Certaines informations figurant dans cet article ou cette section devraient être mieux reliées aux sources mentionnées dans les sections «Bibliographie», «Sources» ou «Liens externes» ().
Dès sa prise de fonction, il présente l'exposition Color Photography de Ernst Haas, réunissant environ quatre-vingt images, première exposition monographique en couleur organisée par la MoMA, grâce à laquelle la photographie couleur fait son entrée au musée.
En 1976, la photographie couleur revient au MoMA avec l'exposition William Eggleston's Guide.
Années 1950
The face of Minnesota, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1958, 304 p., 203 ill.
Années 1960
The photographer and the American landscape, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1963, 48 p.
The photographs of Jacques Henri Lartigue, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1963
The Photographer's eye, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1966, 155 p.
Années 1970
Ernest J. Bellocq. Storyville portraits. Photographs from the New Orleans red light district, ca. 1912. Repoduced from prints made by Lee Fredlandler. Edited by John Szarkowski, Preface by Lee Friedlander, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1970, 88 p.
Walker Evans. Photographs, New York, London, The Museum of Modern Art/ Secker & Warburg, 1971, 191 p.
From the picture press, New york, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1973, 95 p.
Looking at photographs. 100 pictures from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1973, 216 p.
New japanese photography, & Shōji Yamagishi, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1974
William Eggleston's guide. Photographs by William Eggleston, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1976, 112 p.
Callahan, catal. expos. New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 02.12.1976-08.02.1977, London, An Aperture Book in association with the Museum of Modern Art, 1976
The portfolios of Ansel Adams, London, Thames and Hudson, 1977, 124 p.
Mirrors and Windows. American photography since 1960, catal. expos. New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 28.07 - 02.10.1978, 152 p.
The Work of Atget, vols. I-IV, & Hambourg, Maria Morris, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1981;1982;1983;1985/first editions, 4 vols
American landscapes. Photographs from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1981, 80 p.
Irving Penn, New York,NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 1984, 216 p.
Garry Winogrand. Figments from the real world, catal. expos. New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 11.05 - 16.08.1988, 260 p.
Photography until now, catal. expos., New York, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, 14.02 - 29.05 1989; Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 27.06 - 19.08 1989, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1989, 343 p.
Années 2000
Slide show: the color photographs of Helen Lewitt, New York City, powerHouse Books, 2005, 117 p.
Bibliographie
Claire Guillot, «John Szarkowski, conservateur du Museum of Modern Art de New York», Le Monde, [lire en ligne].
(en) Philip Gefter, «John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography, Dies at 81», The New York Times, .