What Photographer Inspires You?

[Nikon Nick]

As the title says; tell us what photographer inspires you. Whether their pro, amateur, well known, unknown, etc. If you can, describe their style and post a link to their website if they have one. Tell us why and/or how they inspire you? What you like about them.

Mine would have to be Jerry Uelsman. He does everything on film and in the darkroom. He style is surreal photo montages, that typically express some form of philosophical or spiritual meaning.

Why I like him is because his photos are so much more then beautiful photos. Their visual poetry that sinks into me , and stay within my mind, forcing to me ponder their meaning. My style isn't even anywhere near his, but even than, his photos inspire my own style to be better. Inspire me as a person to be better than I am. They leave me in awe.

And here's his site (or one made about him, not sure, lol) :

http://www.uelsmann.net/

 

[Sideburns]

I would have to say....

none.

Seriously, there's no one photographer that inspires me. I might see something cool on flickr or on here that gives me a half idea for next time....but I don't draw inspiration from anyone.

I think it's a lot like that in modern photography now that it's more accessible to everyday people.

 

[GoM]

The staff of Sports Illustrated. Chase Jarvis. Joey Lawrence. Some of the stuff I see on here. The legends. daily dose of imagery and other photoblogs. The world around me. Etc.

 

[Joxby]

Irving Penn
90 years old a few months ago, and still banging out fabulous images.
He was featured/interviewed in Julys US Vogue, I only get it for his stuff, US Vogue is kinda hard to come by in England.
Infact he has something in there every month.
living legend

no inspirational image makers ?
thats kinda sad

 

[thebeatpoet]

Oh man, it's so hard to choose, but top three...

1) James Nachtwey - Without a doubt the one photographer who has influenced me the most with his work. I saw War Photographer on CBC many, many years ago and my life has not been the same since. His websitehttp://www.jamesnachtwey.com . His images are the most profound shots I can think of.

2) Steve McCurry - I think his cover picture for National Geographic of the Afghan girl is one of the most powerfully moving portraits ever taken. Ever. Not to mention the rest of his incredible portfolio. His portrayal of the human spirit shines through in each of his photographs.

3) Elliott Erwitt - I don't think I need to say much about one of the legends, his work really speaks for itself.

Galleries for both Stever McCurry and Elliott Erwitt can be found on the Magnum Photo Agency website. http://www.magnumphotos.com

 

[Iron Flatline]

Garry Winogrand or Lee Friedlander re. Hand-Held Photography

Andreas Gursky or Edward Burtynsky re. Urban Scapes

Simen Johan or Ruud van Empel re. Processing and Post-Production

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Chase Jarvis, James Nachtwey, Anne Leibovitz, Joey Lawrence, and Joe McNalley, are the first that come to mind.

But i'm kind of with Sideburns on this one. Regardless of who the shooter is, a good photograph is a good photograph, and junk is junk.

 

[eddiesimages]

www.jeffstine.com

www.toshbrown.com

I've just admired thier work for years and like their style, as well as subject matter.

 

[kissmesweet]

Paolo Rovesi. I love his use of shading, nostalgia and lighting. There's just some really inspiring broken glamour there.

 

[Greatwhite]

Francesco Scavullo.....Annie Leibowitz....

 

[pandinus]

It's not nececarily the photographer who inspires me, but a lot of photos do. Allso paintings and sculptures are a great inspiration to me.

 

[craig]

Whoa!!!!! I say Irving Penn as well. I first got into his work when I was going to SVA (1986-1990). "Passage" is a book every photographer should own.

He is an incredible editorial photographer. I think he has been working with Vogue since day one. I also feel that he brings art into his commercial work like no other. I always pictured him hanging with my other faves Alexi Bodovitch and Jay Maisel. Jay comes to Jackson once a year or so. Proud to say that we have hung out. Not so proud to say I had a portfolio review with him.

And of course all the TPFers.

Love & Bass

 

[Rick Waldroup]

Salgado, Diane Arbus, Donna Ferrato, and Eugene Richards come to mind immediately. There are so many good photographers, both past and present, that it is hard to pick just a few.

 

[danalec99]

The names that quickly comes to my mind are HCB, Elliott Erwitt, Rodney Smith and Chema Madoz.

Craig, this month's Rangefinder has a cool article on Jay Maisel. Click here for the pdf if you are interested.

 

[HDAlien]

Britt Dietz, amazing colors!
www.disneycastmagic.com