Herbert Matter designed a series of cutting-edge Swiss travel posters that won international acclaim for the pioneering use of photo-montage combined with type. Always striking a balance between fine art projects and commercial work, the taciturn designer found his own unique language. He was inspired by Russian constructivists and taught by artists in Paris in the late 20s. With his photography he was adept in documenting the early furniture of Charles...

In 1935 photographer Willard Van Dyke moved to New York with the belief that films "could change the world" and began a new career as a filmmaker. His name soon became synonymous with social documentary in the U.S. His images of cottonfields, steelmills and industrial towns, and his portraits of unemployed factory workers and their families, provide an invaluable chronicle of those years and have become timeless examples of cinematic art. A candid...

"Meet contemporary artists at work and speaking in their own words- direct, accessible, and unfiltered ...This unique four-hour series spotlights 17 artists the United States today, and invites viewers behind the working in scenes to see artists at work in their homes, communities,and unexpected sites- from an old-growth forest to a military base to a film set. The artists, including painters, photographers, sculptors, and video artists, demonstrate...

"For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus."--Container.

Portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman found her medium in 1980: the larger-than-life Polaroid Land 20x24 camera. For the next thirty-five years she captured the surfaces of those who visited her Massachusetts studio: families, Beat poets, rock stars, and Harvard notables.

Focus on fashion and portraiture photographer, Richard Avedon

Profiles American photographer Dorothea Lange, who came to the attention of the world with her photographs documenting the Great Depression, and achieved lasting fame in the post-War years.

Nicholas Vreeland walked away from a worldly life of privilege to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Grandson of legendary Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland, and trained by Irving Penn to become a photographer, Nicholas' life changed drastically upon meeting a Tibetan master, one of the teachers of the Dalai Lama.

Ron Galella, notorious paparazzo, captured some of the most memorable celebrity photographs. In order to do so, he suffered everything from a restraining order to a broken jaw. Includes archival footage of Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Brad Pitt, Marlon Brando, and more.

"Casting aside a certain and comfortable future, Sam Wagstaff became a curator with a taste for unique and controversial photography. In photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who was 25 years his junior, he found not only a romantic partner, but an artistic collaborator. This compelling documentary explores the relationship between the two men during the 1970s and '80s and their influence over the New York art"--Turner Classic Movies website