Photographers

Obscured by tarnish and miscellaneous defacements, the plates offered no trace of the images they had once held

Particle Accelerator Reveals Hidden Faces in Damaged 19th-Century Daguerreotype Portraits

Using an experimental X-ray fluorescence process, researchers mapped contours of the plates and produced digital copies of images previously lost to time

Whoooo, me? This surprised owl took first place in the Audubon Photography Awards.

Peep the Stunning Winners of the Audubon Society's Photo Contest

You'll want to tweet these.

The dethroning of Cecil John Rhodes, after the throwing of human faeces on the statue and the agreement of the University to the demands of students for its removal. The University of Cape Town, 9 April 2015

David Goldblatt, the South African Photographer Who Documented Life Under Apartheid, Has Died at 87

He did not rush to the frontlines of violent events, but instead photographed everyday scenes of racial discrimination

Standing Rock #2: Oil-pipeline protester Mychal Thompson in North Dakota, in November 2016. Her quote, in Navajo, reads, “To be of the people means you must have reverence and love for all of the resources and all of the beauties of this world.”

Pushed to the Margins, These Brave People Are Pushing Back

From the American West to the Middle East, the powerless face stark choices when confronted by the powerful

Among the colorful characters immortalized in the colorless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman.

How Daguerreotype Photography Reflected a Changing America

The National Portrait Gallery brings the eerie power of a historic medium into focus

Researchers examined 400 photographs and 100 paintings dating between 1500 and 2015

Why Artists Have so Much Trouble Painting Lightning

A new study compares painted versus photographed depictions of lightning bolts' offshooting branches

Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen, Cleveland, Ohio by David Gahr, 1977

Ten Rarely Seen Springsteen Photographs That Capture the Exhilarating Power of The Boss

A new book reveals the work of David Gahr, who documented the music legend as he rose to worldwide fame

Cimarron, Kansas

Daydream About Summer With These Color-Drenched Photos of the Great American Fair

Photographer Pamela Littky set off across the United States to discover why these timeless summer festivals have such staying power

The Story Behind Big Sur's Glowing Waves

Photographer George Krieger captured the unusual scene in vivid detail

The Touching Story Behind This Award-Winning Wildlife Image

Taken by Jo-Anne McArthur, the photo shows a rescued baby gorilla hugging her caretaker

A spirit medium pauses to light a cigarette.

Photos Celebrate the Lives of Gender Non-Conforming Spirit Mediums in Southeast Asia

The pioneering photographer's latest book documents the welcoming community of transgender individuals who serve as spirit mediums in Burma and Thailand

Photographer Don Hogan Charles on the streets of late 1960s New York.

Don Hogan Charles, Who Captured the Civil Rights Movement, Has Died at 79

In 1964, Charles became the first black photographer hired by the <i>New York Times</i>

Elyse Butler got up close and personal to capture this fiery scene of lava flowing dramatically into the Pacific Ocean from Kilauea volcano.

Smithsonian Magazine's Most Powerful Photos of the Year

Our photography editors select their favorites from a year full of stunning photojournalism

Bentley found "each snowflake is as different from its fellows as human beings are from each other."

The Man Who Revealed the Hidden Structure of Falling Snowflakes

Beginning in the 1880s, amateur photographer Wilson A. Bentley considered the endlessly varied crystals "miracles of beauty"

Icy sugar cubes - Overall winner and winner: Earth Science and Climatology

Royal Society Photo Contest Winners Capture Drama and Wonder of the Natural World

From Antarctic ice to eclipses and killer whales, the images unveil nature's strange and sometimes surreal beauty

African Lionesses by Lakshitha Karunarathna, 2017 Grand Prize

These Breathtaking Images Are the Cat’s Meow in Nature Photography

Sixty incredible outdoor scenes are now on view at the National Museum of Natural History

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How to Eat Like a Local in Vienna, Austria

Instagrammer Sothany Kim dishes on nicotine breakfasts, third-wave coffee houses and enemy bakers in Austria’s capital

Despite the best efforts of many investigators, no one was able to solve the riddle of exactly how Mumler created his apparitions.

Meet Mr. Mumler, the Man Who “Captured” Lincoln’s Ghost on Camera

When America’s first aerial cameraman met an infamous spirit photographer, the chemistry was explosive

“I felt strongly that it was cotton that killed Emmett Till,” says photographer Andrew Lichtenstein.

New Book of Photographs Recalls the Trauma of American History

Looking back at a lynching that shocked America and galvanized the civil rights movement

Star-Studded Photos Reveal the Beauty of Armenia's Ancient Landscapes

The photographer behind 'Your beautiful eyes' documents his country's storied landscape beneath canopies of stars

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