never heard of any of these people before
never heard of any of these people before
1. Ansel Adams, because he wrote it all down and then said "that's just my way"
2. Richard Avedon, because he showed that the result is not necessarily what the sitter wanted
3. Diane Arbus, because she showed total disrepect for social conventions
4. Arnold Newman, for Krupp
5. Sebastiao Salgado, for the Southern half of the world
6. Joel-Peter Witkin, sometimes "Eewww" is a good reaction
7. Edward Weston, but what a jerk!
8. Manuel Alvarado Bravo
9. Andre Kertesz
10. Kirk Gittings, how about that?
For me to narrow it down to 10 would be awful hard. How about if I mention the one that inspired me most, Myrtle Badura.
Myrtle's husband died young due to diabetes and left her struggling to support two kids. She remarried but her new husband soon left her for alcohol. Still with all her difficulties she always managed to own a camera (mostly a kodak brownie) and take photographs.
I know that none of you probably ever heard of Myrtle and to be honest she was not at all famous and never even sold a print.
Myrtle Badura was my grandmother. She is the one who instilled the love of photography in me.
We can all be influential, sometimes without even knowing it.
Hi Kirk, very good thought and about which none of us will ever agree.
I'll give you an un-numbered list because they did such wonderful things in very different ways.
Ansel Adams, Frank Sutcliffe, Julia Margaret Cameron, Richard Avedon, Philippe Halsman (125 Life covers and very creative outdoor fashion), Walker Evans, Edward Steichen (both a great photographer, but especially the creation of the "Family of Man"), Wynn Bullock (not many knew that he was a very successful traditional portraitist as well as being a great fine art photographer), Brett Weston (first major show at age 15 and I personally think, a much better photographer than his dad), William Mortenson (one of the truly creative fine art photographers as well as a superb professional photographer), Josef Karsh (perhaps the greatest of all classical portraitists), Dorothea Lange (great photojournalist), Robert Capa (perhaps the greatest photojournalist), David Douglas Duncan (very few can even compare with DDD) , Alfred Stieglitz (stunning early work), Carl Mydans (a mere 50 Life covers while being great in PJ), Margaret Bourke-White (the same age as my dad, I loved her personally and professionally), last but certainly not least, a lady with whom I was acquainted, Mary Ellen Mark. Forgive me folks, I forgot my late friend George Hurrell.
I teach Photo History, these photographers and others, but these I feel personally about as photographer of over 6 decades, and a few of these I knew personally.
Lynn
1 edward weston
2 irving penn
3 frederick sommer
4 imogen cunninham
5 harry callahan
6 linda connor
7 eugene atget
8 aaron siskind
9 karl blossfeldt
10 doug koch
1. Walker Evans
2. Harry Callahan
3. John Blakemore
4. Raymond Moore
5. Eugene Etget
6. Alec Soth
7. Jeff Brouews
8. Carl Weese
8. Sally Mann
9. August Sander
10. John Gossage
cheers, Tony
More cinematographers influenced my vision than still photographers. N. Almendros, G. Willis, V. Zsigmond, S. Nykvist, etc. The only two still photogs that I'd elevate would be E. Curtis and R. Bernhard.
I have no desire to talk bad about A. Adams, though I respect him more as naturalist (using his photo influence) than photographer. What's even more oxymoronic is that I have couple of his prints. Much like Yosemite that became so popular....Adams too (at least in my eyes)....I saw his work nearly everywhere and it lost its luster in my eyes.....So, I'd put him further back.
Les
Order depends on the day:
Alfred Stieglitz
Edward Weston
Wynn Bullock
Minor White
Alvin Langdon Coburn
Carleton Watkins
Aaron Siskind
Paul Strand
Clarence John Laughlin
Fredrick Sommer
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