Who's your favorite forgotten Master Photographer

[Toyon]

It seems that some incredible photographers of the past no longer get the notice they deserve. Please post work by once well-known photogs you think deserve revisiting. This image, by Andreas Feininger, courtesy of www.shorpy.com. Image shot on Kodachrome in 1945.

[Walter Calahan]

I forget! Grin.

André Kertész always comes to mind. Wynn Bullock, too.

[alanps]

I chose John Blakemore, he is still alive, but gets very little if any attention here in the US. I think his work in the 70's was groundbreaking for large format - and he remains in my eyes one of the great photographers if somewhat forgotten....

[SamReeves]

It seems that some incredible photographers of the past no longer get the notice they deserve. Please post work by once well-known photogs you think deserve revisiting. This image, by Andreas Feininger, courtesy of www.shorpy.com. Image shot on Kodachrome in 1945.

Nice! I love industrial photography like that. :D

My forgotten master would be A.J. Russell. Nobody documented the construction of the Union Pacific railroad like he did. If I get out to the mountian west I'd love to try my hand at making this photo at Green River, WY.

http://i29.tinypic.com/28kr2b8.gif

[domenico Foschi]

Alen Macweeney, an Irish photographer who has made a memorable portfolio about the TInkers, some sort of Irish Gypsies.
I have been trying to get some links to show the work, but even in his website there is something wrong.
I am lucky enough to be represented by Andrew Ward, a talented Irish photographer and Fine Art Photography dealer who carries his work.
I first saw Macweeney's work in an issue of Aperture and his work blew me away.
He is best known for his commercial work but in my opinion his B/W work is one of the more honest I have seen in Ages.
http://www.alenmacweeney.com/
http://www.andrewwardgallery.com/artists.htm
http://www.stevenkasher.com/html/artistresults.asp?artist=283&testing=true

[Bill_1856]

Philippe Halsman. His piece d'resistance (Dali Atomicus) which took all day with a full studio staff, a herd of angry cats, and innumberable thrown buckets of water (and cleaning up the mess over and over), could be easily done in a short time today with Photoshop.
I think his portrait of Einstein was the best ever done of him (despite that it was almost a copy of the Cameron portrait of Sir John Herschel taken eighty years earlier). I believe that his wife, Yvonne, was as responsible for the work as he was, and to the best of my knowledge she is still with us.
He shot far more covers for Life than anyone else.

[Mark Sawyer]

I would go with George Grant, though whether he is "forgotten" or "never known" is argueable... He worked in the 1920's through the 1940's as the first National Park Service photographer. Mostly 5x7, but some whole-plate work too...

His large format work is as good as any I've ever seen. Sorry for the crappy scans; they don't do the prints justice...

Muir Woods, 1936
San Ignacio Mission, Sonora Mexico, 1935
Don Juan and Dona Sada, Boquillas, Texas, 1936

[Arne Croell]

Not completely forgotten (there is one Aperture book), but for mountain photography Vittorio Sella was a top guy who is not known to many people nowadays:

http://www.panopt.com/images.php?a=10

[Greg Lockrey]

That Shorpy site is a very cool site. I peruse it at least once a week. :)

[Wayne R. Scott]

"Pete" Wettach of Mt. Pleasant Iowa. I love his use of the Graphic bed as a lens shade:

http://galleries.luther.edu/Archives/2003_2004/wettach/wettach.html

Wayne

[MIke Sherck]

More like unknown than forgotten: Fritz Kaeser. I'd never heard of him until my wife came home from a garage sale with a book about him. Pictorialist from the early 1930's, drafted into the Army ski troops in WWII and a pioneering ski sport photographer, turned to the west coast esthetic after the war.

Or Robert Doisneau, in case he's been forgotten.

Mike

[Marko]

One of the names that come to my mind is certainly Elliott Erwitt (http://www.elliotterwitt.com/lang/en/index.html).

[lenser]

Three for me.

Karsh for the brilliance of his portraiture. Timothy O'Sullivan who was part of the group of Civil War photographers for Brady and went on the do tremendous creative and exploratory work across the West as well as part of the survey photography of the Panama Canal. And Edward Sherriff Curtis who's portraits of the faces and life of native Americans stands head and shoulders above almost anyone.

Tim

[Ted Harris]

Interesting, some of the folks mentioned, like Alen Macweeney, I never heard of .... thanks Dominico, I liked what I saw.

Others like George Grant, have, unfortunately, been forgotten. I have seen a lot of his work and will be including it in a book I have been working on for several years.

Finally, Karsh, Erwitt, Halsman, Kertesz, Feininger, Bullock, forgotten? Perhaps by some photographers but certainly not by the art community and not by collectors. I have special memories for Feininger, as a teenager in the 50's I read all of his books I could get my hands on. He taught me a lot of my early basics.

[Frank Bagbey]

There were a number of great photographers in the same area, part of it being the great scenery, but the stand out, at least in my mind, was Wynn Bullock. He is well under-rated.

[Jim Graves]

Not really forgotten ... but definitely masters ... Hungarian born Andre Kertesz and Czech born Josef Sudek (something about those easter Europeans) ... amazing what they did with the equipment of the day ... and both of them had quite a beautiful collection of images from their apartment window sills. I often wonder what they would have thought of the super-sharp, multi-coated, multi-dollar lenses we seem to adore today. Maybe that they actually hinder the process of "looking." As Kertesz said: "It's important to think but it's better to look. It's even better to look without thinking." I like that.

[jnantz]

john garo, karsh's mentor.

[Kirk Gittings]

There were a number of great photographers in the same area, part of it being the great scenery, but the stand out, at least in my mind, was Wynn Bullock. He is well under-rated.

Yes, but hardly forgotten?

[Michael Dymersky]

Josef Sudek,Wynn Bullock,Eliot Porter.

[Duane Polcou]

Ernst Haas. Although not a LF photographer (35mm Kodachrome II), his color images of the Grand Canyon were the first images I had ever seen that were intrinsically artistic and not geared towards simply accompanying text.

Tad Nichols. Black and White MF and LF portfolios of Glen Canyon before the Dam.

JK Hillers. Accompanied John Wesley Powell on his second Colorado River trip in 1872.
Lugged a MASSIVE wet plate camera, plates, tripod, chemicals, and a canvas tent from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the overlook at Toroweap. Back when men were men, they were asphyxiated from guncotton fumes, and they liked it.

[bob carnie]

My favourite would be August Sander, his work is beautiful.

[Ron Bose]

Completely agree with Bob,
I was shocked to see that Sander had achieved perfection in portraiture so early on in the history of photography.

I have his seven volume set and treasure it ....

Karsh has also been a huge inspiration to me.

[Ben Calwell]

Evelyn Hoffer -- she produced some great portraits.

[John Voss]

I discovered Albert Renger-Patzsch when I bought a copy of Joy Before the Object. Wonderful work that includes landscape, industrial, portrait, still life and even flower images. As one source indicated, he is very little known in the English speaking world, but perhaps better remembered in Europe.


http://the-artists.org/artist/Albert_Renger-Patzsch.html

[Michael Graves]

Wright Morris

[John Voss]

Wright Morris

I think you meant Wright Morris.

AHHH....good. I'm sitting here correcting, and you're editing at the same time. ;)

[Don Sparks]

O. Winston Link

[bob carnie]

Hi John

We did not meet when I was in Springvale in feb , but I saw the show before it was taken down,,, Your work was very beautiful and extremely well printed, just wanted to say hello and compliment some deserving work.

Bob

I think you meant Wright Morris.

AHHH....good. I'm sitting here correcting, and you're editing at the same time. ;)

[John Voss]

Hi John

We did not meet when I was in Springvale in feb...
Bob


Thanks for your kind words, Bob. I would have liked to have met you in Springfield....maybe next time!

[tim atherton]

Eadweard Muybridge - often apprently forgotten or ignored in photography (if not in art and cinema)

[Eric Woodbury]

Oliver Gagliani.

[john borrelli]

Just a note on Feininger, early on when I decided to get more serious about my photography hobby, I came across a Feininger book in my public library. It really helped me become more sophisticated with composition and photography in general.

[Kevin Convery]

Not really forgotten ... but definitely masters ... Hungarian born Andre Kertesz and Czech born Josef Sudek (something about those easter Europeans) ... amazing what they did with the equipment of the day ... and both of them had quite a beautiful collection of images from their apartment window sills. I often wonder what they would have thought of the super-sharp, multi-coated, multi-dollar lenses we seem to adore today. Maybe that they actually hinder the process of "looking." As Kertesz said: "It's important to think but it's better to look. It's even better to look without thinking." I like that.

I just got back from Los Angeles and I had stopped in at the Getty and they had a pretty big exhibit of Andre Kertesz. I was unfamiliar with him up until this past Friday. I really enjoyed his work. For anyone in the south California area I really recommend going to see it. They're also showing Graciela Iturbide.

As for forgotten or under appreciated I'm going with Ivan Pinkava. He doesn't have any kind of following in the United States that I'm aware of. He's pretty big in Europe as far as I've been told. Once again, those eastern Europeans! Viva la Czech!

http://www.ivanpinkava.com/en/

[Patrik Roseen]

The swedish photographer Borg Mesch comes to my mind.

He was not only an excellent photographer in the beginning of the 20th century but also an alpinist who brought his 50 kg of glassplates and LF camera (not counting the alpinist gear) to the top of Kebnekaise (the highest mountain in Sweden) in those days when this mountain was far from any roads and hotels.

Like many photographers in those days he made a living out of commercial portraits, but he also photographed how the railway was built in the northern part of Sweden and the local inhabitants and their culture.

I am impressed by the thought that he made his own glassplates, brought them where no man had gone before, made excellent photographs, carried the plates back home and processed them.

[domenico Foschi]

Another painfully forgotten photographer is Otto Umbehr, also known as Umbo.
He was one of the most talented photographers of the Bauhaus together with Moholy-Nagy.
His work is a little more classic than Moholy-Nagy's and it has been very influential.
I have made a search on Google and there isn't much regarding images.
Plenty of information and books that can be purchased.
http://i31.tinypic.com/4lk61k.jpg

[Mark Sampson]

I'll second Evelyn Hofer. Her books "London Percieved" and "Dublin, a Portrait" are truly superb. Subtle cityscapes and marvelous portraits.

[George E. Sheils]

...and don't forget Dorothea Lange and her wonderful images of County Clare and its people.

G.

[Michael Graves]

...and don't forget Dorothea Lange and her wonderful images of County Clare and its people.

G.

Don't think Dorothea falls under the forgotten category. She's a regular feature in most books about documentary photography or the history of photography. However, a cohort of hers, Esther Bubley (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Female_bus_driver_Bubley.jpg), definitely falls into that category. She had the same testicular fortitude as Dorothea, but nowhere near the fame.

[Robbie Shymanski]

I'm not that into portraiture, but Russ Meyer sure knew subject matter. There are plenty shots I wish I could have been present for.

[John Kasaian]

John Garo, who has to take "first" in "lost and forgotten" The original negatives were "lost" under suspicious circumstances, the Smithsonian "lost" thier collection of his prnts and the only person who seems to have remembered him, Yousef Karsh, has passed on.
An obscurity undeserving of a photographer who was the first american to exhibit a salon in London, winner of the Goertz award, and argueably the one of the most sought after portrait photographers in the the oughts, teens and twenties.

[panchro-press]

Two photographers work I never tire of viewing: Karl Struss and Paul Haviland.

[al olson]

Wynn Bullock is at the top of my list as well. He may not be forgotten, but I have never seen an exhibit, or even a listed exhibit, showing his work. I would also second Eliot Porter and O. Winston Link.

However, it was Arthur Fellig that influenced me to start doing infrared photography back in the early 50s because of an article about him in one of the photo (Popular Photography ???) magazines.

[Navy Moose]

I just got back from Los Angeles and I had stopped in at the Getty and they had a pretty big exhibit of Andre Kertesz. I was unfamiliar with him up until this past Friday. I really enjoyed his work. For anyone in the south California area I really recommend going to see it. They're also showing Graciela Iturbide.

As for forgotten or under appreciated I'm going with Ivan Pinkava. He doesn't have any kind of following in the United States that I'm aware of. He's pretty big in Europe as far as I've been told. Once again, those eastern Europeans! Viva la Czech!

http://www.ivanpinkava.com/en/

I was at the Getty Museum when I was in LA in 2002. I was nothing but inspired looking at the beautiful work there. I bought a copy of "American Photography" which had been a miniseries on PBS. I only wish there were more places dedicated to photography on the East Coast.

My background is technology and unfortunately I don't have a huge background in art history so I know works I like but not always who created it. But my favorites are Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstadt, and others.

Navy Moose

[butterflydream]

Alexander Rodtschenko.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9589/stepsrodchenkoti4.jpg

[Daqlon]

Eugene Atget for sure and ofcourse Ansel Adams. Andre Kertesz is very good too.

[jb7]

I had expected to come across a lot of obscure names on this thread,
and instead, have been surprised by the number of familiar ones-

A favourite in Ireland at the moment is RJ Welch,
who documented scenic views in Ireland around a hundred years ago-

I came across some cigarette cards, belonging to my grandfather, originally issued by Gallahers Cigarettes-
they distinguished themselves from the usual type of cigarette cards by being bromides, and can stand some magnification under a glass-

They've captured the imagination of some members of our local forum, http://photographyireland.net/viewforum.php?f=70
and some of the views are being tracked down and re-created-
mostly out of curiosity to see how the passage of time has changed things-

RJ Welch was also the photographer at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, and documented many of the ships built there, including the Titanic-
any of the original photographs of it that you may have seen, including the interiors, are probably his.

As far as I know, most of his archive is housed in the Ulster Folk Museum-



http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8330/irishviewsceneryjb75162fp2.jpg

[jetcode]

I think you have a fine thing going in Ireland, one of my favorite destinations on earth.

[Mark Sawyer]

I had expected to come across a lot of obscure names on this thread, and instead, have been surprised by the number of familiar ones-


Yes, sad that Ansel Adams has become a forgotten master. Maybe someone should do a book on him...

Here's a somewhat-forgotten pictorial photographer. Working as a pharmacist in the little podunk town of Globe, Arizona in the 1920's, Forman Hanna was also a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and exhibited work across America, Europe, Japan, Australia...

[jnantz]

John Garo, who has to take "first" in "lost and forgotten" The original negatives were "lost" under suspicious circumstances, the Smithsonian "lost" thier collection of his prnts and the only person who seems to have remembered him, Yousef Karsh, has passed on.
An obscurity undeserving of a photographer who was the first american to exhibit a salon in London, winner of the Goertz award, and argueably the one of the most sought after portrait photographers in the the oughts, teens and twenties.

i wonder if ansel adams, irving penn or some of the other greats
will be virtually unknown 50 years after their death ...

[jb7]

Hey thanks Joe-
however, you've just made me feel bad about not getting out and photographing enough of it-

Ansel who?

j

[adrian tyler]

I'll second Evelyn Hofer. Her books "London Percieved" and "Dublin, a Portrait" are truly superb. Subtle cityscapes and marvelous portraits.

second that, interesting too the areas she worked in, portrait, land/city scape, interiors, all in a masterful way and yet very little recognition, probably wans't the pushy type...

[Doug Howk]

Clarence John Laughlin - for his evocative images of Louisiana & Mississippi.
Charles Jones - a discovered master, for his beautiful images of the lowly vegetable.