Photographers you most admire

[Merg Ross]

It is impossible for me to name the greatest photographers. However, on a strictly personal level, a few that I met in the 1950's are worthy of my admiration. These were the formative years of what would become my life in photography. It was from this group that I learned of the different genres of the medium. Although displaying different approaches in their work, all shared an equal passion and dedication while encouraging me in my own photography. With gratitude I list them in no particular order:

1. Edward Weston
2. Brett Weston
3. Ansel Adams
4. Imogen Cunningham
5. Wynn Bullock
6. Aaron Siskind
7. Eugene Meatyard
8. Peter Stackpole
9. Paul Caponigro
10. Harry Callahan

 

[Pioneer]

Photographers I have supported by purchasing books. Not the only ones I like but these are ones where I have put my money where my mouth is.

1. Vivian Maier
2. Eugene Atget
3. Dorothea Lange
4. Berenice Abbott
5. Brett Weston
6. Edward Weston
7. Timothy O'Sullivan
8. William Jackson
9. Henri Cartier Bresson
10. Ansel Adams
11. Sally Mann
12. Jane Bown

 

[SodaAnt]

Photographers I have supported by purchasing books. Not the only ones I like but these are ones where I have put my money where my mouth is.

Just curious, how have you supported photographers who have been dead for many decades by buying their books? O'Sullivan died 140 years ago--I don't think he's still getting royalties.

 

[Pioneer]

Interesting. I don't exactly remember discussing royalties. I would suspect that a number of these photographers did not get a lot out of their photography even while they were living, though some did.

Sometimes I think it is possible to be a little too literal. Feel free to continue to support them anyway you feel appropriate.

 

[Yashica]

(into no particular order, just as it came into my mind)

1. Alfred Stieglitz
2. Edward Weston
3. HCB
4. Ansel Adams
5. Adam Schaller
6. Steve McCurry
7. Fan Ho
8. Bruce Barnbaum
9. Michael Frye
10. Michael Kenna

​

 

[Helge]

I see no mention that it should be a top ten. So here are three, INPO, off the top of my head. Might add more later.

Brian Griffin - For his constant playing around with technique in the field, and great mastery of simple yet effective tricks. Possibly the guy with the biggest number of famous record covers under his belt.

HCB - For his humour, pure sweetness and exceptional sense of composition. It's always about the image with him. Screw the light, if you have to "cheat", the focal length and DR magic.
He was early and well versed in art in general. One of the first to really make the concept of a small, high quality camera sing.
Also famous for letting the hot air out of a lot fondly held notions, big ideas and concepts.

Garry Winogrand - For his strong demonstration of what kind of art "live photography" (in lieu of the forbidden word "street photography") actually is, and what it can do precisely, that can't be done with painting, words or film.
Also, he is fascinating to listen to, slinging out zen koan like lines that unpack themselves in your brain over time, like "great photography is always on the edge of failure". Most of them didn't make a lot of logical sense, but poetic and holistic sense.

 

[nikos79]

In no particular order

Andre Kertesz
Henri-Cartier Bresson
Bill Brandt
Dave Heath
Bruce Davidson
Eugene Atget
Paul Strand
Sergio Larrain
Brassai
Walker Evans
Robert Frank
Willy Ronnis
Louis Stettner
Josef Sudek
August Sander

 

[loccdor]

My early favorites

misha maslennikov

Mikhail Maslennikov began traveling in the Russian North in 2002. The main areas are single expeditions to the places difficult of access, visiting and co-operation with cenobites of active monasteries, sketes, with keepers of ancient temples, pogosts, studying the way of life of modern hermits...

www.flickr.com

i know you're out there

www.flickr.com

alleys

www.flickr.com

Randy Fox

Thank you for taking the time to check out my work. I ask that you refrain from using any of my photos without my permission. Please contact me for information on prints or visit my website at www.randyfoxphotography.com. An interview I recently did with urbankulturblog...

www.flickr.com

breeze

Shooting film photos, mostly and eventually.

www.flickr.com

S. Oertelt

www.flickr.com

gardendier

www.flickr.com

Blackeyedog

Il mondo esterno esiste come un attore sul palco: è lì, ma è un’altra cosa. Fernando Pessoa

www.flickr.com

Nikolai Vassiliev

www.flickr.com

Patrick

"I have to have something between me and reality when I'm dealing with it most intensely." - Ralph Ellison ... “A great deal of art making–process–is about subliminal desire. The hardest thing for aspiring creative people is to learn to trust that kind of feeling, that longing, that...

www.flickr.com

Willi Morali

www.flickr.com

Wolfgang Moersch

www.moersch-photochemie.de

www.flickr.com

Yukino Iwatsuki

www.flickr.com

lebedev_snigirevskaya

www.flickr.com

Георгий Тверецкий

Photographer and artist based in the Moscow region. Member of the Russian Union of Photoartists.

www.flickr.com

miloniro

Visit my gallery "VAZEROL14 fine art gallery": www.vazerol14.ch

www.flickr.com

nori4_4

Instagram : norinoomise_ph

www.flickr.com

 

