Your 10 Most Influential Photographers

[Duane Polcou]

Kyle Von Strappenhorn
Howie Kaiser
Alice Schleppenfeld
Helena Valenasia Glick-Hurn
Ricky Cutterman
Dick "Dicky" Dixon
Andreas Vosslightner
Gabriel Gelb
Sid Snake
Lucy Rumminswick

[mdm]

Killer list. Never heard of any of them. Do they exist?

[johnmsanderson]

lol

[Duane Polcou]

Noooo. But if they did I am sure they would be most influential.

[Curt]

As of Mortensen's post, here's the top group of photographers receiving three or more votes:

20 Edward Weston
15 Ansel Adams
13 Paul Strand
11 Walker Evans
9 Wynn Bullock
8 Paul Caponigro
7 Brett Weston
7 Edward Steichen
7 Irving Penn
7 Richard Avedon
6 Alfred Stieglitz
6 Minor White
5 Aaron Siskind
5 Eugene Atget
5 Josef Sudek
5 Man Ray
4 John Sexton
4 Michael Kenna
4 Morley Baer
4 Robert Adams
4 Sally Mann
4 Yousuf Karsh
3 Andre Kertesz
3 Berenice Abbott
3 Bill Brandt
3 Carleton E Watkins
3 Daido Moriyama
3 Dorothea Lange
3 Edward Curtis
3 Elliot Porter
3 Harry Callahan
3 Henri Cartier-Bresson
3 Imogen Cunningham
3 Keith Carter
3 Margaret Bourke-White
3 Salgado

There were nearly 200 different photographers in the lists.

What if the thread has been and why?

Your 10 Most Influential Photographers, and why?

1) Paul Strand
2) Brett Weston
3) Edward Weston
4) Edward Steichen
5) Eugene Atget
6) Joseph Sudek
7) Ralph Gibson
8) Ansel Adams
9) Wynn Bullock
10) Paul Caponigro

This is my list in roughly an order; not because of the photography specifically but because of the personal life of the photographer and how the work influenced me.

Note that two on the list are living and eight have passed away. I would also say that Merg Ross is someone who has work that I admire and although I've not seen it in person as I have the the ones on the list, what I've seen in print and on his web site put him on the list. I also would add Vaughn Hutchins work, some of which I've seen. There is a highly personal nature to his perception of the world. Both his treatment of the natural world in his images of the Redwoods, and his portrait photography which show great sensitivity. Last I would add Jim Fitzgerald who works in Carbon Transfer as does Vaughn. I was privileged to see many of his prints personally at his home in California not long ago. Jim's current Carbon prints of the Yosemite Valley are beyond words. Carbon printing can leave a relief in the image that can be seen when viewed up close and is difficult to realize on a computer screen. They are tactile. His Black Oaks series is stunning. I believe his prints are well seen and very strong in presentation. This is an important series because the Oaks are in decline there. Merg Ross has me wishing I had applied more of myself to Abstract Expressionism, not to say that his work is categorized as that but I see more in them than I do a vast majority of photography today. Merg's work goes beyond the mere visual, the more I look at an image of his the more I see. That's not an easy thing to do, to elicit that response. Brett Weston has that effect on me also. That's the way I see. Photography has brought the better part of life to me and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it. There are a lot of great photographs out there from a lot of excellent photographers. Sometimes a single photograph from some one person can play music to me. Mark Barendt made a photograph of a church in Espanola NM which glowed with beauty; that is one such image. Michael Clark made a photograph in California of a single tree overlooking the Pacific Ocean. These single images stay in my memory and I see them at times when I'm sitting in a quiet room. I hope to see more great work before I'm history. In the mean time, thanks all.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Curt, thank you for your kind words about my work. I am truly honored. One must "feel" the images. Passion for my work and how I present it is just the way it has to be. Hopefully I can inspire someone else just as so many of the amazing photographers have who are on the wonderful list I have seen.

[Curt]

Jim, you're very welcome.

[Michael Wynd]

In no order
Elliot Porter
David Muench
Ansel Adams
Edward Weston
George Hurrell
C.J. Broadbent
Joe Cornish
Ruth Bernhard
Michael Kenna

[Michael Wynd]

I should've added Domenico Foschi and Gandolfi...but that makes 12.

[wclark5179]

1. Monte Zucker
2. Joe Zeltsman
3. Jean Everson
4. Norman Phillips
5. Rick DeLorme
6. Greg Rademacher
7. Anne Leibovitz
8. Doug Box
9. Ken Sklute
10. Rod Oman