Steve Schapiro

Steve Schapiro (1934–2022) captured key moments of modern American history and is one of the most respected and renowned photographers of the last 60 years. His photographs have graced the covers of magazines such as Time, Life, Vanity Fair, Paris Match and many others. Museums and galleries have exhibited his artworks worldwide and he is represented in many private and public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C.; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Born and raised in New York City in 1934, Steve Schapiro began working as a freelance photojournalist in 1961, the start of a decade he called the “golden age in photojournalism.” He captured some of the defining moments during a critical turning point of American history such as Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential run or the “Summer of Love” in San Francisco. His images of Martin Luther King are considered one of the most famous documentation of the civil rights movement.

Besides his career as a photojournalist Schapiro also achieved a reputation as an excellent portraitist. He photographed many actors, musicians and artists, such as Barbra Streisand, David Bowie and Rene Magritte and accompanied Muhammad Ali as well as Andy Warhol and his entourage for a long time.

Schapiro became well known to a wider audience through his photographs on Hollywood movies. He photographed about 400 cinema productions and was responsible for the campaigns of the films. He created unforgettable images for many iconic movies including the cinematic masterpieces “Taxi Driver“ with Robert de Niro and Jodie Foster, directed by Martin Scorsese; “Chinatown“ with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, directed by Roman Polanski and „The Godfather“ with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which are frequently listed among the greatest movies of all time and will forever remain in the memory of every movie lover.