Steve Schapiro (New York City, 1934–Chicago, 2022) picked up his first camera at the age of nine. Though self-taught, Schapiro studied in 1960 with photojournalist W. Eugene Smith who taught him how to capture perspective in his images and how to create prints. Schapiro’s first official publication came at the age of 27 with a collection of photos documenting the conditions of migrant workers. Schapiro soon became one of the most prolific photojournalists in the United States, capturing now-iconic images of figures like Robert Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Muhammed Ali. Later in his career, Schapiro shifted his focus towards celebrities, photographing well-known personages including Barbra Streisand, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, and David Bowie. His work extended to photographs of movie stars on-set, and his images were featured on promotional posters for films like The Godfather III (1990), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and Taxi Driver (1976).
Even with his success in the world of editorial and celebrity photography, Schapiro always maintained that his most important works were his photographs documenting the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s. His coverage of the events like the 1963 March on Washington, the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, the March from Selma to Montgomery, and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., left a monumental mark on the craft of photojournalism, and helped shape America’s understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.