A List of Important and Influential Photographers [Archive]

willwilson

26-Feb-2009, 16:41

I started this list in 2002 when I was in college and starved for knowledge on the history of photography. I would love to continue to add to and improve the list. Please look over the list and either suggest some additions or vote for some photographers that you feel need to be moved up the list.

Links to the new additions and photographers already on the list would be great too!

Original photo.net thread:
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?topic_id=23&msg_id=003mcr

Current List (I won't be updating the old txt file from above):
http://www.willwilson.com/thelist.html

If anybody knows of any other list like this I would love to add links so pass those along as well.

Thanks -=Will

Tim Meisburger

26-Feb-2009, 17:17

Well, sorry to see Weegee way down their at the bottom, below Yul Brenner. I think a relatively strong case could be made that Weegee was the single most [I]influential[I/] photographer of the 20th century, creating almost single handed the most profitable genre of still photography, paparazzi or celebrity journalism.

Walter Calahan

26-Feb-2009, 17:19

What? I'm not on the list. Ha ha ha ha ha. My students think I'm influential. Grin.

willwilson

26-Feb-2009, 17:26

Tim, the list is divided into sections by the number of votes received and then alphabetically. When you mention a name on the list make sure to give the full name so everyone can find it...don't forget a link if you've got one!

I gave Weegee another vote which bumped him up the list into the two vote section.

http://www.willwilson.com/thelist.html

pkphotog

26-Feb-2009, 17:30

One vote each for Eugene Atget, Andre Kertesz, August Sander and Carleton Watkins.

Steve M Hostetter

26-Feb-2009, 18:16

waste of good time

willwilson

26-Feb-2009, 19:32

waste of good time

I actually learned quite a bit from this list when I originally put it together. The photographers on it continue to inspire me.

-=Will

Gordon Moat

1-Mar-2009, 17:31

Albert Watson (http://www.albertwatson.net/)

You might also consider Edward Burtynsky (http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/), and Bernd and Hilla Becher (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=8385&ref=calendar).

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

Emil Schildt

2-Mar-2009, 08:12

what a strange list..
I don't even know half of the photographers in there...

but the ones I do know, are missing (in action? ;-))

Nathan Potter

2-Mar-2009, 13:53

William Henry Jackson really ought to be added to the list. One might say his work on documenting the opening of the West was rather documentary and pedestrian in some ways but it is of historic value due to the quality of the results under very trying conditions. He occupies a significant place in photographic history, akin to Edward Curtis.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

willwilson

2-Mar-2009, 14:33

what a strange list..
I don't even know half of the photographers in there...

but the ones I do know, are missing (in action? ;-))

That's the idea. Who's missing?

QT Luong

2-Mar-2009, 16:27

Those lists are fun, but the problem is that who is deemed influential depends vastly of whom is influenced. If you ask people in the art/museum/gallery world, believe me, it is very unlikely that Rowell would get 6 times more votes than Eggleston or 3 times more votes than Atget or Gursky. Given the length of the list, the omission of Shore, possibly one of the most influential in contemporary photography, is surprising.

We had a similar thread on this forum, with the differences that only living photographers were considered, and the criterion was more vague: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=26821

I tallied the thread like you did, resulting in the following, where, as expected, large format photographers are somewhat over-represented:

John Sexton (9)

Paul Caponigro (7)

Alec Soth (6)
George Tice (6)
Michael Kenna (6)
Roman Loranc (6)
Sally Mann (6)
Stephen Shore (6)

Hiroshi Sugimoto (5)
Joel Sternfeld (5)
Robert Adams (5)
Flor Garduno (4)

Gabriele Basilico (4)
Lee Friedlander (4)
Ray McSavaney (4)
Thomas Struth (4)

Andreas Gursky (3)
Brian Kosoff (3)
Clyde Butcher (3)
Irving Penn (3)
Joel Meyerowitz (3)
Keith Carter (3)
Ralph Gibson (3)
Martin Parr (3)
Richard Misrach (3)

Annie Liebowitz (2)
Bruce Barnbaum (2)
Bruce Davidson (2)
Cindy Sherman (2)
David Plowden (2)
Don McCullen (2)
Elliott Erwitt (2)
Gregory Crewdson (2)
Hilla Becher (2)
Jeff Wall (2)
Jerry Uelsman (2)
Mark Citret (2)
Mitch Epstein (2)
Sebastiano Salgado (2)
Ted Orland (2)
Toshio Shibata (2)
William Clift (2)
William Eggleston (2)
Willy Ronnis (2)

mrpengun

5-Mar-2009, 21:51

seems a very 20th century, mostly american-centric list; what about Roger Fenton, Charles and Lady Eastlake, or of course Those William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre.

willwilson

6-Mar-2009, 14:53

List has been updated: http://www.willwilson.com/thelist.html

ic-racer

7-Mar-2009, 09:29

There were photographers on that list I had not heard of. Thanks for posting.

