The four greatest photographers?

blansky · Jul 31, 2006

Don't know if it's a coincidence or not but right after seeing Brokeback Mountain, I started to go digital.

The feelings have lessened a bit lately but it was touch and go there for a while.

Michael

roteague · Jul 31, 2006

donbga said:
So did Colin change his name after going digital?

Yes, his name was Richard before.

naturephoto1 · Aug 1, 2006

For me the following are the 4 greatest photographers (which may seem a bit odd for a color photographer):

1) Ansel Adams
2) Edward Weston
3) W. Eugene Smith
4) David Muench

If I were to include others I would include a mix of B&W and Color photographers in no order including: William Henry Jackson, Paul Strand, Eliot Porter, Henri Cartier Bresson, Brassi, Alfred Steiglitz, Art Wolfe, and Alfred Eisenstadt.

Rich

Will S · Aug 1, 2006

1. Edward Weston
2. Paul Strand
3. Frederick Sommer
4. Josef Sudek

and about 250 others that could tie for 4th and 5th...

Helen B · Aug 1, 2006

Four of the photographers whose work has been most important to me are:

Raymond Moore,
Tom Cooper,
Hamish Fulton, and
John Hilliard.

Raymond Moore's work was like a door being opened the first time I saw it. The work of the other three also showed me things I didn't expect because initially I thought that their work was really not my thing at all, each of them in a different way.

Best,
Helen

rfshootist · Aug 3, 2006

One of those, who impressed and influenced me strongly wasn't mentioned yet:

Willy Ronis ( still alive , 96yo) a contemporary of HCB, Brassai, Doisneau, Izis and all the others which stand for what we nowadays call La Photographie Humaine.
He managed to catch the positive moments in the hard life life of the working class and the small bourgeois, a very human, compassionate and mostly optimistic look on the hard life in the less bright quartiers and suburbs.
Doisneau would be in my fab four too, for the same reason, also Brassai and Atget, the latter from different reasons ,tho he was a people shooter too, but in a more documentary way .

All of them were able to connect documentation and art in a perfect way and maybe they influenced me so strongly because this is what fascinates me most in photography. When the documentary element gets lost completely, the thrill is off.

bertram

Jose A Martinez · Aug 3, 2006

Great thread, hard thread, 4 aren't enough

My first 4, I think I'll post another 4 latter

Cristina Garcia Rodero
Josef Sudek
Robert Frank
Koudelka

rfshootist · Aug 3, 2006

Jose A Martinez said:
Great thread, hard thread, 4 aren't enough
My first 4, I think I'll post another 4 latter
Cristina Garcia Rodero

Christina Rodero was a real surprise when I watched her photos the first time, I was deeply impressed !!

bertram

Harrigan · Aug 3, 2006

O'Sullivan
Talbot
Minor White
Atget

Black Dog · Aug 4, 2006

Hmm....this reminds me of that 'fast show' sketch with the blokes in the pub arguing about their ultimate England football (soccer on other side of Pond) team; "Gazza?" "no way mate, too unstable, always stuffing himself with kebabs", "what about Gerrard then-he's dead sound, him?", "nah, Sven always played him in the wrong position"...........LOL "OK, Gordon Banks in goal". "yeah Gordon Banks, no two ways about it".....Anyway back to photographers:

Edward Weston , because so much photography that came afterwards rests on what he did, and because he did so many different things so well.

Kertesz, because HCB himself said "we all owe something to Kertesz".He's a quiet guy who's influence is everywhere.

Atget- contemporary landscape/architectural photography would be so different without him ( excellent book ' Atget the Pioneer' published by Prestel)

Stieglitz-the great facilitator who did so much to establish photography as an art form, and without whom the whole Minor White/Caponigro school of contemplative photography would not exist .

Oh yes, bought an excellent book recently called 'Walker Evans & Company ' (Peter Galassi) which traces many fascinating currents of influence all v. relevant to this thread.
B4N!

Schlapp · Aug 9, 2006

Mr Missone - knocked me out when I first saw his work - and it still does when I look at some of his images most weeks.
Mr Doisneau - just does it for me.

Neanderman · Aug 9, 2006

Walker Evans
Timothy O'Sullivan
Lee Friedlander
Emmet Gowin

zpuskas · Aug 10, 2006

William Henry Jackson
Alexander Gardner
Edward Weston
A. Kertesz

Claire Senft · Aug 10, 2006

Weston, Smith, Adams, Marpplethorpe.

Jose A Martinez · Aug 10, 2006

My today four:

Penn
Lartigue
Atget
Kertesz

Daniel_OB · Aug 16, 2006

Bresson H.
Frank R.
Kertesz A.
Daniel OB

www.Leica-R.com

35mmDelux · Aug 17, 2006

Mr. Ansel Adams, Micheal Kenna, HCB, Mary Ellen Mark

Jose A Martinez · Aug 18, 2006

My today four:

Mary Ellen Mark!!! of course
Rober Frank, again
Don Mc Cullin
Edward Weston

Nes · Aug 21, 2006

There were only three not four

The four greatest photographers throughout the history of the world, there were only three. Those mentioned here are mostly technicians, yes they are or were god craftsmen but photogarphing a nice landscape and getting the exposure right is hardly a great milestone in human history, nor is it in photography. And photography is saturated with good photograpers taking beautiful pictures. However in order to be judged in a world class league aspiring to be among the three, then one must be invisible; for they were just that, and their invisibillity is reflected in their photographs. And in case you do not know who these men were they went by the names: Bresson, Capa and Salgado.

André E.C. · Aug 21, 2006

Nes said:
The four greatest photographers throughout the history of the world, there were only three. Those mentioned here are mostly technicians, yes they are or were god craftsmen but photogarphing a nice landscape and getting the exposure right is hardly a great milestone in human history, nor is it in photography. And photography is saturated with good photograpers taking beautiful pictures. However in order to be judged in a world class league aspiring to be among the three, then one must be invisible; for they were just that, and their invisibillity is reflected in their photographs. And in case you do not know who these men were they went by the names: Bresson, Capa and Salgado.

Funny statement, btw, none of the 3 greats mentioned above print themselves!
Just a curiosity.

Cheers

André

Ole · Aug 21, 2006

... and I wouldn't exactly say that Capa was "invisible"!

HerrBremerhaven · Aug 21, 2006

André E.C. said:
Funny statement, btw, none of the 3 greats mentioned above print themselves!
Just a curiosity.

Cheers

André

Hello André,

Perhaps they all realized that someone else could do a better job printing their negatives than they could accomplish. On the opposite end of that, I know a couple master printers that I could honestly state do more so-so images than great ones, though their prints are all quite fantastique (technically). It does not seem that capturing the images, and expressing the images as prints are equal skills. Wasn't one or more of the Westons having someone else in the family make prints?

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

André E.C. · Aug 21, 2006

HerrBremerhaven said:
Hello André,

Perhaps they all realized that someone else could do a better job printing their negatives than they could accomplish. On the opposite end of that, I know a couple master printers that I could honestly state do more so-so images than great ones, though their prints are all quite fantastique (technically). It does not seem that capturing the images, and expressing the images as prints are equal skills. Wasn't one or more of the Westons having someone else in the family make prints?

Hi Gordon,

As I said, just a curiosity!

Ciao

André

eclarke · Aug 22, 2006

Brett Weston
Ansel Adams
Fred Sommer
Ray McSavaney!!!

My Favorites......

The four greatest photographers?

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