Who's your favorite photographer, and why?

[Donald Miller]

I would share that I recently reencountered the work of Charles Phillips. I am always in awe when I see his work. For those who have not encountered his work, he is a student of Ansel Adams, having studied under Ansel for two years back in the 70's.

Charles is a wilderness photographer who works in 8X10 black and white and enlarges his work. He has developed a system of masking the camera negative with very precise methods that allow so much more information to be imparted to the print. His prints carry an openess and realism that I have not seen on anyone elses works. His process entails up to seven weeks in creating printing masks before the first image is printed. Talk about dedication!!! I encourage all who have the opportunity to see his work to do so.

 

[brYan]

Wouldn't the simple thing for Charles to do would be to make contact prints on AZO? I'm only guessing that if he did, then several weeks making printing masks would not be necessary.

 

[Donald Miller]

Contact prints from Azo would certainly appear to be an alternative to his process. However I think that his efforts are almost in a league apart from others work, both in results and also in print sizes.

I believe that the advantage to what he does is that he gains greater tonal separation especially notable in the shadows and lower midtones. I have never seen any print to have the degree of tonal separation that he is able to produce.

The other advantage is that he produces large prints. Most commonly 30X40 and larger. So that would not be possible since Azo is limited in it's maximum size. He has indicated a fairly large segment of his sales are to corporate accounts and collectors.

The level of investment that he has in equipment is astounding. One of his enlargers cost $65,000.00. He has designed and produced some custom processing equipment in addition to what he has purchased. This fellow has a level of dedication that is admirable.

 

[Donald Miller]

I am particularly moved at a deep, almost primal, level by the photography of Misha Gordin (www.bsimple.com). I would appreciate hearing from others their reactions to his images. What is your initial reaction?, What does this address within you?, If his work moves you, Why does it move you?

While we are on photographers of the same genre...

What about the work of Jerry Uelsmann? Are you impacted? If so in what way? What does his work accomplish?

Look forward to hearing your responses.

 

[Ed Sukach]

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (dnmilikan @ Feb 23 2003, 07:09 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I am particularly moved at a deep, almost primal, level by the photography of Misha Gordin (www.bsimple.com). I would appreciate hearing from others their reactions to his images. What is your initial reaction?, What does this address within you?, If his work moves you, Why does it move you?

While we are on photographers of the same genre...

What about the work of Jerry Uelsmann?&nbsp; Are you impacted? If so in what way? What does his work accomplish?

Look forward to hearing your responses.</td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
I visited his site. There is a lot of emotionl energy in his work: Somber, almost depressing.

It strikes me that he is making an heroic effort to bring some sort of regimented order to the world as he envisions it ... I would guess as a "reaction formation" to deal with a lot of previous chaos. There is a lot of pain here.
He is working on an alternate plane, and it is always a beneficial stretch to experience - "seeing thorugh the eyes of another.
Somber - and, removing one letter, sober(ing) images. Not "pretty", but successful in modifying my "view of te world" to some small extent.

Uelsmann is not nearly so "dark". What has always struck me about his work is that, while being a skilled technician in producing his work, the "mechanics" have never approached - better to say, "Never interferred with" his aesthetics.
He is a master of arresting our attention by means of incongruities.

 

[Ed Sukach]

Who the heck was asking about the Weston family? I lost my place.

Anyway, there is a web site that may answer any and all questions:

Dead Link Removed

Interesting photography, family history and information about "Wildcat Hill" and the programs there.

 

[David Hall]

Keith Carter. I was thumbing through a book of his last night and was reaquainted with how touched I am by his photographs. It's his use of selective focus, and the subjects he finds.

dgh

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Donald Miller]

Aggie,

You might want to check out www.evolvingbeauty.com. Perhaps if you duplicate this fellows methods from the female perspective a "Sven" may appear as an answer to your wishes.

The alternative is to go to downtown SF and stand on the street corner whistling and saying "Hey Sailer"....