Merg Ross

7-Mar-2009, 10:36

Certainly influential and important, is the work done by Art Sinsabaugh.

I have never understood why his work is not more widely known and appreciated. Perhaps he has been mentioned in this thread, and I missed it.

http://www.indiana.edu/~iuam/online_modules/sinsabaugh/b_main.html

And a bit more.

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/2416.html

al olson

8-Mar-2009, 18:19

I would suggest adding Wynn Bullock and John Fielder.

Merg Ross

8-Mar-2009, 18:42

I would suggest adding Wynn Bullock and John Fielder.

Yes, Wynn Bullock deserves a place on such a list. Thanks for the reminder, Al.

Big Fish

19-Mar-2009, 20:17

Hi Will..

How about Peter Beard?

Big Fish

willwilson

19-Mar-2009, 20:32

List updated. Thanks everyone.

I can't believe Wynn Bullock managed to stay off the list for so long, what a great photographer!

Ed O'Grady

20-Mar-2009, 11:47

I think that Brett Weston deserves a place on this list.

claudiocambon

20-Mar-2009, 11:49

In honor of Frank Petronio, I hereby nominate all the New Topographics artists, of which he is such a fan!

Mark Sawyer

20-Mar-2009, 12:06

Odd that John Paul Caponegro is listed as the fourth most influential photographer, while his father, Paul Caponegro, isn't listed at all...

QT Luong

20-Mar-2009, 13:12

Odd that John Paul Caponegro is listed as the fourth most influential photographer, while his father, Paul Caponegro, isn't listed at all...

But Paul didn't write books on Photoshop, you know ?

Mark Sawyer

20-Mar-2009, 14:22

But Paul didn't write books on Photoshop, you know ?

A sign of the times, I suppose... and I'm surprised that Flickr and Myspace didn't come in first and second! :rolleyes:

Merg Ross

20-Mar-2009, 16:31

I think that Brett Weston deserves a place on this list.

Yes, very near the top.

Henry Carter

20-Mar-2009, 19:33

Shelby Lee Adams is one of the great documentary photographers of our age (and he shoots 4X5).

aphexafx

29-Mar-2009, 16:22

paulr

29-Mar-2009, 21:08

here's a pretty democratic attempt at the same thing ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographers

Greg Miller

30-Mar-2009, 07:35

Saul Leiter should fit in these lists somewhere...

Bob Salomon

30-Mar-2009, 08:25

What about "The father of candid photography"?

Erich Salomon
or Ralph Morse
or Peter Stackpole

bgh

30-Mar-2009, 08:30

here's a pretty democratic attempt at the same thing ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographers

I was delighted to see Jack Boucher's name on that list--he has created a very large part of what amounts to the nation's official memory of historic buildings and structures, and did so quite beautifully. Plus, he's a heck of a nice guy.

Bruce

Steve M Hostetter

30-Mar-2009, 15:31

The late (great)! Reinhard Wolf from Hamburg Germany... The guy was original ,, king of the 900mm-1800mm focal range lenses.. really no one like him. I've got a great shot of him and Andy Worhal standing in front of a mirror...

Steve M Hostetter

30-Mar-2009, 15:41

two pics of Reinhard

mrpengun

11-Apr-2009, 09:29

I am one of the ones who thinks Hiroshi Sugimoto should be on this ~list~.

But, one of his works is used as the cover for the new U2 album (which I happened to notice at the bookstore the other day) - so does that ruin him and make his work "too commercial?” :rolleyes:

No, it was the editions of 1,000 that made his work too commercial :p

I think we're reaching the point of sillyness with the list (and don't get my started on the wikipedia one...); for anyone to have really 'made it', they almost certainly had an influence to whom their works are similar, yet they also make something different to which the next generation can cling to.
It is at the same time too easy to say "Sanders begets the Bechers who begets Gursky, Struth, etc--so Sanders is 'more influential'
but that doesn't really tell the story.
Anything that can be categorized as a "genre" can, in turn, have its own spheres of influence, creating nigh upon infinite numbers of 'influential' people in their fields.
That said, however, it is still a fun topic :-)

aphexafx

12-Apr-2009, 12:41

No, it was the editions of 1,000 that made his work too commercial :p

Ha! But it changes nothing...if I could sell 1000 prints I would in a heartbeat. :) More power to him!

Besides, his architecture series editions are huge 58 x 47 prints produced in editions of five (I believe). That's respectable, isn't it? :D

Plus he's cool.