[nikos79]

My early favorites

misha maslennikov

Mikhail Maslennikov began traveling in the Russian North in 2002. The main areas are single expeditions to the places difficult of access, visiting and co-operation with cenobites of active monasteries, sketes, with keepers of ancient temples, pogosts, studying the way of life of modern hermits...

www.flickr.com

i know you're out there

www.flickr.com

alleys

www.flickr.com

Randy Fox

Thank you for taking the time to check out my work. I ask that you refrain from using any of my photos without my permission. Please contact me for information on prints or visit my website at www.randyfoxphotography.com. An interview I recently did with urbankulturblog...

www.flickr.com

breeze

Shooting film photos, mostly and eventually.

www.flickr.com

S. Oertelt

www.flickr.com

gardendier

www.flickr.com

Blackeyedog

Il mondo esterno esiste come un attore sul palco: è lì, ma è un’altra cosa. Fernando Pessoa

www.flickr.com

Nikolai Vassiliev

www.flickr.com

Patrick

"I have to have something between me and reality when I'm dealing with it most intensely." - Ralph Ellison ... “A great deal of art making–process–is about subliminal desire. The hardest thing for aspiring creative people is to learn to trust that kind of feeling, that longing, that...

www.flickr.com

Willi Morali

www.flickr.com

Wolfgang Moersch

www.moersch-photochemie.de

www.flickr.com

Yukino Iwatsuki

www.flickr.com

lebedev_snigirevskaya

www.flickr.com

Георгий Тверецкий

Photographer and artist based in the Moscow region. Member of the Russian Union of Photoartists.

www.flickr.com

miloniro

Visit my gallery "VAZEROL14 fine art gallery": www.vazerol14.ch

www.flickr.com

nori4_4

Instagram : norinoomise_ph

www.flickr.com

Thanks for sharing these photographers — I hadn't heard of them before, and it's always great to discover new ones! Just a small observation: don’t be too quick to reject the past.

 

[albireo]

My early favorites

misha maslennikov

Mikhail Maslennikov began traveling in the Russian North in 2002. The main areas are single expeditions to the places difficult of access, visiting and co-operation with cenobites of active monasteries, sketes, with keepers of ancient temples, pogosts, studying the way of life of modern hermits...

www.flickr.com

i know you're out there

www.flickr.com

alleys

www.flickr.com

Randy Fox

Thank you for taking the time to check out my work. I ask that you refrain from using any of my photos without my permission. Please contact me for information on prints or visit my website at www.randyfoxphotography.com. An interview I recently did with urbankulturblog...

www.flickr.com

breeze

Shooting film photos, mostly and eventually.

www.flickr.com

S. Oertelt

www.flickr.com

gardendier

www.flickr.com

Blackeyedog

Il mondo esterno esiste come un attore sul palco: è lì, ma è un’altra cosa. Fernando Pessoa

www.flickr.com

Nikolai Vassiliev

www.flickr.com

Patrick

"I have to have something between me and reality when I'm dealing with it most intensely." - Ralph Ellison ... “A great deal of art making–process–is about subliminal desire. The hardest thing for aspiring creative people is to learn to trust that kind of feeling, that longing, that...

www.flickr.com

Willi Morali

www.flickr.com

Wolfgang Moersch

www.moersch-photochemie.de

www.flickr.com

Yukino Iwatsuki

www.flickr.com

lebedev_snigirevskaya

www.flickr.com

Георгий Тверецкий

Photographer and artist based in the Moscow region. Member of the Russian Union of Photoartists.

www.flickr.com

miloniro

Visit my gallery "VAZEROL14 fine art gallery": www.vazerol14.ch

www.flickr.com

nori4_4

Instagram : norinoomise_ph

www.flickr.com

Interesting! One of these above constantly spams two of the Flickr groups I manage with misfocused pictures of ... cats?

 

[loccdor]

Thanks for sharing these photographers — I hadn't heard of them before, and it's always great to discover new ones! Just a small observation: don’t be too quick to reject the past.

Glad that you found something you liked in them. My post was not a rejection of any photographer. But, if they've been locked behind photo books and museum walls, there's less chance I'll have much experience with them, other than what they allow to be seen for free.

 

[GregY]

Vittorio Sella
Paul Strand

 

[Vaughn]

Taking and then assisting at the Friends of Photography workshops (Carmel), I had the opportunity to meet many important photographers, and also a few through the university. Then as mentioned, through books and exhibitions. Only once did I take advantage of the Center for Creative Photography (Tucson, AZ) when one could order up three portfolios from their collection and have them all laid out to look at.

I can not come up with a top ten...there would be more than ten in it. So I will just go with my favorite, a semi-unknown photographer of the American West, Peter Britt. Born 1819 in Switzerland, died in 1905 where he had settled in Jacksonville, Oregon.

