The Most Famous
PHOTOGRAPHERS from Italy
This page contains a list of the greatest Italian Photographers. The pantheon dataset contains 148 Photographers, 4 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 6th most number of Photographers behind United Kingdom, and Japan.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Italian Photographers of all time. This list of famous Italian Photographers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Felice Beato (1832 - 1909)
With an HPI of 66.56, Felice Beato is the most famous Italian Photographer. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages on wikipedia.
Felice Beato (c. 1832 – 29 January 1909), also known as Felix Beato, was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. He is noted for his genre works, portraits, and views and panoramas of the architecture and landscapes of Asia and the Mediterranean region. Beato's travels gave him opportunities to create images of countries, people, and events that were unfamiliar and remote to most people in Europe and North America. His work provides images of such events as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Second Opium War, and represents the first substantial body of photojournalism. He influenced other photographers; and his impact in Japan, where he taught and worked with numerous other photographers and artists, was particularly deep and lasting.
2. Oliviero Toscani (1942 - 2025)
With an HPI of 60.85, Oliviero Toscani is the 2nd most famous Italian Photographer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Oliviero Toscani (28 February 1942 – 13 January 2025) was an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton from 1982 to 2000.
3. Adolfo Farsari (1841 - 1898)
With an HPI of 58.49, Adolfo Farsari is the 3rd most famous Italian Photographer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Adolfo Farsari (Italian pronunciation: [aˈdolfo farˈsaːri]; 11 February 1841 – 7 February 1898) was an Italian photographer based in Yokohama, Japan. His studio, the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan, was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and his entrepreneurial abilities, it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan. Following a brief military career, including service in the American Civil War, he became a successful entrepreneur and commercial photographer. His photographic work was highly regarded, particularly his hand-coloured portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors to the country. Farsari's images were widely distributed, presented or mentioned in books and periodicals, and sometimes recreated by artists in other media; they shaped foreign perceptions of the people and places of Japan, and to some degree affected how the Japanese saw themselves and their country.
4. Paolo Monti (1908 - 1982)
With an HPI of 57.63, Paolo Monti is the 4th most famous Italian Photographer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Paolo Monti (11 August 1908 – 29 November 1982) was an Italian photographer known for his architectural photography. In his early period, Monti experimented with abstractionism as well as with effects such as blurring and diffraction. In 1953, he became a professional photographer. He mainly worked with architecture reproductions which were used by magazines and book editors for illustration. Starting from 1966, Monti catalogued historic centers of Italian cities.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Italian photographers born between 1832 and 1942. Of these 4, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Italian photographers include Felice Beato, Oliviero Toscani, and Adolfo Farsari. As of April 2024, 1 new Italian photographers have been added to Pantheon including Paolo Monti.
Deceased Italian Photographers
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Felice Beato
1832 - 1909
HPI: 66.56
Oliviero Toscani
1942 - 2025
HPI: 60.85
Adolfo Farsari
1841 - 1898
HPI: 58.49
Paolo Monti
1908 - 1982
HPI: 57.63
Newly Added Italian Photographers (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Photographers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Photographers since 1700.