Anupam

12-Apr-2009, 12:50

Votes for Weegee and Raghu Rai (http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R13L4PM&nm=Raghu%20Rai) (and maybe you can use the Magnum link for him)

Brian Ellis

13-Apr-2009, 14:47

Roman Loranc gets more votes as an influential photographer than Robert Frank? That's amazing. Robert Frank, with "The Americans," was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, some would say THE most influential but almost any student of photography would put him somewhere on a list of the top 10. I happen to know Roman because he was a fellow student in a workshop I attended a few years ago. He's a very very fine photographer and a very nice person. But more influential than Robert Frank?

mrpengun

13-Apr-2009, 15:24

Ha! But it changes nothing...if I could sell 1000 prints I would in a heartbeat. :) More power to him!

Besides, his architecture series editions are huge 58 x 47 prints produced in editions of five (I believe). That's respectable, isn't it? :D

Plus he's cool.

Yeah, he has "a well sustained market presence"-- his huge prints are editions of 3 or 5 usually--and thus sell for 6 figures
but he makes loads of other editions. I think the theatre series came in different printing methods and sizes in editions of 1,000/500/300/100/20/5
but, of course, kudos to him for being able to. If I could, I certainly would be as well :-)
Also, he very thoughtful; everything I have read of his in discussion of his work or photography as a medium are all well considered and interesting. More than I can say for a lot of his contemporaries.

Richard M. Coda

13-Apr-2009, 15:29

Not a large, or even extensive list (yet), but I am doing a series on "Inspirations/Influences" on my blog. I just made this presentation to our LF club here in Phoenix and it was well received. It is "image" based, not "photographer" based, along the lines of the books "Counterparts: Form and Emotion in Photographs" by Weston J. Naef, and "Double Take: A Comparative Look at Photographs" by Richard Whelan.

willwilson

14-Apr-2009, 06:43

Steve M Hostetter

16-Apr-2009, 16:20

Before I got into LF my attention was mostly focused on wildlife photography from 83-95.. I read literature from guys like John Shaw, Moose Peterson, and Leonard LeRue..
I still have their books and still enjoy them..:)

QT Luong

16-Apr-2009, 17:06

List is updated.

Hiroshi Sugimoto was already on the list. He had 6 votes. I bumped him a spot to 7.

I added Brett Weston and gave a few extra bad$%# votes because its my list and I think he is one of the most important artists of the 20th century, not just a great photographer.

A potential problem to address with your list merging is the fact that the LF list was only for living photographers, but you are merging with a list of all photographers. Maybe start a thread here about the greatest dead photographers and do a second merging for balance.

gary alessi

19-Apr-2009, 11:25

O.K. i confess , i havn't read every post to this thread... but have quickly looked over the list "s"... and can't believe a few that are mentioned...and can't believe my favorite of all time isn't /... frederick sommer ... or did i just miss him... if you like abstracts... and still lifes... and it looks like you do... you must go out and buy frederick's book... i think midtown bookstore in philly has it for 40.00... it is amazing.... thanks for the thread... afew others that probably are listed.... linda conner, lois conner, pirkle jones, emmet gowin,abelardo morrell, .............. not photographers, but check out vija clemins, robert irwin.....and as for gursky.. in print i love his work... but after seeing his show at SFmoma... i was so depressed .... the alienation just overwhelms you....but not in a good way... so he is off My list....

willwilson

19-Apr-2009, 12:46

Qt, I get were you are coming from but I see it more as an information pool as opposed to a ranking by popularity. The rankings just help it be slightly more organized and a little more interesting than an alphabetical only list would be.

List updated.

Kaden Kratzer

19-Apr-2009, 16:49

A few of my faves:

http://www.simenjohan.com/

Kaden Kratzer

19-Apr-2009, 16:55

A few of my faves:

Simen Johan
http://www.simenjohan.com/

Joel-Peter Witkin
http://www.edelmangallery.com/witkin.htm

Loretta Lux
http://www.lorettalux.de/

Polly Chandler
http://www.pollychandler.com

Jan Saudek
http://saudek.hit.bg/

Eikoh Hosoe
http://www.401projects.com/index.php?mode=gallery&section_id=153

Frank Ockenfels
http://frankockenfels3.com/

Fan Ho
www.laurencemillergallery.com/fanho_exhibition.htm

Jason Langer
http://www.jasonlanger.com/

Eolo Perfido
http://www.eoloperfido.com/

Kaden Kratzer

19-Apr-2009, 16:56

jnantz

19-Apr-2009, 18:06

lazlo maholy nagy and nadar would get votes from me

andrew.rhea

23-Dec-2009, 17:44

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin are my two favorite photographers(and work in 4x5) they have slowly moved away from straight photography towards abstraction but still continue to offer a sometimes stinging social critique. http://www.choppedliver.info/

though not really a photographer the work of Maurizio Anzeri does address the printed image and photography and is actually really fun. http://images.google.com/images?q=Maurizio%20Anzeri&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi