Favorite landscape photographers

Glenn McCreery · November 16, 2016

My interest in landscape photography started when I purchased a 4x5 view camera and attended Ansel Adam's Yosemite Institute in the late 70's, so the majority of my favorites tend to be the older generation of film photographers. My criterion for favorite is; if I owned one of their prints, would I frame it and hang it on my wall? My list includes, in no particular order,

Ansel Adams

Brett Weston

Edward Weston

Wynn Bullock

Galen Rowell

Eliot Porter

Paul Caponigro

William Garnett

George Tice

John Sexton

Bradford Washburn

More recent photographers that I appreciate include Marc Adamus, Trey Ratcliff, and William Lau. I am sure that there are many more landscape photographers whom I might appreciate, so I would like to hear of your favorites.

JDMvW · November 16, 2016

Some of the post-modernists have been attacking poor old Ansel now for some years. Or hadn't you heard? It's so passé to like Adams.

I think it says almost everything about Adams's critics that they find William Mortensen (aka, the Antichrist) superior to Adams. Love them gorilla suits, I guess.

I'd sure go with your non-exclusive list, meself.

(And yes, I am a grouchy mood today. Want to make something of it?)

Didier Lamy · November 16, 2016

Michael Kenna? Not my favorite, still Adams

david_henderson · November 16, 2016

I'm not terribly excited by the work of the old classic landscapers such as Glenn McCreery mentions. Not that I don't like any of their work at all , but even a lot of Adams' work leaves me quite cold these days, and I tend to prefer a rather more contemporary and interpretative approach.

So for me I'd rather spend time looking at these guys, several of whom I'd struggle to justify classifying as dedicated landscape photographers.

David Maisel

Michael Kenna

Edward Burtynsky

Roman Lorenc

Hans Strand

Guillermo De Angelis

Bruce Percy

Nadav Kander

david_henderson · November 16, 2016

If I'd spent a bit more time on my post above I might have added--

Julian Critchley

David Burdeny

Michael Yamashita

A few photographers who may well have been influenced by Kenna for at least part of their career.

Josef Hoflehner

Michael Levin

Rolfe Horne

Glenn McCreery · November 16, 2016

Thanks for pointing out Michael Kenna. I like his work. He uses a lot of pure black in his photos, reminiscent of Brett Weston.

mark_miranda2 · November 17, 2016

Adams, Rowell, Sexton, the Westons, Joe Cornish and Peter de Graaff (check out his image of El Cap in Yosemite on Flickr) yeah they're a bunch of old timers, but they've been the most influential for me.

david_henderson · November 17, 2016

Sorry, made a mistake on my 8.46 post above. First entry should be

Jonathan Chritchley

Julie H · November 17, 2016

HiRise. Fresh, original, exciting, moving; never boring.

See <a href="https://unrealnature.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/mars_01.jpg">here</a> or <a href="https://unrealnature.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/mars_02.jpg">here</a> or do a Google Image search.

charles_stobbs3 · November 18, 2016

No specific names come to mind but for me a landscape without some trace of human existence seems

bleak and cold like a NASA shot of mars or the moon. I need a path, a road, a fence, a barn, maybe even a

power line. (I don't think a vapor trail is adequate.) Therefore many of Adams, etc, don't appeal.

Glenn McCreery · November 18, 2016

Julie- I like your second example. However, I like it best upside-down, it then appears to me to be a flock of birds flying over terrain.

Julie H · November 18, 2016

Glenn, the This Is Mars book from which I took those is just gorgeous. If you're interested, I would highly recommend it. Took me completely by surprise.

Charles Stobbs, back in 1993, Komar and Melamid did world surveys, country by country, of what people want in a picture. Landscapes -- with people -- won almost everywhere. They then made paintings that met the preferences from the surveys. The USA painting is of mountains, a lake, and has George Washington, three pilgrims and three deer in it.

See <a href="http://awp.diaart.org/km/usa/most.html">the USA painting here</a>. See <a href="http://awp.diaart.org/km/surveyresults.html">the survey results here,</a> and <a href="http://awp.diaart.org/km/painting.html">the paintings they made for each country here</a>. [Note that in almost all country's the least favorite was any kind of abstract.]

cegeiss · November 19, 2016

Thanks for pointing me to a few new landscape photographers. I like many of their images but they won't replace the Ansel Adams in my house (I wish it was an original :-). For very personal reasons I'd like to add

Jim Brandenburg

to the list.

