Top 10 contemporary photographers

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

I was having a discussion with a friend the other day and recently polled some well-known figures in the photography community this question. Whether it's fashion, fine art, documentary...you name it. Who do you feel are the top 10 living contemporary photographers around today?

[tim atherton]

Ha - how long is a piece of string...

Not in order:

Lee Friedlander,
Thomas Struth,
Andreas Gursky,
Martin Parr,
Sugimoto,
Joel Sternfeld,
Don McCullin,
Sally Mann,
Gabriele Basilico,
John Gossage,

(+ Lewis Baltz and Masao Yamamoto)...

[davidb]

My list:

Lee Friedlander
Paul Caponigro
Sally Mann
Flor Garduno
Toshio Shibata
John Sexton
Stephen Shore
Alec Soth
Mark Klett

(this is all I can think of right now)

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Paul Caponigro
Dan Burkholder
John Sexton
David Fokos
Michael Kenna
Pete Turner
George Tice

[Walter Calahan]

I don't see any of our names on this list. HA!

[KenM]

Craig Richards
Bruce Barnbaum
Ray McSavaney (http://www.tgartworks.com/raymcsavaney)
Michael Kenna
Keith Logan
Roman Loranc
John Sexton
Chris Honeysett
Brian Kosoff

I think there will be as many list as participants :D

[Walter Foscari]

In no particular order

Shore
Adams (Robert)
Struth
Gursky
Basilico
Geofrrey James
Sugimoto
Bob Thall
Becher (sadly just Hilla)
Misrach

[Mike Castles]

Bruce Barnbaum
Robert Adams
Keith Carter
Paul Caponigro
John Sexton
Michael Kenna
Tillman Crane
Willy Ronis
Don Kirby

[cyrus]

George Tice,
Peter Gasser,
Reza,
Hiroshi Watanabe,
Ralph Gibson,
David Lachapelle
Annie Liebowitz
Bruce Davidson
Emmet Gowin
Sudek

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Paul Caponigro
William Clift
Roman Loranc
Gabriele Basilico
Ray McSavaney (http://www.tgartworks.com)
John Sexton
Michael Kenna
Flor Garduno
Irving Penn
Mark Citret

[Jeremy Moore]

no order:

Mark Citret
Araki
Michael Smith/Paula Chamlee
Sally Mann
Alex Soth
Kerik Kouklis
Paul Caponigro
Sugimoto
Ralph Gibson
Keith Carter

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

I have to admit a little surprise to some of the answers here. John Sexton on the same level of Bruce Davidson?

No one has mentioned Irving Penn??

[Frank Petronio]

active living photographers!?

[Paul Metcalf]

Herman Leonard
Domenico Foschi
Roman Loranc

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

active living photographers!?

Irving Penn just had a show at Pace/MacGill. Paul Caponigro isn't in the best health of his life....photographers who are alive.

[Merg Ross]

What do you mean by "top 10"? Those who have been published or self-published books on their works, or have enlisted agents? The responses so far to your query, with a few exceptions, embrace a group of photographers who are skilled at self promotion and are also talented.

[Frank Petronio]

I love Irving Penn, George Tice, etc. but man, even Michael Kenna has already crested career-wise. Who's in their prime RIGHT NOW?

[davidb]

Alec Soth

[Andrew O'Neill]

Paul Caponigro
William Clift
Roman Loranc
Gabriele Basilico
Ray McSavaney
John Sexton
Michael Kenna
Flor Garduno
Irving Penn
Andrew O'Neill:D

[Gordon Moat]

My picks on ten best, though I have to admit that my personal list of influential photographers to watch is closer to 50 individuals. Probably most of these names will be unknown to some in this LF Forum. A few of these use (or start) with large format. Most are advertising shooters, a few also do fashion and lifestyle. Some are in very high demand. I have included links on the names, in case anyone is curious.

Craig McDean (http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP=Mod_AlbumPages.Portfolio_VPage&L4=2U1XC55B5B5&XX=Artists) - managed by art+commerce, mostly fashion shooter using 8x10 and 4x5, sometimes RZ67
Ljubodrag Andric (http://www.andric.biz) - works mostly with a 4x5
Chris Gordaneer (http://www.chrisgordaneer.com) - check out his landscape images
Olaf Veltman (http://www.olafveltman.com) - works mostly with 8x10
Nadav Kander (http://www.nadavkander.com) - I don't like some of his work, though he is one of the most prolific advertising shooters today
Mark Laita (http://www.marklaita.com) - amazing usage of colour; also uses a 20x24 Polaroid for some work
Markku Lahdesmaki (http://www.markkuphoto.com) - amazingly vibrant, almost dreamlike images
William Huber (http://www.williamhuber.com) - subtle colour usage
Stuart Hall (http://www.stuarthallphoto.com) - I like his recent Salton Sea photos
Andy Glass (http://www.andyglassphoto.com) - cool way to use light
Erwin Olaf (http://www.erwinolaf.com) - beyond David LaChappelle
Jonathan Kantor (http://www.jonathankantor.com) - some here may enjoy his Personal Location images

So no particular order. With everyone else naming either fine art or southwest landscape photographers, I hope this mixes things up a bit. I do have a completely different list of who I think the ten best art photographers are today.

