Inspiration

[monkeykoder]

Anyone have a particular artist that inspired them to do nudes or to want to do nudes?

 

[Akki14]

Weston http://www.masters-of-fine-art-photography.com/02/artphotogallery/database/weston01.jpg Not so keen on the dune nudes he did, but do like the more abstract close ups too.

 

[Ian Leake]

Rodin, Velázquez (The Rokeby Venus), MacNeice, and of course EW (I love the dune nudes!).

 

[Ian Leake]

I should probably have added that while Rodin may have shown the way, my greatest inspiration for continuing to make nudes is the people I work with.

 

[JBrunner]

Ian Leake, Emil Schildt

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Michelangelo, Raphael, Mapplethorpe, Stephen John Phillips, Connie Imboden, Reuven Afanador, Herb Ritts, John Dugdale, F. Holland Day. Others I've seen and were not so much inspired by but thought of competitively include Tom Bianchi and Bruce Weber.

Oh, and let's be honest, skin magazines. I suspect that in many ways, that's most people's first revelation that this is possible, and then there's a desire to do it better.

 

[gr82bart]

Hmmm ... my inspiration is very, very different: Gil Elvgren (pin ups), Earl Miller (porn), Jeff Dunas (fashion/glamour), Suze Randall (porn/glamour), Sascha Dean Biyan (fashion), Frank Wartenburg (fashion), Howard Schatz (fashion), Francesco Sacvullo (fashion), and Heidi Klum (model).

Regards, Art.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I walk into the Minneapolis Institute of Arts once in a while to behold the Doryphoros marble sculpture once in a while. That's all the inspiration I need to not look at other photographers, and what I mean with that is that I purposely don't seek inspiration from other photographers. When I find myself admiring nude work of other photographers I immediately have to shut out the thought of how to include their ideas in my own work.
I'm very much at the beginning stages of nude figure photography, but I really wish to remain pure with my own ideas, and that's really difficult but I'm going to give it my best go.
- Thomas

 

[monkeykoder]

I walk into the Minneapolis Institute of Arts once in a while to behold the Doryphoros marble sculpture once in a while. That's all the inspiration I need to not look at other photographers, and what I mean with that is that I purposely don't seek inspiration from other photographers. When I find myself admiring nude work of other photographers I immediately have to shut out the thought of how to include their ideas in my own work.
I'm very much at the beginning stages of nude figure photography, but I really wish to remain pure with my own ideas, and that's really difficult but I'm going to give it my best go.
- Thomas

I would think you would want to go with "now where do I go from there?"

 

[Ian Leake]

Inspiration is a strange beast.

I read something recently about repeating other people's pictures as studies. There is nothing wrong with this - in fact there's a grand tradition of doing exactly this in the arts (although perhaps less so in the modern era).

I love Ruth Bernhard's work. A while ago I spent a good deal of time doing some studies based on her photos. These were by no means 'original' but they were great fun. And making them taught me some things about the body, composition and lighting that would probably have taken me much longer to learn otherwise.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I don't think it's wrong to find inspiration from other photographers. I just don't want to at this stage. I want to develop my own ideas and see how far I can take them before I run myself into the guard rail. It's not a quest to be different. It's a quest to be my own source of ideas and inspiration, as I'm pretty sure it's all been done by others at this stage.

To each their own, I suppose. I find nothing wrong with a different approach than mine.

 

[Ian Leake]

To each their own, I suppose.

Exactly right.

 

[monkeykoder]

Probably the most useful approach to things as long as no one is getting hurt.

 

[Ian Leake]

... John Dugdale ...

I saw your comment about a workshop with him Scott (can't find the thread now though). He's had some prints on show at Ralph Lauren in London. They are absolutely fabulous. What's he like to work with?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Ian- John is fantastic. Truly inspirational. I've been told though that he's not doing any more classes, so I count myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity.

 

[gr82bart]

http://www.wwtdd.com/post.phtml?pk=14521

Can you see why she's one of my inspirations? The ultimate muse.

Regards, Art.

 

[monkeykoder]

I see now.

 

[Eston3]

Definitely Ed Weston. The picture of a green pepper, or his girlfriend. Though either in and of itself would have been enough!

 

[77streetvan]

I think learning from your own mistakes is a better teacher than learning from someone elses successes. And that is why I don't actively look for inspiration in other photographer's work's.

 

[Akki14]

I don't like to be seen as "copying" much either but I do need to look at some photos purely because I don't get to look at people usually so just to get some sort of inspiration and idea of how a body can be shaped and moved helps me a bit.

 

[Steinerphoto]

My inspirations were Bill Brandt and Wynn Bullock. I studied with Wynn in the mid 70's at the Ansel Adams Nude + the Landscape workshops.

 

[BillBallard]

Too many (almost) to name -

For other photographers/artists, I would say Weston, Cunningham, Brandt, and Penn; also Eric boutlier-Brown and Jean Vallette. I've also found inspiration in the figure drawings of Henri Cartier-Bresson as well as his photography. And like others, I also draw inspiration from paintings, sculpture, and other classical works.

On the other hand, I'm often inspired by the light and environment in which I'm working to try something new or different.

 

[Steinerphoto]

I would have to include the experimental work of Japanese photographer Eikoh Hosoe and France's Lucien Clergue as being inspirational, as well as the works of Bill Brandt.

 

[Bertil]

Bill Brandt ! He really came up with something extra, I think.
//Bertil