Julie, the Komar and Melamid project is fascinating, though one has to wonder whether the average of thousands of surveys really produces favorites or simply averages filtered through the preferences of the two artists. HiRISE images (which I find absolutely cool), due to their often abstract nature, should not make it onto anybody's favorite list. Of course the camera takes thousands (millions ?) of images - most of them probably excruciatingly boring, except for the guys who study Martian geomorphology, except for the few that are chosen for publication in a book. For the same reason some of Washburn's aerial survey photographs are rather pleasing abstracts, but many are just dreadfully uninspiring (mostly taken for documentary purposes I assume).

Didier Lamy · November 19, 2016

"they won't replace the Ansel Adams in my house"

idem at my home

Julie H · November 19, 2016

I guess it's impossible for me to say that I like *both* Ansel Adams and the HiRise pictures, though for very different reasons. I didn't realize this was a zero sum game.

I'm dumbfounded that anybody could find any picture of Mars "boring." (However, since you said it, I do believe you're telling the truth.) I remember the very first picture from Mars, from one of the Rovers, of a flat bunch of red mud and rocks. It gave me chills. I was awestruck. And I still am.

As to "except for the few that are chosen for publication," isn't that what photography is? Before, during and after? Or are all of your pictures spotted at first glance, and executed perfectly with none that are boring or worse?

If it's a photograph, and it's a landscape, it qualifies as a landscape photograph.

charles_freeland · November 19, 2016

Do "sky-scapes" count? If so, have a look at a remarkable book, 'The Last Cosmology' by Kikuji Kawada (2015). A true visionary. For some unusual photographs of trees and forests, seek out 'Spirit of Forest', by Kiyonaga Yasuo (2007), a large format landscape photographer who does much alteration of his images, giving them a ghostly look. While I do admire many of the famous photographers listed by other posts, these two Japanese photographers are my current favourites.

Julie H · November 20, 2016

Charles, I don't think Kikuji Kawada is going to squeak through — and I don't think he'd want to, do you?

On Japanese landscape photographers, what do you think of Toshio Shibata? He's nothing like your favorites, but he's also nothing like traditional landscape photographers. (I like him very much.)

cegeiss · November 20, 2016

I study enough scientific images for a living that I can find plenty of them boring in an artistic sense. That does not diminish their scientific value. Some may even have artistic merit. I do not dispute that HiRISE produces plenty of landscape images, however, the original post asked about "favorite landscape" photographers. A machine that mindlessly snaps image after image, based on previously selected target coordinates won't make it on my list.

steve_rasmussen · February 18, 2017

Josef Muench, David Muench and Tom Till.

donbright · March 6, 2017

Christopher Burkett. The remaining color film and print Photographer relying exclusively on wet print developing. Utilizing the last of Cibachrome chemistry who's work can be seen at the Photography West Gallery studio in downtown Carmel on Dolores St. There's no explaining the impact that his Photographs have on the eye unless you see them in person. There's no better definition of the Phenomenon of, "Depth," until you see these prints in person. Galleries throughout the US.

http://christopherburkett.com

david_henderson · March 6, 2017

Don. I have an opposite view on Burkett. I've seen his work "in the flesh" - mostly in Cannon Beach- and always been a bit disappointed because for me, it doesn't live up to what I've seen online. I do wonder how many prints these increasingly aged luminaries like Burkett, Tom Till, the Muenches, Fatali etc are selling these days vs a decade or two ago. Maybe I've got it wrong, but I do wonder whether the world hasn't moved past red rocks in Velvia? Don't get me wrong I liked this stuff too- and I'm looking at a bookcase full of their work and the UK equivalents. But things change, and I guess I have too.

steve_rasmussen · March 8, 2017

David-- Yes there has been a change in landscape style. There seems to be a trend of under saturated and unpolarized. I have seen my share of bleached out, nearly white skies, foliage with nasty reflections and burned highlights in the scene. I believe that this style was brought about by the move to digital by most shooters. Editors/publishers came to expect this understated look and so when film was submitted for publication, it was considered "dated". The style pendulum has swung too far into the understated camp in my opinion but I agree that Velvia, when abused was too far in the saturated camp. Velvia could not be used in all landscape cases and that got shooters in trouble. I do like the Provia compromise.

