great and lasting effect on the art of photography. “His war scenes demonstrated that photographs could be more than posed portraits, and his efforts represent the first instance of the comprehensive photo-documentation of a war.” 

Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (actual name Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) is born on this day in 1820 in Paris. Nadar was a famously innovative photographer who, in 1855, opened a  studio on Boulevard des Capucines where the famous and powerful people of France had their portraits taken.  In 1858 he hired a large balloon and became the first person to take aerial photographs. During the siege of Paris, 1870-71, Nadar sent mail across enemy lines in hot air balloons, establishing the first air mail service.   In 1862, artist Honoré Daumier portrayed him in a balloon basket “Elevating photography to the height of the art.”

Edward Weston, American photographer, born this day in 1886.