 

[JohnArs]

Saint AA, Westons, Patrick Demarchelier, Horst P. Horst, René Groebli, Henry Cartier Bresson, Ralph Gibson and many more!

 

[Donald Miller]

Sometimes my tongue gets in the way of my eye teeth and I can't see to spell. My previous post should have been "sailor". I hope that you can all read typos.

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Donald Miller]

Aggie, why is it that you have all of the fun???? I feel deprived...maybe it is the color of my hair...yeah, that must be it...

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[philldresser]

I have a raft of favourites but due to my love of monochrome and large format the most influencial must be:
1. Ansel Adams
2. Chip Forelli
3. Rob Gray - www.robgray.com (you should see his vehicle!)
4. Chris Honeysett
5. Barry Thornton

 

[Donald Miller]

Aggie, What else could it be...I mean no one, ever, took a picture of me nude by a rain pool, that I am aware of. Front, back, or otherwise...let alone post it for others to see. I am feeling soooo depressed now...

 

[Ed Sukach]

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (dnmilikan @ Feb 23 2003, 11:19 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Aggie,&nbsp;

You might want to check out www.evolvingbeauty.com. </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
Excellent work here. An *excellent* primer dealing with figure photography.

Anyone intested should check out his Model Release. Written with a slight Canadian legal slant, it conforms closely to what I understand about the legalities of it all.

Take some time when you access this site - there is a LOT to it - and all well worth the time.

 

[bjorke]

I'm not surprised by responses that vary widely from mine, but surprised at how little my favorites are even mentioned:

• W. Eugene Smith -- just crazy enough to believe that his lies were the right way to get at the truth
• Garry Winogrand -- gee, same answer (j/k). For his determination to get at the heart of the very essence of photography as an art form
• Diane Arbus -- for turning a mad life into pictures that grab to this day
• Ralph Gibson -- for his graphic style and realizing that the boundary between the specific and the generic is one of the most interesting in photography
• Sam Abell -- for finding gentle delight in all things, and rewarding the quiet, patient eye
• Gilles Peress -- for seeing boldy what might have otherwise been unseen (one might say the same for Salgado, though his work plays, to me, too heavily on convenient western archetypes -- compare Workers to Telex Iran)
• James Natchwey -- because he keeps coming back alive, and yet remains sane and compassionate
• Robert Bergman -- because the world needs love
• Boris Mikhailov -- for seeing a world full of broken, beautiful things. And people.

I could go on... but nary a craggy mountaintop nor clear-skinned nude in the lot.

 

[bjorke]

Yes, Sturges, Sally Mann, & N. Nixon would be on my list if I were pressed to find large-format favorites. Sturges' recent Irish schoolyard portraits are among the most beautiful I've ever seen.

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

Sturges, Mary Ellen Mark, Zosia Zija, Eugene Atget, Eugene Smith, Dima Zverev.

You'll likely have never heard of Zosia Zija (www.zosia@zija.net) and Dima Zverev (can't remember his link, but a google search should turn it up). I'd highly advise taking a look.

 

[Black Dog]

This reminds me a bit of those top album lists in High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby)...vv difficult to make a choice, but I really love poetic, contemplative photography like Minor White, Sudek, Paul Caponigro and John Blakemore. And Edward Weston remains a real inspiration. In portraiture, Emmet Gowin, Paul Strand, Nick Nixon, Harry Callahan really do it for me.

 

[Eric Rose]

The Zija site is outstanding. Great links to other super sites as well. Well worth the visit.

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

Glad you were able to stop by Zosia's site, Eric. I'm really pulled to her work.

If you haven't found Dima's work, you can see it at photocritique.net. I tried to link his set, but am technologically challenged. Anyway, do a search by photographer and look him up. My personal favorite of his is "Mountain Cow".

 

[Thomassauerwein]

My favorite photgraphers Are Jeanloup Sief and Albert Watson

 

[Eric Rose]

That Dima person is amazing. Great stuff. Aggie ya gotta check it out, right up your alley.