MTC Photography · March 27, 2017

http://news.qq.com/photon/zaixianyingzhan/qinyuhai.htm

Qin Yuhai specialized in photographing reflex pattern on water surfaces using large scale Sinar 8x10" camera

Edited April 1, 2017 by MTC Photography

Mary Doo · March 28, 2017

A living legend? David Muench for me. It's not just the images, it's how broad and extensive this man's experience is. I went to a few trips with him. Loved his easy compositions and gentle manners. Not the greatest instructor, but somehow his photos came out just "right" with an inspirational flair. I asked him about composition, to my surprise he said Mary I never learned these things until later in my life (i.e., when he had to teach). :) He is a natural. Edited March 28, 2017 by Mary Doo

rossb · March 29, 2017

I do not pay much attention to landscape photography really but I guess Michael Kenna would be my favorite. He is actually the only famous landscape photographer that I know the name of that shoots film. I saw him on you-tube.

DavidTriplett · March 29, 2017

I guess it's impossible for me to say that I like *both* Ansel Adams and the HiRise pictures, though for very different reasons. I didn't realize this was a zero sum game.
I'm dumbfounded that anybody could find any picture of Mars "boring." (However, since you said it, I do believe you're telling the truth.) I remember the very first picture from Mars, from one of the Rovers, of a flat bunch of red mud and rocks. It gave me chills. I was awestruck. And I still am.
As to "except for the few that are chosen for publication," isn't that what photography is? Before, during and after? Or are all of your pictures spotted at first glance, and executed perfectly with none that are boring or worse?
If it's a photograph, and it's a landscape, it qualifies as a landscape photograph.

Julie, first pictures from the Mars rovers? I guess I'm telling my age when I echo your astonishment, but in regards to the first images from the Viking missions, back in the 70's. A photograph does not need to have solely artistic intent to be beautiful. The first images of the Earth from the Moon, taken with a Hasselblad on the Apollo missions, are incredibly beautiful and moving, even with the embedded scale hashes. Being a bit of a nerd, I find much technical photography very engaging, both artistically and from the standpoint of the craft involved in capturing and processing the images. Take, for example, much of the imagery captured by the Hubble. It is the essence of technical photography, but the subject matter combined with its processing and presentation is extraordinarily beautiful and awe-inspiring. Another case would be a microphoto of syphilis taken with polarized light, and printed on a necktie. It was an amazing piece of abstract art, and I truly wish I had purchased it when I had the chance. It would have been a great conversation starter as well...

Edited March 29, 2017 by DavidTriplett

Julie H · March 29, 2017

David, I'm going to just blather on a little here in response to your post, since we seem to be on the same vibe ...

There's a whole line of thought that considers what happened when instrumentation took us to places we can't go; when we have to trust in the instrument. But from a non-scientific point of consideration, "landscape" for many people, is something, the beginning of which or the near end of which, you (could) stand on. I think the moon turned into a "landscape" when the first astronaut jumped up and down on it. A landscape is felt. It has weather.

When I look at Hubble pictures (which I love: who doesn't), I can feel my mind kind of groping around for how I *might* stand on or in those places; or just how to make them into places (where one could be). Bringing that down to earth, if I look for a "landscape" what am I looking for? Only certain places are landscapes (I'll drop the quotes), but I seem to know them when I see them; it's the same thing that I seem to think I can find in the Hubble pictures. Whatever it is, something in me thinks it knows it when it sees it. Like a birddog knows a scent.

DavidTriplett · March 29, 2017

Landscape, cityscape, seascape, moonscape, stellarscape... From where I sit these are all the same kind of image, just of different flavors. They all illustrate/memorialize some segment of the universe in which we live, whether or not we can actually be there. From this standpoint, Hubble has as much validity as Adams. Just sayin'...

rossb · March 30, 2017

I am going to be a volunteer at Pinnacles National Park starting this Saturday so I imagine I will be taking some landscapes. However I was not going to carry a camera while on duty. I will just come back on my as I find a view that I think should be photographed. I shoot 35mm B/W so it's not going to be a grand thing. My job will be out on the trails so I will see the entire park over and over.

I did look up some of the photographer names that were mentioned and I think they are all really great. .

MTC Photography · August 29, 2017

Qin Yuhai exhibition:

ebb and flow

Julie H · August 29, 2017

.............

Martin, I don't think any of the claims that are made on the video are true. While the work is lovely, I've seen that kind of water photography done by many other photographers.

I think Roni Horn's Dictionary of Water or Gursky's Bangkok among others, are much more interesting and original.

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