Contact Press Images

Contact Press Images Contact Press Images is one of the most significant agencies and archives of late-20th-century in existence. Under the direction of Robert Pledge.

Contact Press Images was formed to give its journalists -- who are distinguished photographers -- a greater voice in the production and play of their stories and essays. Representing the work of two-dozen preeminent photographers, including:

Founding Members: David Burnett, Frank Fournier, Kenneth Jarecke, Annie Leibovitz, Dilip Mehta, Alon Reininger;
Senior Members: Kristen Ashburn, Alexandra A

vakian, Stephen Dupont and Lori Grinker;
Contributors: Juliana Beasley, Sean Hemmerle, James Hill, Edward Keating
Special Contributors: Jane Evelyn Atwood, Martine Barrat, Jonathan Becker, George Butler, Yunghi Kim, Li Zhensheng, Ken Light, Don McCullin, Sebastiaio Salgado and Alfred Wertheimer. Estates: Gilles Caron and Olivier Rebbot

This exceptional body of work spans the rise of the Berlin Wall to present day, and includes images of the major events, personalities, and social currents of the 20th century through present day. Contact was founded in New York in 1976, nine months after the end of the war in Vietnam, to facilitate the production of new, independent photojournalism. Photographer joined or were selected based on talent and commitment or area of specialization or interest. The agency maintained a consistent editorial direction: a documentary approach that valued depth over speed, pioneered the use of color film to cover the news, in addition to black and white, and primarily focused its collective lens on conflict, human rights issues, and important cultural trends. The agency has since documented the era that saw the end of apartheid, the fall of Soviet Empire, revolution in Central America, famine and genocide in Africa, ethnic violence in the Balkans, the AIDS pandemic, the birth of the Internet, and the War on Terror. Contact photographers have collectively gathered many of the industry’s most distinguished honors, including annual awards from the World Press Photo Foundation in the Netherlands, the National Press Photographers Association, the Overseas Press Club of America and the American Society of Media Photographers. One of the last independent international photographic agencies still in operation, Contact Press Images is unique among agencies of the period (Black Star, Gamma, Magnum, Rapho, Sipa, Sygma) in that its holdings and their contextual materials remain fully intact. As such, the collection represents much more than a gathering of pictures; it is a photographic time capsule, providing a one-of-a-kind insight into history, and into the industry dedicated to capturing it.

As the World Cup comes to a heads and with the elimination of the U.S. team, our attention turns to Europe. Contact cont...
07/07/2026

As the World Cup comes to a heads and with the elimination of the U.S. team, our attention turns to Europe. Contact contributing photographer Todd Bigelow whistle stops through Italy, Spain and Portugal where futbol is a way of life.
There kids engage in rough-and-tumble games along back streets and in town squares, where pedestrians far and wide seem to always have a ball around, even on the beach. In Cascais, Portugal, the game of “Foot Volleyball” is also played with the soccer ball and hands are prohibited. GOAL!!!!!

The last time there was a massive July wedding at Madison Square Garden, 1982.Photograph by Frank Fournier/Contact
07/03/2026

The last time there was a massive July wedding at Madison Square Garden, 1982.
Photograph by Frank Fournier/Contact

And inarguably nicer in print…
06/30/2026

And inarguably nicer in print…

When Contact photographer Koni Nordmann was still an ICP student in 1984 he embarked on a project to document the four-y...
06/29/2026

When Contact photographer Koni Nordmann was still an ICP student in 1984 he embarked on a project to document the four-year Statue renovation endeavor ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.
One day on the scaffolding Koni (his feet in photo 5 a and sitting in the forehead in photo 9)encountered iron worker Tony Soraci, grandson of immigrant Italians planting a kiss on Lady Liberty’s forehead. It was published massively around the world so much so that he spoke about the image in his speech about the Statue: “Many of us have seen the picture of another worker here, a tool belt around his waist, balanced on a narrow metal rod of scaffolding, leaning over to place a kiss on the forehead of Miss Liberty,” Reagan said as he kicked off his speech.

“Tony Soraci, the grandson of immigrant Italians, said it was something he was proud to do, ‘Something to tell my grandchildren,’” the former president said.

Reagan went on to hail Soraci and the others who worked tirelessly to renovate one of America’s most iconic monuments in time for its 100th anniversary, saying the job helps ensure the light of freedom continues uniting those who call the US their home.

“We’re bound together because, like them, we too dare to hope — hope that our children will always find here the land of liberty in a land that is free,” Reagan said.

Now 40 years after Reagan’s speech, Soraci, who lives in Texas, revealed he had returned to the Statue of Liberty earlier this month for an interview with “ABC World News Tonight” co-anchor David Muir, where you will see Koni’s images again!

, who in nearly two decades as chairman of the nurtured a long run of prosperity, navigated crises and was a powerful...
06/22/2026

, who in nearly two decades as chairman of the nurtured a long run of prosperity, navigated crises and was a powerful and polarizing force in shaping market-friendly policies, died on Monday at his home in Washington. He was 100.

The pre-eminent economic policymaker of his time and arguably the most recognizable economist of any era, Mr. Greenspan led the central bank under four presidents of both parties from 1987 to 2006.