On his third attempt (over a period of six years) he took the first photographs of Crater Lake in 1874, but what I have always liked and have admired about him was what he told the complaining daughter of a local hotel owner; "Madam, if you wish a portrait of a pretty face, you shall have to bring one." As Edward Weston would later state in his portrait studio work, "No retouching".

 

[nikos79]

I’ll turn this thread around a little and list the photographers whose work I don’t like.

Brett Weston — Too derivative
Weegee — Ambulance chaser
Fred Picker — Liked his newsletter and most Zone VI products, but my god, his photos were absolutely sterile
Edward Weston — I find his work boring, or pointless, especially the nudes


Here are the ones I do like:

Ansel Adams
Arthur Rothstein
Jack Delano
John Vachon
Marion Post Walcott
Garry Winogrand
Dorothea Lange
Margaret Bourke-White
John Sexton

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I’m curious — if you find Edward Weston’s work boring (which I agree with), how come you don’t feel the same about Ansel Adams? I’d even say something similar about Weegee, whom I consider a genius and quite comparable to Gary Winogrand. Just wondering!

That aside, your list is pretty solid, in my opinion — all great photographers!

 

[nikos79]

Sure. What I said is my opinion and probably doesn't reflect other's opinions. To me, photography is a memory aid--something to help me remember the places I've been and the things I've done. It's also a documentary tool to record events for reporting purposes. Some consider it art because of how they compose and how they manipulate their photos, and if that works for them, and they call it art, fine, I have no problem with that. And I also feel that something, like a photo, can be beautiful without being art.

I too manipulate photos (in Photoshop) to try to get an image that matches what I saw with my eyes. I don't do things like replace a boring sky with a dramatic one, juice up the saturation using the vibrance slider or by using Velvia, or anything like that however.

Oh wow, I’m not even sure where to start. First of all, art isn’t meant to be just beautiful. It seems like you’re confusing the work of Michelangelo with that of a painter decorating a house. Sure, the latter can paint something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing — but that doesn’t make them an artist just a good craftsman.

Photography doesn’t merely record time or events. It encapsulates time, just like any other form of art, transforming and transcending reality in the process. More importantly, it offers us a glimpse into the artist’s world. That’s why when we look at different photographers, we don’t just see the subject — we see their unique vision. The "Paris" of André Kertész is entirely different from the "Paris" of Henri Cartier-Bresson, even though they photographed the city around the same time.

 

[nikos79]

The Mennonites is a great piece of documentary photography.

It is amazing indeed! I would add creative/art photography not just documentary!

 

[cliveh]

This guy is very good: -

 

[GregY]

This guy is very good: -

He is.....50 yrs living in Paris.....photographing world news on all fronts...40 covers on Newsweek. His life in Paris is definitely on the lighter side of what he's seen:
"Turnley has photographed world conflicts including the Gulf War, Bosnian War, Somali Civil War, Rwandan genocide, South Africa under apartheid, First Chechen War, Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Afghanistan, Kosovo War, and Iraq (2003).[5] During the end of the Cold War (1985–1991) Turnley photographed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev more than any other Western journalist.[6] He witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989, Nelson Mandela's walk out of prison after 27 years incarceration, and the ensuing end of apartheid in South Africa. Turnley was also present in New York City at "Ground Zero" on September 11, 2001, and in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He photographed the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama and produced a multimedia piece on this occasion for CNN.[9"

 

[nikos79]

Peter Turnley is undeniably talented and a very good photographer, though I’ve noticed he tends to repeat himself, often gravitating toward scenes of couples in love — almost to the point of obsession.

 

[nikos79]

If you were asked to compile a list of the ten greatest photographers in history who you most admire, rating 1 to 10 (best being 1) what would it be?

For me it would be:-

1 Eugene Atget
2 HCB
3 André Kertész
4 Josef Sudek
5 Robert Doisneau
6 Frank Meadow Sutcliffe
7 Fox Talbot
8 Arthur Fellig
9 Sebastião Salgado
10 Jacques Henri Lartigue

So glad you put Lartigue there

 

[GregY]

Peter Turnley is undeniably talented and a very good photographer, though I’ve noticed he tends to repeat himself, often gravitating toward scenes of couples in love — almost to the point of obsession.

if you had seen the carnage P Turnley has photographed in his life....you might look at the 180° view as well....

 

[GregY]

There's quite a range of appreciation here with a heavy weighting on photojournalistic/urban/street style

 

[snusmumriken]

if you had seen the carnage P Turnley has photographed in his life....you might look at the 180° view as well....

I think you guys are confounding Peter and David Turnley. They are both PJs, have both covered major world conflicts, and have photographed Paris at length. And they are twins. But different.

 

[GregY]

I think you guys are confounding Peter and David Turnley. They are both PJs, have both covered major world conflicts, and have photographed Paris at length. And they are twins. But different.

So i have...Peter is the brother who's lived in Paris for 50 yrs....

 

[Carnie Bob]

Edward Steichen is now my all time fave for a couple of reasons, 1. he did multilayer gum prints over palladium in 1904 2. he curated The Family of Man.