Documentary Shooters started as a desire to show my own work.

I have worked as a documentary photographer for many years -since the late 1960s- and wanted to show my work and put it into the context of the era I am living in.

But the more I researched the topic of documentary photography the more I -gleefully- became impressed at how deep and how important a tradition documentary photography is. It has been going on from almost Day One of photography (1826) and is a constant branch of photography that has never lost sight of its own implied mission: to show the world in a deep and meaningful way with a special nod toward social reform.

Technologies have changed, means of image delivery has changed and destination for displaying the work accomplished has changed but documentary photography has remained constant.

As I moved along in building this site I realized I was a small digit in this great tradition and that what I really wanted to do was to display the most interesting and best documentary work, historic and contemporary. Thus, the mission of documentary shooters.com was discovered and launched.

I want to thank each and every photographer, living or dead, who appears on these pages. Documentary work takes commitment, perseverance, and, in the end, a passion for the subject. Sometimes it’s dangerous, sometimes it’s pure pleasure but always it takes obsession by the photographer.

This site celebrates that obsession. We all are its beneficiaries.

Bruce Berman, Photographer/Associate Professor
New Mexico State University
El Paso, Texas
October 2024