A photographer who doesn't know who Ansel Adams is... still.

[Sirius Glass]

This thread is silly.

Yeah, that too.

 

[RSalles]

I think the exposure to major photography work doesn't have to drive someone to be a AA wannabe or copy its work, not more then visiting the Louvre will rise the desire to become a Da Vinci, nor listening to Mozart - actually, Beethoven had a small statue of Mozart over his pianoforte BTW. If you're exposed to a great bodywork and become a copycat it's not the exposure the problem, but the personality - or lack of - of the viewer. At least it works in a sense of "this was already done before", quite the opposite of a copycat...

Cheers,

 

[RalphLambrecht]

W. Eugene Smith or Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans

Yes, but he should also know Victor Hasselblad;as photograhers go,I vote for Richard Avedon and Horst Horst.

 

[Ashfaque]

This may not be a surprise to many of you. I never heard of A. Adams until around 2006/7. I probably heard his names in a few documentaries (have well over 5000 documentary in my collection). But never bothered. The person who really gripped my attention and thus into a hobby was James Nachtwey, when I saw "War Photographer". Speaking of it, I can't recommend that docu enough.

 

[fdonadio]

I said learn ways to see as they did not to blindly follow and copy. As I said…

Sorry, Sirius. I had that idea when I read this:

For one to ignore the works of famous artists and famous photographers and start from scratch is to photograph with ones eyes closed.

Maybe I didn't understand what you mean.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Learn about composition, lighting, approaching the subject, and printing then use that knowledge to develop your own style and not blindly copy what they had done.

 

[fdonadio]

Learn about composition, lighting, approaching the subject, and printing then use that knowledge to develop your own style and not blindly copy what they had done.

Well... It's one approach. A perfectly good and valid approach.

And, as very well said by Renato, being exposed to other photographers' work should be a source of inspiration, not a source of things to be copied. I would add that it also helps to avoid making lookalikes by accident.

Plagiarism is so stupid it doesn't even deserve to be discussed.

 

[fdonadio]

Of course in one semester, my son couldn't be exposed to enough great photography to be say "Max Yavno was a major influence in my work". My son's work is his own right now. And I am occasionally in awe of raw talented young photographers who couldn't by their circumstances, have access to examples of great work to be inspired by.

It's hard to say what's "best": being inspired at the very beginning; or starting from scratch and researching later on, when you think you got the hang of it. I think it can work either way. There's no "best" or "right" way in itself, there's just what works for someone.

I, for one, was influenced by my father and by Jordan Grant Brittain. Both are practically unknown outside their niches. Unlike my father, I never pursued heavy construction, industrial and aerial photography. He lent me his Nikon F3 and taught me to load/unload film and use the meter. He pointed my errors, but never taught me how to correct them. I think it worked out for me.

Feels good to know your son is following your steps in photography. Congratulations!

 

[cliveh]

Well... It's one approach. A perfectly good and valid approach.

And, as very well said by Renato, being exposed to other photographers' work should be a source of inspiration, not a source of things to be copied. I would add that it also helps to avoid making lookalikes by accident.

Plagiarism is so stupid it doesn't even deserve to be discussed.

How can plagiarism ever be applied to a photographic image? Try to copy any image of your choice, but yours will always be different, or do I miss-understand your post.

 

[removed account4]

This thread is silly.

YES... and no.

i think there should be more threads about influence
and finding one's way.
UmmV

 

[Wayne]

Oh I agree there should be more about positive influences...but this seems more negative. Whoever ended up being the well known name that AA is in some parallel universe, there would be just as many identical objections...its silly.

YES... and no.

i think there should be more threads about influence
and finding one's way.
UmmV

 

[fdonadio]

How can plagiarism ever be applied to a photographic image? Try to copy any image of your choice, but yours will always be different, or do I miss-understand your post.

Boy, it's hard to express myself in English!

Maybe not straight up plagiarism, but some people try to copy someone else's style. Some of them even admit to it, but say they are making "re-interpretations".

I believe you have seen it before.

 

[michr]

I expected to read the OP's post and see the poster talk about declining standards of education and opine about Ansel Adams' importance to photography. So it's a pleasant surprise to have my assumptions challenged. Twentieth century photography has it's old old guard, like Adams, Cartier-Bresson, Frank, and the new old guard, like Eggleston, Shore, etc. I can see plenty of reason not to start a photographer's training with these groups. As highly as we in the West value originality and creativity, it makes little sense to steep these students in the classics, as it were.

 

[removed account4]

Oh I agree there should be more about positive influences...but this seems more negative. Whoever ended up being the well known name that AA is in some parallel universe, there would be just as many identical objections...its silly.

hi wayne

i agree ..

but as you have seen over and over and over again,
there are a lot of people who object to anyone who has "made it"
just look in the peter lik ( and now thomas kinkade ) thread, it goes on to suggest he / they is / are
a snake oil salesman with unscrupulous business practices...

to be honest, i had never heard of peter lik before that thread started, and shore ( except for paulie shore that is ) or that guy who is
the student / desciple of the husband and wife / dusseldorf school water tower couple before
the thread where they sold images for millions ... or most of the rest of the new art establishment ( is that what they are ? )
and there seems to be a mixture of people who are inspired by them ( like people are inspired by adams ) and genuine hate for them ... ( sour grapes ? )
i think someone can learn from any photographer's whether they are rich, famous, 150 years old, from a junque store album or a 10 year old with an instagram account.
the world is full of images, some better than others ... and i imagine the 10 year old who just sold images to some ad agency who harvested them
for an ad campaign and paid the kid 1000's$ had no idea who winograd, lisette model, weegee, adams HCB frank, siskind, calahan, brandt or anyone else was ...and his inspiration
came from someplace else.

these threads that end up cranky at least mention photograpers and artwork to look at, usually "inspirational posts" end up with 3 posts and buried and then deleted ...
kind of a diamond in the rough ..

 

[Bill Burk]

How can plagiarism ever be applied to a photographic image? Try to copy any image of your choice, but yours will always be different, or do I miss-understand your post.

Actually and literally it's easy. APO process lenses designed for flat copy work can be used to do it.

But that's a special case.

Of course you are right in the normal sense of photographing a scene in front of a camera. Even if you go to the same location and hire actors to re-create a scene, the resulting photograph would be yours and it would be different.

 

[Bill Burk]

Does everyone know about David Vestal's "The Whole Photography Chart I"?

Now that's a teaching tool.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2013/12/david-vestal-a-wonderful-life.html

 

[MartinP]

A relevant answer would depend on the sort of photography course being attended, it's scope and duration, and the expectations of the student.

It may well be that the most beneficial extra study for someone intending to do any professional work should be in small-business management and accounting. Without skills in those areas s/he will fail commercially, no matter how awesome s/he may be technically or artistically. Similarly, a successful business might be satisfyingly built around steady work that is not world-beating in any of it's aspects.

 

[blansky]

Recommending one or two photographers is like introducing French cuisine with a menu of one or two items. There are a myriad of on-line galleries to consider, particularly the web sites of prominent photography dealers who list their artists often with thumbnails of their work when mousing over their names. These galleries represent historical, contemporary, and emerging photographers often at the same time. You have a wonderful opportunity to teach here.

Agree.

Give him a list of a few to google and move on.

People don't necessarily find inspiration in a day. Its an evolution, a process. As they get better they become attracted to different photographers and "discover" them on their own.

Too often people who name drop do it because it is self aggrandizement by association. Let him discover on his own.