Who was your biggest influence in photography?

[Mike Gammill]

<p>For me, it would be my father. He was a self-taught photographer. He got interested in photography while assigned to the U.S.S. Yorktown CV-10 during WWII. There  he was befriended by the ship's motion picture photographer, Jeff Corey (yes, he was the actor by the same name). After the war, Dad edited a weekly newspaper and out of necessity learned to take photos and process them. I watched him and immeditately became interested. I was developing and printing in our home darkroom by the time I was 10 years old. I learned most of what I know about developing and printing, as well as photography from him. As a young adult, I helped him and my mother operate a family camera shop. And as knowledgeable as he was, he was never too proud to learn from me when I began to pick up some photo techniques on my own.</p>

[brucecahn]

<p>Edward Weston</p>

[john schroeder]

<p>My father was a camera geek.  The apple dosn't fall too far from the tree.  He tought photography to kids in 4-H durring the late Seventies and early Eighties.  He loved to take pictures of flowers.  I grew up listening to his talks and watching the films Eastman-Kodak would send to him for his 4-H kids.  The second biggest influence would be Dorthea Lang.  We had a few books which talked about her work and I spend a great deal of time looking at her photographs.</p><div></div>

[nickjeftic]

<p>Sven Niqvist.</p>

[luca_stramare2]

<p>My father. He put a camera in my hands a loooong time ago, and the result was that by the age of ten I was able to properly expose Kodachrome with my eyes as a meter. Then a friend of mine, for whoum the "which camera or which lens should I buy" thread was basically useless. He spent all his life using the same camera and lens: a Leica with a 35 mm lens he bought used from a Wemacht soldier in exchange for some food in the last days of WWII. There is where I learnt the lesson that saying "I want a camera that makes good pictures" is onyly advertising lingo. From then on, I would say I had no real master, but I learnt a lot looking at pictures everywhere, from magazines to exibitions, and, whenever I found a picture I liked (and I could have made as well, I cannot travel in places where only  NG photographers go) I kept asking what attracts me, how is made and how I can make it. Maybe this is the reason why I am still addicted to film cameras and normal (50 mm) or slightly wide (35 mm) lenses.</p>

[Karim Ghantous]

<p>Luca, I wish I had the ability to meter visually. I guess it's just a matter of experience eh?<br>

Biggest influence? That might be Gene Smith or Cecil Beaton. But I got interested in photography because of the art form itself, not due to any photographer. Only after that did I start looking at the work of others.</p>

[luca_stramare2]

<p>It was a matter of necessity. My first camera (lended by my father) was a Kodak Retinette and it did not had a meter. At that time (late '70s) separate meters were quite expensive, as it was developing and printing. Each time I pressed the shutter button it was money gone. I was loading the camera in the dark to squeeze a couple of pictures more out of a 20 or 36 exposures roll of Kodachrome, and whenever possible I was buying expired and close to expiration film at discount prices. When I got the Fujica STX with the TTL meter I felt like a king, but after some time of getting addicted to it I realised I lost something. Maybe I should buy a good used old camera and refresh this skill. It really helped me to learn to "see the light".</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>It appears that a lot of people were influenced by their fathers. Me too.<br>

My father was a part time wedding photographer from the early 1960s to the mid 1990s. He started out using a plate camera and was sent out with ten glass plates and told to make every one count.  He then moved on to Rolleiflexes and Nikon F series cameras. It was probably the bag of Nikon gear which fascinated me most and got me interested.</p>

 

[steve m smith]

<p>Editor seems to be playing up.  Adding spaces and odd characters!<br />EDIT: (managed to edit it back into sense).</p>

[tholte]

<p>All the photographers who contributed to Life, Look and National Geographic magazines when I was kid growing up in the 1960's.  The photos wowed me then and they still wow me now.  We are fortunate here in Milwaukee to have a photo gallery (VP Gallery) that displays and sells original prints from many of the Life photographers and current National Geographic photographers (Steve McCurry).  Very motivating to see the actual prints on the wall.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

<p><br /> Primarily my father, who taught himself the basics of optics, developing and printing while stationed on Guadacanal and who built his own processing tanks, and enlarger using salvaged optics from otherwise broken binoculars. He'd take pictures of his fellow soldiers , develop and print them and sell the small prints for a nickel or a dime. Much later he showed me how to develop film and print; first late at night in our kitchen in Corpus Christi,  and later in Houston in a small closet we used as a darkroom. He was an engineer and used his photography to document projects he was working on and when I got older I'd help him with that. I still have his twin lens Rollei f/3.5 his younger brother bought for him in post war Germany. I also have to put in a good word for my mother who has lived with this craziness for decades.<br>

Secondly, the guy who introduced me to really <em>seeing</em> like a photographer sees and about making money doing just that: Jay Maisel. I cannot say enough good words about how great a teacher Jay is in so many ways. He is just a wonderful person and a deeply talented artist . I highly recommend his  workshops in Santa Fe and elsewhere, including his own studio (A four story converted bank building in New York City).  http://www.jaymaisel.com<br>

Finally, someone I met only briefly: Jodi Cobb. I spent an afternoon with her at David Burnett's old agency while she edited a presentation she was giving in NYC that night. I learned a lot from that. Also a wonderful strong willed, brave human being photographer and a sensitive photographer . She is one of the unsung heroines of the National Geographic.</p>

