Living photographers you most admire

albireo said:

Ah ok got it. Makes sense I guess. I normally try to stick to the unwritten rule "if you don't have anything nice to say about someone who is not present, don't say anything at all". But I don't mind alternative opinions on some of the people whose work I admire.

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Well, artists are a curious cocktail of ego and insecurity, aren’t they? I only wish Raymond Depardon were here to “defend” himself — though something tells me that, deep down, he probably knows his own limits… like the fact that he’ll never be Kertész!

nikos79 said:

he probably knows his own limits… like the fact that he’ll never be Kertész!

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No one other than Kertesz can be Kertesz. He existed in his time with his experience - that time is over and done, as is he. Depardon could just as easily be a camel as he could be Kertesz - it's not a limitation.

nikos79 said:

artists are a curious cocktail of ego and insecurity, aren’t they?

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Caricatures of artists are, at least.

Don_ih said:

No one other than Kertesz can be Kertesz. He existed in his time with his experience - that time is over and done, as is he. Depardon could just as easily be a camel as he could be Kertesz - it's not a limitation.

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I don’t quite get the point. Are we saying we can’t use Kertész’s work as a comparison just because he’s gone? If his photos still move us, doesn’t that prove his art transcends time? We’re talking about photography here, right? It’s not like Kertész was using a telescope or something.

Don_ih said:

Caricatures of artists are, at least.

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I’d argue that all artists need to be selfish to create — it kind of comes with the territory. And honestly… that’s perfectly fine.

"I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess."

Robert Mapplethorpe

nikos79 said:

Are we saying we can’t use Kertész’s work as a comparison just because he’s gone?

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No. But not being able to be him is not a limitation. No one can be him. If you copy him, you are copying him - not being him. Of course his work is available for comparison with the work of other people - but notice that word "work". That's what can be compared. You don't know Depardon and you didn't know Kertesz.

nikos79 said:

I’d argue that all artists need to be selfish to create

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You didn't mention selfishness. You mentioned ego and insecurity.