I think photography is too diversified to pick only ten. There are too many genre of photography, or categories of work. Even picking the ten best living photojournalists might be tough, though I would guess Salgado would land on many lists, and maybe James Nachtway. Maybe you should reword and restrict your question to only art photographers. Influences are another issue, and many of the photographers I listed mention Irving Penn as a great influence.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio (http://www.allgstudio.com)

[scott_6029]

Hmm, nice lists, what about Koudelka?

[Gordon Moat]

Just to throw a wrench into this, here are what I feel are some of the top agencies/reps in the business:

VII Photo (http://www.viiphoto.com/)
Magnum (http://www.magnumphotos.com/)
Stockland Martel (http://www.stocklandmartel.com)
Monaco Reps (http://www.monacoreps.com/)
art+commerce (http://www.artandcommerce.com)
Peter Bailey Company (http://www.peterbailey.co.uk/) (New York and London)
Tim Mitchell Artist Representative (http://www.t-mitchell.com/)

Some of the biggest names amongst working photographers can be found in those mentioned above. That's another reason I think it is tough to just pick ten.

American Photo several years ago tried to narrow down the top ten living photographers. After polling many readers and other photographers, they ended up with Annie Liebowitz.

Photo District News also did a PDN Legends issue. They have updated that a few times, though basically the intent was to pick the best in the business, though not necessarily people still active in photography. They do keep updating this, and I think this list is more inclusive than most; check out PDN Legends (http://pdngallery.com/legends/) and you will probably find several names already mentioned.

I think what I get most out of this thread is that there are many really good photographers today. Some have been in the business for decades, while some are relatively new to this profession. What was once advertising, editorial, or photojournalism, can evolve to be considered art many years later (Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, et al).

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio (http://www.allgstudio.com)

[Daniel Grenier]

Tice
Loranc
Adams (Shelby Lee)
Sexton
Soth
Uelsman
Kosoff
Carter
Hoflehner
Johnson (Michael)

& Vertman for commercial.

[Brian Ellis]

I have no idea who the 10 best contemporary photographers are but my own personal favorites are:

Ray McSavaney (http://www.tgartworks.com/mcsavaney) (by my definition, Ray is the best living photographer)
Carrie Mae Weems (I think she's still alive)
John Sexton
Michael Kenna
Joel Meyerowitz
Ralph Gibson
George Tice
Richard Misrach
Duane Michals
Jerry Uelsman

Honorable Mention: Sally Mann (would have been on the list except for her next-to-last book); Gordon Parks (had the misfortune to die before I compiled my list, though somebody included Josef Sudek who's been dead for 31 years on their list of contemporary photographers so maybe I should have included Parks); Joel Peter Witkin (his greatest stuff is really great but his bad stuff is dreadful - too inconsistent to make my list); Annie Leibowitz and David Hockney (if the list was 11 persons long one of them would have been 11th);

You didn't ask but here's a list of my least favorite living photographers (or, more accurately, photographers with respect to whom there is the biggest disparity between their fame/fortune/appreciation-by-others and my own admiration for their work):

Paul Caponigro (one great photograph should not a career make)
Stephen Shore (if I hadn't sold my 8x10 camera I could wave it around, click the shutter occasionally, and get the same results)
Thomas Struth (the ultimate proof of the old adage that if you can't make it good make it red and if you can't make it red make it big - or is it the other way around?)
Keith Carter (why can't he learn how to focus his camera?)
William Christenberry(or is it William Eggleston - I can never keep these two straight) - I knew I should have bought a tricycle for my kid
Robert Adams (we're talking about photography here, not writing, otherwise John Szarkowski should be on everyone's list)
Irving Penn (cigarette butts belong in ashtrays)

Honorable Mention: Thomas Barrow (if he ever becomes better known he'll be on the list for sure); Bernd and Hilla Becher (can't either of them make a photograph without the other one hanging around? apparently not, so being a duo they aren't eligible for the list, plus I'm not certain they're still alive but if they are and if they ever split up they'll both be on it

[tim atherton]

Thomas Struth (the ultimate proof of the old adage that if you can't make it good make it red and if you can't make it red make it big - or is it the other way around?)

actually his prints are often not that big...




Honorable Mention: Thomas Barrow (if he ever becomes better known he'll be on the list for sure); Bernd and Hilla Becher (can't either of them make a photograph without the other one hanging around? apparently not, so being a duo they aren't eligible for the list, plus I'm not certain they're still alive but if they are and if they ever split up they'll both be on it

http://photo-muse.blogspot.com/2007/06/bernd-becher-1931-2007.html

http://photo-muse.blogspot.com/2007/06/bernd-becher-redux.html

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Brian,

Your post makes me smile, and I agree about Ray. Not only is his work terrific but he is one wonderful person as well. Nice to see he is on so many peoples list.

[kev curry]

Not to forget the work Joe Cornish
http://www.joecornish.com/

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

You didn't ask but here's a list of my least favorite living photographers (or, more accurately, photographers with respect to whom there is the biggest disparity between their fame/fortune/appreciation-by-others and my own admiration for their work):

Paul Caponigro (one great photograph should not a career make)
Stephen Shore (if I hadn't sold my 8x10 camera I could wave it around, click the shutter occasionally, and get the same results)
Thomas Struth (the ultimate proof of the old adage that if you can't make it good make it red and if you can't make it red make it big - or is it the other way around?)
Keith Carter (why can't he learn how to focus his camera?)
William Christenberry(or is it William Eggleston - I can never keep these two straight) - I knew I should have bought a tricycle for my kid
Robert Adams (we're talking about photography here, not writing, otherwise John Szarkowski should be on everyone's list)
Irving Penn (cigarette butts belong in ashtrays)

Honorable Mention: Thomas Barrow (if he ever becomes better known he'll be on the list for sure); Bernd and Hilla Becher (can't either of them make a photograph without the other one hanging around? apparently not, so being a duo they aren't eligible for the list, plus I'm not certain they're still alive but if they are and if they ever split up they'll both be on it

I loved your least favorite list with exception of Caponigro. While I am sure you are talking about "running Deer", IMO he had many more shots that were equally great just not as publicised. Anyhow, thanks for the laugh... :)

[Ole Tjugen]

... though somebody included Josef Sudek who's been dead for 31 years ...

If I'm not mistaken, "someone" mentioned Jan Saudek. And he is still alive - at least he was the last time I checked.

[Bruce Watson]

Ten that nobody has listed yet:

Charles Cramer (http://www.charlescramer.com/)
Christopher Burkett (http://www.christopherburkett.com/)
Joseph Holmes (http://www.josephholmes.com/)
Brian Kosoff (http://www.kosoff.com/)
Edward Riddell (http://www.edwardriddell.com/SixFavorites.html)
George DeWolfe (http://www.georgedewolfe.com/)
Tyler Boley (http://www.tylerboley.com/)
Joel Pickford (http://www.westongallery.com/artists/j_pickford/joel_pickford.html)
Balthazar Korab (http://www.balthazarkorab.com/)
Arnaud Frich (http://www.arnaudfrichphoto.com/)

In no particular order.

[Brian Ellis]

If I'm not mistaken, "someone" mentioned Jan Saudek. And he is still alive - at least he was the last time I checked.

I was trying to be polite and not mention names but since you bring it up . . . I was referring to the "Sudek" that Cyrus included. Is there another well known photographer with the last name "Sudek" besides Josef Sudek, who died in 1976?

[Ole Tjugen]

I was trying to be polite and not mention names but since you bring it up . . . I was referring to the "Sudek" that Cyrus included. Is there another well known photographer with the last name "Sudek" besides Josef Sudek, who died in 1976?

I tried to find the mention but couldn't. But since you bring it up, it's easy for us foreigners to mix up "J. Sudek" and "J. Saudek"...

Personally, I enjoy looking at the pictures of both of them - Sudek's intimate studies, as well as Saudeks exuberant "intimate studies". :)

[Doug Dolde]

What no one has mentioned Alain Briot, Michael Reichmann, or Jeff Schewe yet ???

<just kidding>

[cyrus]

I was trying to be polite and not mention names but since you bring it up . . . I was referring to the "Sudek" that Cyrus included. Is there another well known photographer with the last name "Sudek" besides Josef Sudek, who died in 1976?

Yes sorry my typo. I love his work. I seem to be in a mood for that sort of thing at the moment...Could be because I got his book for a real discount!

[David Louis]

Here's my top dozen in no particular order. Can't think of two to drop off to make an even ten.

Thomas Struth
Andreas Gursky
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Stephen Shore
Joel Meyerowitz
Joel Sternfeld
Robert Adams
Lee Friedlander
Bernd (RIP) and Hilla Becher
Toshia Shibata
George Tice
Jeff Wall

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

I really, really like Sebastiao Salgado's work. Truly excellent photographer. Peter Fetterman had some of his stuff at AIPAD and he has a big show going on of his work right now as well. I also understand that Arthur Tress has recently come out with a new book and is doing some new work. Lisa Holden's (http://www.lisa-holden.com/) work has recently attracted my attention.

[Bill_1856]

Salgado
Clyde Butcher
Penn
Nachway
Marie Cosindas
Leibowitz
David Muench
Erwitt
Sally Mann
David Plowden

[CantikFotos]

My Top 10:

John Swannell
David Bailey
John Sexton
Craig Morey
Rimantas Dichavicius
Lucien Clergue
Don McCullen
Sante D'Orazio
Andreas Bitesnich
Lynn Davis

[Vaughn]

In amoungst the names I've read so far, I'll throw in:

Ted Orland
Linda Conner
Holly Roberts
Thomas Joshua Cooper
Don Anton

vaughn

[cyrus]

I have to admit that it was with some discomfort that I chose my top 10 because it seems to me that the really "hot" field of photography "where its at", which is most relevant to our society as a whole at the moment, is news or war photography and so the top spots in any such list should include a hefty number of photojournalists covering Iraq.

Regardless of your political views about the Iraq war (REPEAT: REGARDLESS OF POLITICS) you have to admit that the significance of the work of Iraq war photog is far above the rest, and in fact at the moment fashion or art photography seems in comparison to be self-indulgent escapist artsy-fartsy nonsense.

This is especially the case if you consider the dangers posed to these photographers which seems to exceed anything faced by the giants in their field like Cappa etc. Take the case of the Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Kaveh Golestan (http://www.kavehgolestan.com/) who was the first person to show the world the consequences of Saddam's chemical weapons attack on Halabja. He was killed in 2003 whilst working as a cameraman for BBC, when he stepped on a mine in Iraq. Of course mines are a "normal" danger of war photography, but nowdays even the pretense of not targetting journalists has been put aside and the combatants are treating reporters, photographers and even entire news organizations as legitimate targets. And yet the photogs still do their job, though accidental death isn't their only concern anymore.

Also in a highly politicized atmosphere where PR and spin play such a recognized role in the war, the reporters and photojournalists who cover the war always risk being treated as members of the "other side" simply because they're doing their job by showing you things that the authorities would rather you not see. During the Vietnam war if you wanted to cover the war, you could get yourself a camera and hitch a ride to whereever you wanted to go and photograph whatever you wanted. Nowdays there's all sorts of attempts to control the images created by the photogs - by "embedding" them for example. There's an AP photographer named Bilal Hussein (http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003570584) who has been detained for more than a year, widely accused of "colluding" with the enemy (http://michellemalkin.com/2006/04/12/where-is-bilal-hussein/) because of the content of his photos (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/18/america/NA_GEN_US_Iraq_Photographer_Detained.php), for example. This accusation was made against photojournalists covering other wars, of course, but in this war you risk actual imprisonment for not toeing the line. Several other photographers have been detained, thrown out of the country, or even outright murdered intentionally because someone disapproved of the photos they took.

And the work that these people are doing is pretty significant to say the least. Stefan Zaklin (http://homepage.mac.com/szaklin/Menu2.html), the photographer for European Photopress Agency showed us the first coffins of US casualties returning from Iraq in Nov 2004, when the gov't was trying very hard to keep a lid on that (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/business/media/05carr.html?ex=1307160000&en=529e8b15b79222ae&ei=5088...) and other images which were never shown in the US (http://blog.fabrica.it/fff/2006/03/that_picture_part_i_by_stefan.html). Or take a peek at the work of the folks at Unembedded (http://www.unembedded.net/main.php).

Perhaps we're at the moment a little too close to the war to recognize the importance of these people's work, but maybe in a couple decades or so when we look back with some sense of context, some of these contemporary photogs will be considered the Cappas of our days.

And perhaps the No. 1 most important photographer whose photo will be as iconic of this war as the Lifting of the Flag over Iwo Jima was of WWII, will remain anonymous (http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Newsweek/Photos/mag/040510_Issue/040501_IraqPrison_hu.hmedium.jpg)

[Terry Hull]

Mary Ellen Mark?

[Mark Sawyer]

I note that no one has mentioned Richard Prince, who still holds the record for the most expensive photograph by a contemporary photographer, over a million dollars at auction.

Guess he wouldn't make my list either, though...

[tim atherton]

I note that no one has mentioned Richard Prince, who still holds the record for the most expensive photograph by a contemporary photographer, over a million dollars at auction.

Guess he wouldn't make my list either, though...

Nah - nowhere near

Gursky's 99cents (ironically) for 3.3 million dollars

[Richard Kelham]

Not to forget the work Joe Cornish
http://www.joecornish.com/



I'm trying very hard to....

[Bruce Watson]

I have to admit that it was with some discomfort that I chose my top 10 because it seems to me that the really "hot" field of photography "where its at", which is most relevant to our society as a whole at the moment, is news or war photography and so the top spots in any such list should include a hefty number of photojournalists covering Iraq.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Art doesn't have to be relevant. Photojournalism, while an admirable profession, is one subset among many in photography. It hasn't earned any special treatment here. Neither have the others.


Regardless of your political views about the Iraq war (REPEAT: REGARDLESS OF POLITICS) you have to admit that the significance of the work of Iraq war photog is far above the rest, ...

I do not have to admit any such thing, nor do I.

[cyrus]

I wholeheartedly disagree. Art doesn't have to be relevant. Photojournalism, while an admirable profession, is one subset among many in photography. It hasn't earned any special treatment here. Neither have the others.



I do not have to admit any such thing, nor do I.

Ok it doesn't have to be exclusively news photog, but surely there are a few contemporary news photos who are sufficiently important to at least make someone's list of top ten, right? But I don't see too any . . .
Could it be that as LF photogs we have a biased view of the field which favors art/landscape etc and tends to downplay news photogs?

[Pete Watkins]

Oh Tim, all the time and effort that you put into slagging me off and defending Jock Sturges images and you don't even rate him. Neither does anyone else up to now, amazing!
Pete.

[tim atherton]

... I'm actually not hugely into portrait photographers - Cameron, Sander, Avedon (may have made the list if he were still alive), maybe Dijkstra. So Sturges is good, but there just aren't many portrait photogs I would include in such a list ( or at least people who do virtually "only" portraits)

[Rainer]

... and almost any of their websites really suck ...

All this superslow superstylish flash bullsh#t!
Great photographers and a lot of lousy websites.

[E_Aiken]

no order... and just today's list, really.

Gene Richards. Can I just name him three times?
Mitch Epstein
Joel Sternfeld
Alex Webb
Jonas Bendiksen
Stevie Boy Shore
Alec Soth
...

[Brian Ellis]

Ok it doesn't have to be exclusively news photog, but surely there are a few contemporary news photos who are sufficiently important to at least make someone's list of top ten, right? But I don't see too any . . .
Could it be that as LF photogs we have a biased view of the field which favors art/landscape etc and tends to downplay news photogs?

I think it's largely a matter of not knowing the names of current photojournalists or which photojournalists to associate with which photographs. Photojournalists don't seem to be stars of photography as they were in the days of Eugene Smith, Robert Capa, et al. And while I wouldn't necessarily call it "bias," most of us here probably are more familiar with photographers in the art/landscape field than in photojournalism. But I looked at the "Unembedded" link you provided and there's no doubt that those photographs are incredibly moving, many of them stirred more emotions in me than anything else I've seen lately.

[paulr]

Question: are you a contemporary photographer simply by being alive and sometimes taking pictures, or do the pictures/innovations that you're known for have to be contemporary?

I lean toward the latter. There are a lot of old artists who are basically living museum cases. They're famous for work they did decades ago, which was innovative and important at the time, but have done nothing (except maybe repeat the same ideas) since then.

So they're contemporary people who are not doing contemporary work. The work of theirs that sells (and feeds the gallerists) is essentially vintage; it just doesn't cost as much as other vintage work because the artist is still alive.

[paulr]

[QUOTE=cyrus;253099 Regardless of your political views about the Iraq war (REPEAT: REGARDLESS OF POLITICS) you have to admit that the significance of the work of Iraq war photog is far above the rest, and in fact at the moment fashion or art photography seems in comparison to be self-indulgent escapist artsy-fartsy nonsense.[/QUOTE]

Ok, I'll bite. I don't agree. War photography from Iraq is important as journalism; this doesn't make it important as photography. The history of art/media and the history of political events are related, but aren't the same. Pictures can show things of great significance without being significant as a pictures.

Capa's war photographs were remarkable as photographs for many reasons. Some of these had to do with the events on the world stage that he was witnessing, but most had to do with the ways he depicted them, which were completely unique at the time. If there's journalistic photography being done today that innovates to this degree, I haven't seen it. But if it exists, its importance as photography comes from more than the events it depicts.

I'll also say that branding non war-related photography as escapist artsy-fartsy nonsense is an old saw ... and one that's purely a reflection of a certain disposition. Cartier Bresson said the same thing about Weston during WW II ... "the world is going to pieces, and he's taking pictures of ROCKS?"

But I believe Cartier Bresson was missing the point. There are elements of humanity that need to be tended to in times of war as well as times of peace, and even if you want to label some of them escapism, they count as survival mechanisms for many. I include the making of art and its enjoyment by others among these.

Personally, I'm glad Weston chose not ship off to the front with his 8x10.

[paulr]

I'd add my top ten here, but it's prettty well covered in other peoples' top (and bottom ten!) lists.

[Mark Sawyer]

Question: are you a contemporary photographer simply by being alive and sometimes taking pictures, or do the pictures/innovations that you're known for have to be contemporary?

I lean toward the latter. There are a lot of old artists who are basically living museum cases. They're famous for work they did decades ago, which was innovative and important at the time, but have done nothing (except maybe repeat the same ideas) since then.

So they're contemporary people who are not doing contemporary work. The work of theirs that sells (and feeds the gallerists) is essentially vintage; it just doesn't cost as much as other vintage work because the artist is still alive.

Perhaps "contemporary" can justifiably be taken as "still alive and kicking" as opposed to "innovative and influential". The roots of photography run so deep and broad, it's hard to point to much current work that isn't re-exploring old directions. Even the advent of the digital medium seems more a technological than an aesthetic revolution, unable to kick us loose from old ways of seeing, understanding, and exploring...

At least no one's brought up Anne Geddes...

[cyrus]

Ok, I'll bite. I don't agree. War photography from Iraq is important as journalism; this doesn't make it important as photography. . . Pictures can show things of great significance without being significant as a pictures.

The question was who are the 10 ten most important contemprary photogs. That depends on how you interpret what is "important" or more specifically, what gives importance to a photograph and photographers. As I understand your argument, you assert that the importance of the photo is to be judged primarily on the basis of the photo and not the subject. I don't think I buy that.

The raising of the flag over Iwo Jima is important, I guess everyone agrees, not because of some inherent quality of the photo itself (which is a subjective issue anyway - what makes a pepper or a nautilus shell or a nude more/less important?) Same can be said about Capa's D-day photos or Weegee's. In news photography, the subject is part of the whole "importance" of the photo. Perhaps that's a peculiar characteristic of news photography which is not shared in other forms of photography?

THe same is true about documentary photography - the whole point of which is to document something rather than create a pretty picture. You can't separate the "news" from newsphotography, or the documentary from documentary and simply consider the photo as an indepdent "thing" on its own.




If there's journalistic photography being done today that innovates to this degree, I haven't seen it.

Assuming there isn't any innovative news phtoography going on (which I doubt) - but innovation isn't the only criteria to judge the importance of a photo. The social impact of a photo is also a significant factor in its importance. A lot of what are considered "important" photos are so considered primarily because of the social impact that they have had. Dorothea Lange photos of the Depression were primarily important because they documented a siginficant historical event and showed things to the world that some preferred not to see/notice/believe.



I'll also say that branding non war-related photography as escapist artsy-fartsy nonsense is an old saw ... and one that's purely a reflection of a certain disposition. Cartier Bresson said the same thing about Weston during WW II ... "the world is going to pieces, and he's taking pictures of ROCKS?"

I don't mean to denigrate art or escapism (trust me, I escape as much as I can) but I can't see how a photo of a nude or a pepper - even taken in the most innovative way possible - is at this moment as important as say the photo of the Abu Ghraib torture victim.

But that's just an opinion.:)

[paulr]

I don't mean to denigrate art or escapism (trust me, I escape as much as I can) but I can't see how a photo of a nude or a pepper - even taken in the most innovative way possible - is at this moment as important as say the photo of the Abu Ghraib torture victim.

But that's just an opinion.:)

I think you're hitting on why we're talking past each other a bit. I should step back and clarify my idea of importance in photography. My perspective tends to be art-historical, but more broadly you could call it historical.

Important images, in my view, are ones with the most influence. That influence can be on contemporary culture, or on the course taken by other image makers in the future. Some images do both. But an image needs to do more than record or report on something important to attain this status.

There are dozens of photographs being published every week by brave and competent journalists--ones that record events that are shaping the world. But the vast majority of the photographs will be quickly forgotten. We will make note of the information they convey, but they will not indellibly distinguish themselves from the tens of thousands of images made in similar fashion before or since. They will not end up as cultural documents, in historical society museums or in art museums.

Occasionally, some of these photographs do manage to transcend the information they convey. Capa's work is a famous example. So is Cartier Bresson's. Or in the documentary realm we can look at work by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. We still talk about these photographers close to a century later much less because of the importance of their subject matter, but because of what they did with it. They played a part in inventing new languages of images making which influenced every generation of photographer to follow. Part of what they did was tap into themes much larger than the specifics of what they recorded. Their images broke out of the temporal confines of "news" or the contextual confines of "document," and come to be seen for their more broadly human appeal as art.

This, to me, is what sets some photographers far apart from others who photograph the same wars and coups and cultural upheavals. It's what makes them important ... to me, anyhow.

Someone photographing a rock or a building just might be able to show something that's fundamentally new. I would appreciate that more than work by a war photographer that's fundamentally the same as most of the work currently flooding the media, and different only in the details: this particular bomb, that particular soldier, this particular day ... but the meaning and the implications and visual language exactly the same.

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

Elliott Erwitt
Joel Sternfeld
Stephen Shore
Jock Sturges
Sally Mann
Alec Soth
Salgado
Bruce Gilden
Martin Parr
Joel Meyerowitz
HCB...

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

I note that no one has mentioned Richard Prince, who still holds the record for the most expensive photograph by a contemporary photographer, over a million dollars at auction.

Guess he wouldn't make my list either, though...

"Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon, 2001, $3,346,456, Sotheby’s London – Feb. 2007"

[Mark Sawyer]

"Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon, 2001, $3,346,456, Sotheby’s London – Feb. 2007"

:eek:

Shows how much I follow the art auction scene...

Still, being a diptych, that's only $1,673,228 each. Chicken-feed...

[paulr]

Perhaps "contemporary" can justifiably be taken as "still alive and kicking" as opposed to "innovative and influential". The roots of photography run so deep and broad, it's hard to point to much current work that isn't re-exploring old directions. Even the advent of the digital medium seems more a technological than an aesthetic revolution, unable to kick us loose from old ways of seeing, understanding, and exploring...

At least no one's brought up Anne Geddes...

Well, everything has roots in the past ... that doesn't mean it's the same the work from the past. Guys like Struth and Gursky have deep roots in older traditions, but their work is unlike earlier work from those traditions.

But I'm not even talking about placing a judgment on people's work as innovative or not. I'm looking at something much simpler: people who are known almost exclusively for work they did decades ago, and who are either not doing work now, or are doing work that hasn't evolved since then.

Henri Cartier Bresson showed up on a few people's lists. Never mind the challenges of staying contemporary after you're dead ... let's just look at the last decades of his life. For many years he took no pictures at all, and for many years before that he took pictures that were just like what he did decades earlier. He worked in a style that was revolutionary when it was new, but rather anachronistic and predictable toward the end. I think HCB probably stopped being a "contemporary" photographer sometime in the 60s.

[Daniel Otranto]

here are a couple photographers that I find myself looking at a lot

nick nixon http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/
william gedney http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/gedney/
tom roma http://thomasroma.com/
chris verene http://www.chrisverene.com/
mark steinmetz http://www.marksteinmetz.net/
matt monteith http://www.matthewmonteith.com/
gareth mcconnell http://www.garethmcconnell.com/
brian ulrich http://www.notifbutwhen.com/
peter fraser http://www.peterfraser.net/index.htm
william eggleston http://www.egglestontrust.com/

[Saulius]

Maybe not top ten but some honorable mentions that come to mind for me are:
Chris Jordan http://www.chrisjordan.com/
John Pfahl http://johnpfahl.com/
Ted Orland http://www.tedorland.com/
Per Volquartz http://www.pervolquartz.com/
Edward Burtynsky http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/
Clyde Butcher http://www.clydebutcher.com/

[Brian Vuillemenot]

I'm surprised that no one listed Jack Dykinga, as he would definately be on my top ten list... not quite sure who the other nine would be, though. Maybe it's not surprising, as most of the responses seem to be biased against color landscape work.

[jenn wilson]

for the most part, i agree with the preceeding lists. but here's a few names i have not yet seen:

mike and doug starn
gregory crewdson
cindy sherman
nan goldin
paolo roversi

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

for the most part, i agree with the preceeding lists. but here's a few names i have not yet seen:

mike and doug starn
gregory crewdson
cindy sherman
nan goldin
paolo roversi

I really have to admit to be a new fan of Cindy Sherman. Her work is a little odd, but actually very interesting.

[Tim Hyde]

Heavens! For a collector this excercize is fraught with peril. My list will certainly change day by day, but for today:

1. William Eggleston
2. Lee Friedlander
3. Hiroshi Sugimoto
4. Sally Mann
5. Daida Moriyama
6. Thomas Struth
7. Stephen Shore
8. Joel Sternfeld
9. Cindy Sherman
And tied for 10th:
G. Tice
M. Epstein
M. Parr
B. Davidson
G. Crewdson
E. Hisoe
R. Misrach
W. Ronnis
J. Koudelka
R. Adams

[toddstew]

These are some that I really like:
(in no particular order)
Kenro Izu
Sam Portera
John Kasaian
Robert Frank
Flor Garduno
Abelardo Morell
Alec Soth
Ryan McIntosh
Paula Chamlee
Janet Russek
of course Paul Caponigro (although his newest body of work isn't as powerful as his earlier work)

todd

[Tim Hyde]

Of course, Robert Frank! One forgets that he's still alive.

[paulr]

Of course, Robert Frank! One forgets that he's still alive.

And not just alive; he's gone on to do work that's quite different from the work that made him famous half a century ago. I admire him because his later projects were often less popular, but clearly of great personal importance to him. He resisted any temptation to coast along on fame and a comfortable signature style.

[Brian K]

A good thread, quite a range of artists and a good way to link to the work of someone that you may have never heard of before. Many expected names and some surprises, including my own appearance on some lists, (very surprising) thank you.

I just wonder if maybe it's a little soon to include people such as myself on lists like this as I think ultimately it requires a much longer track record. I don't have a list like this as I have been influenced by far more than 10 people. Nevertheless this thread has exposed many people to new work and artists and that's a very positive thing.

[r.e.]

Only two:

Vittorio Storaro
Jeff Wall

Had he not died 10 months ago, I would have included Sven Nykvist.

[Macy]

Some of the photographers on my list have already been mentioned, but one hasn't:

Gerard Laurenceau

[evan clarke]

All these are on my list, but a very modest man and a great talent...Howard Bond...Evan Clarke

[Armin Seeholzer]

The free work of Patrik Demarchelier is also on top for me!

The rest is already stated, Armin

[William Barnett-Lewis]

I've only 2 right now that I seem to get the most from in contemporary/"alive" photographers:

David Burnett (http://www.davidburnett.com)
David Plowden (http://www.davidplowden.com/)

Lots of other great suggestions in the thread. Some I already knew, many I don't & will have to go seek out.

William

[Bill_1856]

Don't know how I failed to include Roman Loranc in my list. As far as I'm concerned, along with Clyde Butcher he's at the very top of the heap of classic B&W landscape photographers.

[prrcruz]

Sebastião Salgado
Miguel Rio Branco
Yamamoto Masao
Clyde Butcher

[jnantz]

mann
kouklis
zuili
starntwins

not in any particular order

[Kirk Gittings]

curious, how are you defining
"contemporary"?

[Kirk Gittings]

FWIW that Spivak post was from 2007..........

[Mark Sawyer]

Well, I'm not sure I'd define this, as a "contemporary" thread... :rolleyes:

[RodinalDuchamp]

I just want to say what a great thread. A veritable reference source for anyone looking to educate themselves on great modern photographers

[RSalles]

Sebastiao Salgado,
Carl Ciarenza,
...

[Bill_1856]

Let's face it -- this AIN'T the Golden Age for great photography.

[RSalles]

The media says that, and I don't believe in everything the media says.
Look at this photo posted today here at this forum:

130312

This age is for great re-arrangements in photography (there is a new player who is trying to make a place for himself and doesn't care if it will dis-lodge the old inhabitants).
After all, a life that doesn't deserves to be registered/shared it's a life which deserves to be lived?

Cheers,

Renato

[Kirk Gittings]

I'm having a hard time deciphering what your point is Renato?

[RSalles]

I'm having a hard time deciphering what your point is Renato?

Kirk,

It isn't that hard.
The event of digital imaging has spread the process of photography taking to amounts I never imagine can be reached, and it will grow even more. It's an Ocean of images renewing everyday. It's sometimes hard to perceive something with real value at that level of flood.

I saw today an interview of Flickr founders at our biggest newspaper here in the country, saying for instance, that the most important photographer ever isn't born yet.
The sentence is part of the speech of Bernardo Hernandes at the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona-Spain.

To learn to make a photo is being as important as to learn to speak or write - he stated.

Maybe if you can find this interview in English it would be better, but the local link is this:

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/2015/03/1598000-revolucao-digital-mudou-a-essencia-da-fotografia-dizem-executivos.shtml

Sorry for my scarce English, which is not even my second language - I can do it a lot better in French or Spanish,

Cheers,

Renato

[RodinalDuchamp]

I mean what is meant by the most important photographer, or any other professional for that matter. I am happy anyone thinks grabbing a digital point and shoot can create the same images as someone using a view camera. I for one don't shoot for them. I shoot to satisfy the most inner egotistical void I feel. I don't care that no one knows how hard it is to create a great 4x5 negative, I know and that's all that matters to me. Now when someone knows the craft and then criticizes or compliments it means worlds more than someone with no darkroom experience. OK sorry rant over.

[dsphotog]

Top of my list...
Merg Ross

[dsphotog]

Top of my list...
Merg Ross

Take a look at his website, www.mergross.com I think you'll agree.

[RSalles]

Excellent, in every sense,

Cheers,

Renato

[Merg Ross]

Sebastiao Salgado,
Carl Ciarenza,
...

Renato, without doubt Carl ranks high on my list of outstanding photographers. He has a long and distinguished career, from the 1950's to the present time. Good choice!

For those who may be unfamiliar with Carl's work, check out his galleries:

http://www.carlchiarenza.com/image-galleries/

[Hugo Zhang]

I will add three:

Mark Citret
Ed Ross
Kenro Izu

[StoneNYC]

I will add two:

Mark Citret
Ed Ross

Yea Ed Ross is great, Luther Gerlach too :) both would be on my list and both I consider friends.

I would add Borut Peterlin, Chris Honeysett and Renata Młynarczyk to the list of "Contemporary Traditional Photographers" if that isn't a total oxymoron, lol.

Top 10 without a specific category is impossible.

Also "contemporary" would mean non-traditional digital photographers... So ... Peter Lik would fit that, and I know 95% of the people here don't want that. LOL.

[miesnert]

How about some people whom are actually adding something to the medium?
Dan Holdsworth
Christian Patterson
Jessica Eaton