David Clark

David Clark

David Clark is a photography journalist and author, and was features writer on Amateur Photographer for nine years. He has met and interviewed many of the world's most iconic photographers and is the author of Photography in 100 Words: Exploring the Art of Photography with Fifty of its Greatest Masters.

Latest articles by David Clark

John Blakemore

John Blakemore 1936-2025: influential fine-art photographer and inspirational teacher

By David Clark published

news Known for his long-exposure landscapes and still-life images of tulips, John Blakemore taught a generation of photographers as a professor in photography at the University of Derby

news
Don McCullin sitting next to one of his famous photos, Shell-shocked Marine

The 50 best photographers ever

By David Clark last updated

FEATURE Covering a range of genres and styles, these are the 50 greatest photographers the world has ever seen (probably)

FEATURE
Daguerreotype photography was invented by the French photographic pioneer Louis Daguerre (1789-1851) and was made public in 1839. In the Daguerreotype process a picture made on a silver surface sensitized with iodine was developed by exposure to mercury vapour. Daguerre granted the right to make and sell daguerreotype cameras to a relative of his, Alphonse Giroux of Paris. Photography thus became available to the general public in 1839 and this was the first commercially available camera, which produced the first distinctive photographic positives. It took pictures 8.5 x 6.5 inches (21.6cm x 16.5cm), a size which became known as whole-plate when later cameras were built to take photographs a fraction of the size. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Who invented the camera, and when?

By David Clark published

feature Wondering who invented the camera? This is how Louis Daguerre gave photography to the world

feature
The world's first photograph by Joseph Niepce. Taken from a window of his Le Gras estate at Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France, it was produced by exposing a bitumen-coated pewter plate in a camera obscura. It took an exposure time of eight hours.

When was photography invented?

By David Clark published

feature Frenchman Joseph Niepce is widely credited as the person who invented photography, nearly 200 years ago

feature
1939: Ming the panda taking a photograph of photographer Bert Hardy's son, Mike. Original Publication: Picture Post

30 cameras that changed the world of photography

By David Clark published

Feature For World Photography Day, we pick out the most significant cameras from the first 200 years of photography

Feature
Black and white photo by Fay Godwin, from the 2023 exbibition Under a turbulent sky

Fay Godwin remembered: the photographer who taught us to see landscapes differently

By Chris George published

Exhibition of the celebrated landscape photographer's work to open in Cornwall in September

Galleries and Exhibitions
© Edward Burtynsky, Phosphor Tailings Pond #4, Near Lakeland, Florida, USA, 2012

Aerial photographer Edward Burtynsky gets first 2022 Sony World Photo Award

By Chris George, David Clark published

interview 40 year career of Canadian photographer is rewarded with Outstanding Contribution Award

interview
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Mayne Attraction: gritty portraits of life on the streets of 50's and 60's Britain

By David Clark published

Roger Mayne is best known for his landmark documentary images of London's Southam Street. But as an exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery reveals, he was also a forward-thinking artist who pushed the boundaries of the medium

Portrait Photography

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