The Great Photographers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was working for a government agency in March of 1936 photographing depression scenes when she drove past a sign reading "Pea-Pickers Camp". She drove on for twenty miles, then turned around and returned to the camp. There she found a woman and her seven children, living on frozen peas and birds the children were able to kill.

The resulting photograph, "Migrant Mother", was published in a San Francisco newspaper, and had such an impact that within days tons of food were on the way to the camp.

Answer: Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was an environmentalist who specialized in black and white images. He took his famous picture "Moonrise" in 1941 while under contract with the Department of the Interior to photograph national parks and Indian reservations. Adams made many prints of his famous picture during the rest of his life, with one print selling for over $600,000 in 2006.

Answer: Joe Rosenthal

Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) won the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War Two photo taken on February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was working at the time for the Associated Press, and he later worked as a photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle for 35 years before retiring in 1981.

Answer: Alfred Eisenstaedt

Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) was a well-known photographer in his native Germany in the early 1930s. He and his family fled to the U.S. in 1935 to escape the oppression of Jews in Germany, and he was hired by "Life" magazine. His most famous photograph is the one of an American sailor grabbing and kissing a young woman in Times Square on V-J Day.

Answer: Eddie Adams

Eddie Adams (1933-2004) won a Pulitzer Prize for his famous photo of a police chief executing a Vietcong prisoner on a Saigon street. Adams also did extensive photography work during the Korean War.

Answer: Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) worked off and on for "Life" magazine during her career, and she is known as the first female war correspondent. Her famous picture of Gandhi at his spinning wheel was taken for "Life" magazine in 1946.

Answer: Annie Liebovitz

This picture, taken for the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine, shows a naked John Lennon curled up beside a fully-clothed Yoko Ono. It was taken only five hours before Lennon was shot and killed in 1980. Ms. Liebovitz is famous for her portraits of celebrities.

Answer: Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus (1923-1971) worked to portray marginalized groups such as strippers, nudists, dwarves, etc. Her famous "Child with Hand grenade" was taken in 1962. Matt Groening once said he based the character of Bart Simpson on this photo. Arbus suffered from depression, and committed suicide in 1971.

Answer: Alfred Steiglitz

Alfred Steiglitz (1864-1936) was an American photographer who was instrumental in making photography an accepted art form. His famous photo, "The Steerage", was taken in 1906 while he was sailing with his family to Europe.

Answer: Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) was a survivor of the Armenian genocide who fled to Canada in 1923. During his long career he became known as Canada's leading portrait photographer. His famous 1941 portrait showing a scowling Winston Churchill was one of more than 20 of his photos to grace the cover of "Life" magazine.