Photographs show Greenspan in his office and the back of his Fed conf room chair in 1994 by /Contact

Jane Evelyn Atwood purchased her first camera in 1976 and moved to Rue des Lombards in Paris. There she began photograph...
06/05/2026

Jane Evelyn Atwood purchased her first camera in 1976 and moved to Rue des Lombards in Paris. There she began photographing male and female prostitutes in their dimly lit rooms, capturing the time they spent waiting, their moments of joy, and their fatigue. She won the first ever Eugene Smith Grant in 1980 for that body of work. Her early work already contained the essence of her photojournalistic approach, which shows us that to understand a country, one must be willing to step through the looking glass and venture into the shadows.

Atwood does not simply document, she immerses herself in the lives of the people she photographs. In 1987, she followed Jean-Louis, the first person in France with AIDS who agreed to be photographed, accompanying him until the end of his life. At a time paralysed by fear and stigma around the epidemic, Atwood gave a face to those who society tried not to see.

Atwood’s work also documents the lives of women in prison, victims of landmines, and the lives of visually impaired children in many different countries. Atwood has remained unwavering in her commitment to ‘go where she feels she has to be.’ She approaches each setting with sharp insight, sensitivity, respect, and intelligence.

After working in Lebanon, Chad, the United States, Haiti and on numerous other assignments, Atwood has turned her lens to a completely different subject: horses. From the island of Ouessant, off the coast of Brittany, to the Mongolian steppe, she is drawn to their power, their taut muscles, their calm gaze and their majestic, elegant presence.

In medicine, it is now well recognised that spending time with animals, and the sense of closeness they offer to patients, can have real therapeutic effects. After a life spent photographing the excluded and the marginalized, and much of the pain and tragedy in the world, Atwood seems to have found a form of calm in horses in motion, moving freely and shaped by the light.

Jane’s work on the Horses (and some of her other well known photographs) is on exhibit at the La Gacilly Photo Festival from this weekend until October 2026.

On June 3, 1992, just one day after securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Bill Clinton surprises viewers of T...
06/03/2026

On June 3, 1992, just one day after securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Bill Clinton surprises viewers of The Arsenio Hall Show by strapping on a saxophone, slipping on a pair of dark sunglasses and launching into Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” The studio audience erupted in applause, and the unexpected performance quickly became a media sensation. To many observers, it marked a turning point in American political communication, helping the Arkansas governor connect with younger urban voters in a way few presidential candidates had before.
In actuality Clinton had already strapped on the sax and played on the campaign in January’92, seen here at The 5th Column in Washington, DC, where David Burnett made this memorable frame.

On the weekend of June 6 and 7, David Burnett has invited to France, Normandy, to the opening of the second edition of t...
06/01/2026

On the weekend of June 6 and 7, David Burnett has invited to France, Normandy, to the opening of the second edition of the Deauville Sport Images Festival which will exhibit a selection of his photographs of the Olympic Games among the thirteen exhibitions presented this summer throughout the city. If you are near Deauville on June 6-7 and after (expo lasts until Sept) come and see!!
All photographs (c) IOC/David Burnett/Contact Press Images

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader and composer. He is amon...
05/26/2026

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Davis was at the forefront of several major stylistic developments in jazz, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, third stream, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz, and jazz fusion. His legacy extends into rock, funk, classical, and hip-hop.
Aram Avakian was an American film editor and director. Aram, brother to legendary jazz and classical record producer, George Avakian, was invited to photograph sessions that George coordinated for different LPs. These images of Miles were taken in June of 1956.

On this day in 1907, John Wayne, an actor who came to epitomize the American West, was born in Winterset, Iowa.The Duke,...
05/26/2026

On this day in 1907, John Wayne, an actor who came to epitomize the American West, was born in Winterset, Iowa.

The Duke, as he was known, embodied the simple, and perhaps simplistic, cowboy values of decency, honesty, and integrity.

Besides Westerns, Wayne also acted in war films. It was a small leap from the valorous cowboy or cavalry soldier to the brave WWII fighters of films like Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and Flying Leathernecks (1951). Deeply conservative in his politics, Wayne also used his 1968 film, The Green Berets, to express his support of the American government’s war in Vietnam.

By the late 1960s, some Americans had tired of Wayne and his simplistically masculine and patriotic characters. Increasingly, western movies were rejecting the simple black-and-white moral codes championed by Wayne and replacing them with a more complex and tragic view of the American West. However, Wayne proved more adaptable than many expected. In his Oscar-winning role in True Grit (1969), he began to escape the narrow confines of his own good-guy image. His final film, The Shootist (1976), won over even his most severe critics. Wayne—who was himself battling lung cancer—played a dying gunfighter whose moral codes and principles no longer fit in a changing world.

A changing world and the transposition of elements that both reflect and deflect reality seen in some photographs from Contact Press Images Senior Photographer Frank Fournier’s insightful and tongue in cheek “New York Crossings” essay of Frank’s street photography.

Address

325 W 38th Street/Suite 306
New York, NY
10018

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Contact Press Images posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Contact Press Images:

Shortcuts

Share

Category