Phil Mistry

Staff Writer

Phil Mistry started one of the first digital camera workshops in New York City in the 1990s at The International Center of Photography. He has an MA and MFA in photography from the St. Univ. of NY. He set up the digital photography department of B&H Photo in the mid-90s. At Popular Photography magazine, he was the director and teacher for Digital Days Workshops in collaboration with Sony. He has also taught the Mentor Series of workshops in partnership with Nikon.

Articles by Phil Mistry

Elliott Erwitt: A Conversation with the Master Photographer at 93

Renowned American photographer Elliott Erwitt has captured more presidents since Harry Truman than any other photographer. Over the last 70 years, Erwitt has shot iconic photos of Marilyn Monroe, including her famous subway grate pose, the finger-pointing Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate in Moscow, segregated water fountains, a grieving Jacqueline Kennedy, and hundreds of humorous dog images.

Rescued Photos from Chernobyl Show Life in Ukraine Before the Disaster

Ukrainian photographer Maxim Dondyuk has been collecting and archiving photos and negatives that he has found in the Chernobyl exclusion area for the last six years. He has rescued around 15,000 artifacts, which include films, photos, postcards, and letters, but with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has been forced to put his Untitled Project from Chernobyl on hold.

Judge Jackson

Behind the Viral Photo of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Daughter

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, was being grilled at the Senate confirmation hearings. Her 17-year-old daughter was in attendance and beamed with pride as she watched her mother bravely tackle the often-hostile questioning. This split-second moment between daughter and mother was captured by The New York Times fellow Sarahbeth Maney and went viral.

Wedding Photographer Finds Success in Divorce Photography

In 2020, wedding photographer Allie Siarto's business saw a steep decline as COVID spread, weddings were downsized or canceled, and demand for her services dried up. In the midst of the downturn and pandemic, she decided to expand into an unexpected new niche: divorce photography.

Ultra-Rare Wolverine Photographed in Yellowstone

MacNeil Lyons, a former park ranger, had a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the elusive wolverine in Yellowstone National Park, and he managed to capture rare photos of the animal while his guest recorded video.

How One Photo Changed the Lives of a Refugee Father and Son

Photographer Mehmet Aslan captured an image in April 2021 of a father and son with amputated limbs in a Turkish refugee camp. His powerful shot went on to tug at heartstrings, win a prestigious international photo competition, go viral online, and completely transform the subjects' lives.

shark

Photographer Spots Giant Bite Mark on Huge Great White Shark

Shark conservationist, filmmaker, and photographer Jalil Najafov was on a great white shark expedition in Mexico and could not believe his eyes when he noticed a 15-foot shark with a huge circular scar from a bite mark, the size of which he had never seen before.

Crocodile

Photographer Art Wolfe Gets Up Close with a Crocodile in Mexico

When the first pandemic hit in 2020, photographer Art Wolfe was working on a big wildlife book coming out in Fall 2023. He had already rescheduled a few trips but decided to take one with a friend to the state of Yucatán in southern Mexico to photograph American crocodiles.

Photographing Tom Brady in His Final Super Bowl

Photographer Kevin C. Cox has covered 11 Super Bowls leading up to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. Tom Brady, the newly-retired quarterback who is widely considered the greatest ever, played in five of those eleven and won four of them. Cox has also been fortunate to cover Brady celebrating on the field with his wife and children after three Super Bowls.

Photographer Captures the Plight of Flood Survivors in South Sudan

Peter Caton has photographed the devastating flooding in South Sudan in North Africa over three trips spanning more than a year. There, families are found walking through crocodile-infested waters to find plants such as wild water lilies to eat as their crops have been destroyed by three years of floods.