cd thacker Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 If you had to come up with a list of five names - your favorite photographers - in descending orders, what would they be? Would you have trouble listing that many? Or difficulty limiting it to so few? Would they all be Leica users? Or only some of them?<P> My list of favorites keeps changing. But certain names remain, a pantheon of immutable influences and transcendent images.<P> 1) <a href=http://www.cosmopolis.ch/eggleston7.jpg>William Eggleston</a><P> The little bit of his work that I saw in the seventies is what led me to believe in the possibilities of photography. It still does.<P> 2) <a href=http://www.geh.org/ne/str090/htmlsrc2/m199007010056_ful.html#topofimage>Ralph Gibson</a><P> Rich and lush. An acquired taste. Having acquired it, I find looking at his work to be like bathing in an effervescent pool in the middle of a country glade. In a word, refreshing.<P> 3) <a href=http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/infima/frank.html>Robert Frank</a><P> Also an acquired taste for me, I enjoy the fact that his view of Americans, made in the 50's, has lost none of its edge and bite and honesty today (no wonder he met with hostility). I also admire the way he kept transcending his work, if not himself.<P> 4) <a href=http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/winogrand/winogrand_new_mexico_full.html>Garry Winogrand</a><P> It's amazing to me how contemporary looking these images remain. <P> 5) For me, spot number five is a toss up between <a href=http://www.terra.com.br/sebastiaosalgado/>Sabastiao Salgado</a>, <a href=http://www.porto.art.br/bresson/>HCB</a>, and <a href=http://www.artland.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/meyerowitz/0217A.html?L+scstore+nnnn4435ff1df61d+1024144634>Joel Meyerowitz</a> (which, I suppose, is just a way of turning my five name list into a seven name one).<P> What about you? Who's on your list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd thacker Posted June 15, 2002 Author Share Posted June 15, 2002 Sorry - couple'a these links are cracked - dunno what happened - anyway, you get the idea. it's late - I'm off to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nesrani Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I find it hard to like _all_ of a photographer's work, so I don't really have favourite photographers as such, but I would list the following five: Mary Ellen Mark - for Falkland Road. The greatest loss to colour photography, her black and white is formulaic and sterile IMO. Robert Frank - for The Americans. Luc Delahaye - for Winterreise. Joel-Peter Witkin - his work is an extraordinary investigation of corporeal reality as destiny. Lee Friedlander - for his shadows and reflections series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy_sadek Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Normally, we talk Leica talk. However, I'll play along because I'm curious what other people like. I won't stick to 5, but I'll say no list of mine could be complete without Eggleston, Nachtwey, Elliot Erwitt, Eugene Smith, Ansel, or Weston. Elliot Erwitt is an M user, and he takes great M-style photos. I can't figure why he isn't more popular. The man's photos are fabulous. If you can, go buy his new book "snaps". It's great! -Ramy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nesrani Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Ramy - what is an M-style photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcg Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Kudos to Rob on many of his choices. But regardless, I'd vote: 1) Joel-Peter Witkin, consistent genius who cd care less about public opinion; 2) HCB for his half dozen seminal images; 3) Bravo, humble academic w/ an exquisite eye; 4) Edward Weston, whose middle work was dead-on for endless shots; and 5) A grab bag of Kertesz, Koudelka, Gibson, John Brownlow, Meatyard & Man Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramy_sadek Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Rob, by "M-style photo" I mean one that seems most easily taken with a rangefinder. Erwitt's pictures are a great example of this. Of course, they could be taken with anything, but I look at them, I see what was happening before and during the shot, and it seems that in that situation, a rangefinder would be perfect. I should think it was self-explanatory, but perhaps it wasn't. -Ramy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Five, in no order of preference one above the other. Most chosen for their specific influence and impact on my own personal vision, especially when I was first starting out. Arnold Newman... for his inventive portrait work. As a young artist/painter/designer, I gravitated to his sharp, design oriented insights about the artists, writers and composers he photographed. I own his rendition of Stravinsky, and editions of his books that he signed for me. Duane Michals: For his psychological story telling. "Alice's Mirror" significantly impacted me, and played a role in my own ability to tell a visual story using more than one picture. I use that to this day when shooting candid wedding sequences, or concepting TV film. I also have his work in my home, as well as signed books. (Psycologically speaking, Ralph Eugene Meatyard is right up there with Michals). Robert Doisneau: For his sense of humor. Proving that photography need not take itself so seriously to produce seriously great images. His "Picasso and the loaves" sits on top of my "fridge" as a constant reminder to "lighten up". ( Lartigue would be my second choice for this category). HCB: blah, blah, blah, etc. etc., for all the obvious reasons. He 's the reason I own a Leica. I've owned and sold many of his prints over the years, but I'll never give up my print of "Mattise with the doves" which is one of the best renditions of light I've ever seen. A very close second in this period is Andre Kertesz, who's "Satiric Dancer" also graces my wall. Gee only five huh? Sarah Moon and Stanley Kubrick: in a dead tie for their influence on me right NOW concerning color work. IMO, Sarah Moon is the freshest, most inventive color photographer in the world today. Kubricks' available light film technique totally changed how I shoot candid color images. To achieve the look in "Barry Lyndon" and "Eyes wide shut" requires very fast lenses and extremely slow shutter speeds ( thus my need for Nocti and Lux lenses, as well as some Contax,Canon and Nikon speedsters). Digital imaging has played a significant role in my color work due to it's instant feedback when working at such border line shutter speeds and DOF. I do not own a piece of Sarah Moons' work but would sell one of my beloved Ms to do so. A real possibility in the near future, after seeing her book "Concidences". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcg Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Marc, how extraordinary. I too have HCB's "Mattise with the doves" on the wall (11x14, I think). What a wonderful moment he's shared with us. It is not a common or particularly well known print... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bds1 Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 5 maybe not so well known ones.. 1.Jan Grarup http://www.unicef.de/foto/foto12.html 2. Jan Dago http://www.dago.dk/ 3.Paulo Pellegrin http://www.magnumphotos.com/portfolio/pep/images/kosovo/12 h.jpg 4. Tom Stoddart http://www.tomstoddart.com/ 5. Gilles Perres http://www.nytimes.com/specials/bosnia/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I agree Patrick. One has to look beyond all the "over exposed" HCB images ( pardon the photo pun). One of his later images of a person behind a textured glass doorwall is a print I'd love to aquire in future. However, I don't want to come off as a "Collector Snob" here. I also aggressively support local unknown photographers who's images strike me. And I've also purchased images from forum members. Given the financial choice between a print and gear, the print always wins. I recently even gave up an expensive watch to get a picture I wanted. I'm wearing a cheap Timex now. One has to feed ones' soul you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned_learned Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 HCB, Margaret B. White, Gene Smith and the Capa Brothers were the "Founding Fathers" of the vast majority of the pictures we see today. The many other greats built on what they started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_s. Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Elliott Erwitt, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Regina Schmeken, Teiji Saga, Jeff Spirer.</p>And Herlinde Koelbl, Margaret Bourke-White, Inge Morath, Art Wolfe, Fritz Pölking, Volker Derlath, William Eggleston, Wolfgang Tillmans, Michael Nichols, Boris Brecelj,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Edward Weston. Sorry, but I can't whittle it down to only 4 others. How does one choose between Carter-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, and Larry Clark? Between Sudek and Avedon or Paul Strand (picket fence, blind woman, and wall street period)? There are just too many -- Gene Smith, Walker Evans, Lartigue. Perhaps the greatest of all at two of photography's cornerstones Karsch (portraiture) and St. Ansel (landscape). And that's only B&W. If you consider color one must add Ernst Haas and Marie Cosindas. No, it can't be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 In no particular order: Galen Rowell, Arthur Morris, David Muench, Phil Borges, Me. Hey, an ego's a good thing in the arts ;>) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._gurung Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Robert Frank, early Cartier-Bresson, some Giacomelli, Ray K. Metzker, Callahan, Brandt and many others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msitaraman Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I agree with Bill, so the following list is merely the first five that come to mind. Please pardon my trite adjectives; I struggle to verbalize my reactions. Cartier-Bresson - For his sense of geometry and internal equilibrium. Andre Kertesz and/or Willy Ronis, if HC-B did not exist. Graciela Iturbide - for her symbolism, and sense of atmosphere. How do you do that in photography on the fly? Josef Koudelka as an alternate. Or a primary. Daido Moriyama. A choice perhaps colored by having lived in Japan. No question of the very powerful sense of place, time, immediacy, milieu and the Japanese quality of sparse beauty. Copied a thousand times to much lesser effect. Yousuf Karsh - Old hat and hardly anyone sees the innovation now; he is much copied and improvised upon. But no less powerful and masterly for that, to me. Had a hard time choosing him over Arnold Newman though. The grab bag of great PJs. Anthony Suau. Raghu Rai. Luc Delahaye. James Nachtwey. And on and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_chefurka1 Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 James Natchwey - I think "Inferno" is the fines book of committed documentary photography I've ever seen. Jim Marshall - because I lived throught the times. Dave Harvey - for some reason his pictures just resonate with me. Gene Smith - because he's Gene Smith. Steve McCurry - for his sense of colours and cultures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_r._fulton_jr. Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Doug--GOOD question.I wrote down 16 names then stopped.How to manage?I decided to go to a desert island and take along only five photographer's books. These are all books I own, btw. They are all Leica photographers, too.1)Josef Koudelka--Exiles.2)Larry Clark--Tulsa.3)Cartier-Bresson--Decisive Moment.4)Garry Winogrand--Women are Beautiful5)Robert Frank--Americans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_rutledge Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 At first this sounded like a loaded question and I was hesitant to even read this post expecting the same names of the most famous (Leica) photog's over and over and over....What a surprise and great example of the depth and diversity of interest this list attracts versus others to see names few "photographers" I know ,outside of my art school days, have ever even heard of!Meatyard,Witkin,Bravo,Iturbide etc. for example.As for me, most names mentioned hear strike a chord, but I'm extremely partial to Rodchenko. Kratochvil and Pellegrin have held my interest most recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_paul_woodcock Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 HCB, Anton Corbijn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ansel Adams and a bit off topic... Freddie Young (David Lean's Cinematographer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobflores Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I like the irony of Diane Arbus, The compassion of Dorothea Lange, The playfulness of HCB, The mission of Sebastio, and The colors of Eggleston. Of course, every time I trip the shutter, I imagine the perfection of Ansel Adams.... but I rarely, if ever achieve it. b~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 <P>This is my list as of today (it tends to change)- no specific order.<br> I am sorry -but I don't think any of the photographers used/uses Leica. <P><A HREF="http://www.arakinobuyoshi.com/">Nobuyoshi Araki</A>: His combination of poetry, and raw playful curiosity continues to fascinate and disgust me.</P> <P><A HREF="http://www.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html">Jacob A. Riis</A>: Because his photographs actually made a social difference and caused political change. Something which I doubt is possible today (to the same extend).</P> <P><A HREF="http://www.geh.org/fm/amico99/htmlsrc2/moholy%5Fsld00001.html">Laszlo Moholy-Nagy</A>: He made many photographic experiments, and not all were successful, but when he succeeded he was great. And many images still looks unbeliveable fresh and modern. (Laszlo and Man Ray should have been for photography what Duchamp became for modern art. The 'gang' around MOMA's dept. of photography became IMO way too powerful in defining 'art photography')</P> <P><A HREF="http://www.lartigue.org/">Jacques-Henri Lartigue</A>: He happened to live in a wealthy eccentric family which made great photographic subjects. You may argue weather he in fact was a great photographer or not, but his early photographs are so full of life and healthy curiosity. I love to watch his photographs.</P> <P><A HREF="http://members.lycos.nl/fotoworks/index-15.html">Sally Mann</A>: Her universe (both her landscapes and people photography) just totally absorbs me. </P> Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetprince Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 once again Doug, you have inspired me to think a little deeper and a little longer....like many here, i am finding it difficult to name but five of my favourite photographers and so, like others, i reserve the right to ammend and extend my list. whether or not they are Leica users is a mystery to me, but their influence on me is akin to the feeling i get when i myself use a Leica. most of my favourites were black and white photographers whose works were of an era where modern photography was relatively new and some even pioneered styles and perspectives that are today considered common. of course ansel adams and edward weston epitomize mastery of the art, and so naming them as 'my favourites' doesn't say alot. so i will name each photographer in my list as a 'favourite type' of artist, and in so doing my list reflects my varied interests and tastes and is in no way a sequential list of importance. each one is important and stands alone in my reverence for them. 1) david hockney...his juxtapositioning of many images to depict a singular scene and convey visual perception had the most influence on me as a teenager in the 70's and i often adopt his style to do larger works that otherwise would not have the same effect as a single framed print...see "Camera Works" 2) ilse bing (i know she used a leica) because she was just sooOOOoo curious and her camera was her vehicle to the realm of self-expression..mine is as well 3) albert renger-patzsch who made beautiful pictures..glowing images of the most mundane industrial objects which taught me that technical ability is indeed an art unto itself and i am continually learning from his works as some are embedded in my memory and come running to the forefront of my mind each time i raise a camera to my eye. 4) toto frima...who constantly reminds me what it takes to be an artist in this day and age with her polaroids and her clean understanding of the parameters of a photgraphic frame and how everything outside that frame is covered by the concept of individual imagination. 5) gordon parks who struggled with american prejudice and worst of all racism on a professional level. who in spite of these cultural afflictions that our entire world seems to suffer from persevered and through the production of potent imagery affected (and still does) everyone who viewed his photos regardless of their gender, race or creed. most of the others have already been mentioned, such as alexander rodchenko and yousuf karsh but i feel that i have to add to the list margaret bourke-white who helped humanize the subjects of her photos whether they were public figures or everyday folks. thanks again doug, for making me think. ~poetprince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Daido Moriyama, Flor Garduno, Luis Gonzalez Palma, Debbie Fleming Caffery, and Bravo. Not sure what value there is in knowing who I like, but that's today's list. Tomorrow, it might include Clarence John Laughlin and Graciela Iturbide. Other than Palma, I consider all of them influences in one way or another. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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