Which image never ceases to inspire you

Tosh

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Hi everyone

I only joined today and still trying to find my way about.

I've been away from photography for almost 16yrs - that seems almost a lifetime!!

Although I haven't participated in this hobby, I've still admired and appreciated the work of others, which made me ask myself earlier.
Which image is "the" image that captures what you think photography is all about.

For me it's a picture I first saw in one of the Time-Life books years ago. The image in question is by Mary Ellen Mark and is titled "Sorrow At Parting" the emotion in that picture seems to affect me as I grow older. I find it just incredible.


Forgive the quality - just snapped it with the tablets camera!
 

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cliveh

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This:-

http://the-storytime.tumblr.com/post/20353466920/military-appraisal-at-moscow-trolley-stop-1954

The reason being it is a photographer’s picture and probably not appreciated as much by the general public. In this image I think HCB has made a compromise between composition (not a great composition) and moment. What makes it really brilliant is not just the expression of the woman on the left, but the fine line between the woman on the right and the profile of the woman in the distance. One of his quotes reads thus:- The difference between a good picture and a mediocre picture is a question of millimetres – small, small difference. But it’s essential. I don’t think there’s so much difference between photographers, but it’s that little difference that counts, maybe. - Henri Cartier-Bresson -quoted in the interview by Sheila Turner Seed. [cited in: “Popular Photography, May 1974, p. 142 “Henri Cartier-Bresson”]
In this picture we have proof of this quotation.
 

TXFZ1

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Lots of images provide inspiration to me but today I pored over W. Eugene Smith, "Tomoko in the Bath." It is an icon of love, devotion, and man's own destruction. Every time I see it, these feelings are exemplified.

David
 

Jim Jones

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The iconic Yousuf Karsh portrait of Hemingway, an example of someone's image rising above his painful and tumultuous life.
 

Old-N-Feeble

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In this forum, I can't post the images that inspire me.
 

naeroscatu

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I've seen actual prints of Adams and Yousuf works in an exhibition. Mind blowing, any of them.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Thomas Bertilsson

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Mark Fisher said:
Almost anything by Fan Ho. View attachment 92989
Click to expand...

I really love his work too. I received as a gift his 'Hong Kong Yesterday' book, which has your attached picture as a front cover.
Fan Ho is so undervalued in the grand scheme of things. You can even buy prints at 'reasonable' prices today.
 

Jaf-Photo

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Almost any image from Joel Meyerowitz' Cape Light.

The deceptive simplicity of those images remind me that it's all about the light and your own vision, beyond any rules of composition.
 

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johnha

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This one: 'Relaying the 'James Caird' across the ice' - by Frank Hurley:
http://images.rgs.org/imageDetails.aspx?barcode=24161

It inspires me on several levels:
1) It's a bit bizarre.
2) It shows enormous spirit in adversity - they have lost their ship and are thousands of miles from help in the Antarctic but still fighting for survival.
3) Technically the photograph is a huge achievement given the conditions Hurley was working in and the equipment he had - makes any 'gear/film related' excuses seem lame by comparison.
 

mauro35

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Can´t find one in particular, or maybe I cannot find any. What drives my photography is to be able to finally make that one image and I hope I´ll never manage, so I can continue photographing.
 

Curt

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TXFZ1 said:
Lots of images provide inspiration to me but today I pored over W. Eugene Smith, "Tomoko in the Bath." It is an icon of love, devotion, and man's own destruction. Every time I see it, these feelings are exemplified.

David
Click to expand...

Yes, my first thought was of a shot from that series. W. Eugene Smith never ceased to influence me. Country Doctor, The Walk to Paradise Garden, and all the other great images! Wow!
 
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