<p>Thank you for the opportunity to acknowledge these people. it is a great way t o start the day.</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>Dr Richard Beeching - he was responsible for ripping up our local railway branch line in the 1960s. It was this that made me shoot my first 'serious' photograph. </p>

[DickArnold]

<p>Life magazine and the depression photographers. I grew up when photography dominated the visual media in WWII.  When I went to work in for the local paper in 1996 after I retired because a photographer with the paper was instrumental in hiring me.  She wanted some relief and she and the editor thought I had a enough of the basics to do the job.  She and I then developed and printed all the contacts for the paper and did almost all of the picture taking.  She is a real artist and an instinctively fine photographer and she regularly published artsy pictures.   We argued at times but she forced me into learning a whole lot.  She probably would not like it if I used her name.   Our darkroom was under a stairwell and we both probably came away contaminated from unvented fumes.  She did more of the developing and printing than I did.  We used TMax 400 and 3200 which the printers butchered on occasion.   I learned an enormous amount there and I knew quite a bit before that.   I loved doing it and it prompted me to form my own photo business.  I stayed with the paper for about seven years.   I think I grew a lot as a photographer from the experience.  </p>

[gman]

<p>My dad was not much into photography!  So, one of my biggest influences would be Michael Freeman.  I enjoyed reading his books and learned much about photography from him.  I also would say Carl Shipman was a good influence.  I thoroughly read his How To Select & Use Canon Cameras plus his Understanding Photography HP Photobooks.   As time passed, I also learned much from John Shaw and his nature photography books.</p>

[sionnac]

<p>Personally, Matt Pearson, photographer, and Vaughn Sills, photographer and professor at Simmons College. Also hugely influenced by Josef Sudek, Josef Koudelka, Bill Burke, Sally Mann and Eudora Welty, all amazing photographers.</p>

[stp]

<p>No single person.  It was the act of having in my hands a camera in which the aperture and shutter speeds could actually be adjusted.  That enabled me to record the experiences of a new land and new culture, a place that I was seeing with new eyes, as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  After cancer tried to kill me, that sense of wonder I experienced as a Peace Corps Volunteer expanded to include the natural world.  Photography simply enhances the experience of living.  I admire others who share the same passion, but no one person sparked my own passion.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>My dad. He shot 1,000's of 35mm slides during the '60s on all of our family trips thoughout the USA.  Then I got my first cheap plastic camera and the thrill of getting the prints back a day or two later from K-mart was like heroin to me.<br>

Then when I was a frosh in high school I saw an original movie these classmates made -- about 6 reels long of 8mm film.  That did it.  Our H.S. had a nice B&W lab so I bought a Minolta 102 and learned the darkroom and became a photographer for the school album, newspaper, sports teams as well as a super 8 shooter for the basketball teams and videographer for the marching band; I also was the most reliable rock concert photogrrapher in the area. I always got the best tickets.<br />I have never met a famous photographer outside of news shooters locally. However, many Photo.net top shooters are my continued inspiration as was Galen Rowell.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>The lines formatting got messed up above when I tried to edit it so I gave up.<br>

Anyway -- a photo from way back from my main inspiration:</p><div></div>

[alex_lofquist]

<p>My wife. She said "Get out there and make some money!"</p>

[jack_welsh]

<p>My father, too. He bought Minolta SRT's for his medical needs. Later, he gave me all of his equipment. He went to Vietnam several times to teach the doctors, there. One day, I was looking at his slides, saw a PBR in Can Tho. Thought that would be the best thing to sign up for. Having always loved the sea, boats and ships. But. got turned down by the military. Which could be why I'm still here!</p>

[luca_stramare2]

<p>Alex. Actually my wife is my biggest "negative influence" in photography:<br>

- Another camera/lens/accessory? Don't you already have one?</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>My mom, who encouraged me by giving me my first darkroom kit when I was 9 (wish I still had that contact printer); my step-dad Hal, an independent filmmaker; Phil, a free-lancer who did stills for Hal, and who patiently answered my pesky questions; my friend Warren who shared his darkroom with me and kept me company during our teenage street photo forays around Mount Vernon and NYC; Don, our photo and darkroom instructor at the "Y" in Mount Vernon.</p>

[mcpoljak2003]

<p>Michael Ray</p>

[aginbyte]

<p>I used to be a director in the film industry in Los Angeles and worked many years with a Director of Photography named Bob Ebinger (currently living in Montana).  His patient and deliberate style allowed me to learn so much of what it takes to make a real photograph, from lighting and composition to navigating different stylistic choices.  After these many years, I would like to thank him for giving me my eyes.</p>

[profhlynnjones]

<p>I was lucky to have known over 2 dozen world famous photographers, especially in the 50's and 60's as well as latter day shooters. </p>

<p>However, I became my own biggest influence because I hated every thing I shot, even though I was selling a fair amount.  I graduated from 3 schools of photography, completed 2 correspondence courses, many conventions, every meeting, seminar, and workshop available to me. </p>

<p>Eventually I became competent in several areas but since I now teach photography, I always make a genuine effort to improve the skills of my students and the profession as effortlessly as possible.  </p>

<p>Lynn</p>