Who is your favorite photographer in history - who has influenced you the most?

[peterm1]

I know this is a tough question to answer if my own case is any guide. For example, to be fair, I probably have more than one favorite photographer at any time and also, my perception of who I might include as a favorite photographer probably changes over time depending upon where I am in my own life as well as my own state of my development as a photographer. So, to keep this relevant and hopefully interesting here is what I am asking:

- Who do you consider to be your present favorite historical photographer bearing in mind that might change over time? (Expressing it this way might also help this thread stay alive over time if people feel tempted to come back and post some more should they change their favourite over time).

- Why do you feel this way?

- Don't just leave it there! - Please provide one or more examples of their photos that you particularly love or find have influenced you.

In my case, right now I have to say I feel myself to be smitten by the work of Leonard Misonne. I think I have mentioned him once before. I am drawn to his dreamy style of work (which no doubt is at least partly due to the technology he was using at the time as much as his own artistic eye.) He was well known for his landscapes and his street photography, both of which excel.

To pinch a bit from Wikipedia (which in turn pinched the following from the Directory of Belgian Photographers🙂 "Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality."

I agree with the above and I should add that I have no objection to a touch of sentimentality in the right place and I suppose it is particularly fair to say this about some of his photos - especially the photos of rural people and families in bucolic and village settings near the turn of the century. After all the "fin de siècle" (literally turn of the century in French) is an era considered by many, even today, to be a kind of golden age in Europe, with a great deal of romanticism attaching to it- before the 20th C knocked the stuffing out of us.

Here are a couple of his city / street photos that click with me.

 

[Freakscene]

I know this is a tough question to answer if my own case is any guide. For example, to be fair, I probably have more than one favorite photographer at any time and also, my perception of who I might include as a favorite photographer probably changes over time depending upon where I am in my own life as well as my own state of my development as a photographer. So, to keep this relevant and hopefully interesting here is what I am asking:

- Who do you consider to be your present favorite historical photographer bearing in mind that might change over time? (Expressing it this way might also help this thread stay alive over time if people feel tempted to come back and post some more should they change their favourite over time).

- Why do you feel this way?

- Don't just leave it there! - Please provide one or more examples of their photos that you particularly love or find have influenced you.

In my case, right now I have to say I feel myself to be smitten by the work of Leonard Misonne. I think I have mentioned him once before. I am drawn to his dreamy style of work (which no doubt is at least partly due to the technology he was using at the time as much as his own artistic eye.) He was well known for his landscapes and his street photography, both of which excel.

To pinch a bit from Wikipedia (which in turn pinched the following from the Directory of Belgian Photographers🙂 "Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality."

I agree with the above and I should add that I have no objection to a touch of sentimentality in the right place and I suppose it is particularly fair to say this about some of his photos - especially the photos of rural people and families in bucolic and village settings near the turn of the century. After all the "fin de siècle" (literally turn of the century in French) is an era considered by many, even today, to be a kind of golden age in Europe, with a great deal of romanticism attaching to it- before the 20th C knocked the stuffing out of us.

Here are a couple of his city / street photos that click with me.

View attachment 4878059View attachment 4878060

Misonne, to me, always looks like a visual accompaniment to Satie. There is a fin de siècle feel about it. Gorgeous.

David Vestal influenced me, I think, more than anyone, more with words and attitude than photos. I still think “do your work” whenever I get my camera out and put it on. When I started developing film and printing, I read The Craft of Photography The Craft Of Photography : David Vestal : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive and went from there.

ROBERT MANN GALLERY — Artists – Vestal

www.robertmann.com

 

[Dogman]

Many influences over the years. But, seeing as how I'm an old man with a long history delving into photography I would have to split the difference and name my two favorite and most influential as Eugene Atget and Walker Evans. The reason for these two photographic geniuses being at the top of my list is simple. Almost every photographer whose work I admire and love the most can trace their roots to these two guys. Everyone from Lee Friedlander to Sally Mann and Eggleston to Baltz. There's touches of their influence on Cartier-Bresson and Doisneau and others. I'm no art/photography historian but I see something of Atget and/or Evans in the work of all my favorites.

(One point I should make. I'm more familiar with Western influences than those from Asia and other cultures. And mostly American photography. My ignorance is enormous.)




.......................................

 

[Leon C]

There's only ever been one for me: Ernst Hass, whilst I've seen others work because when you start reading about Photography the usual suspects are hard to get way from, HCB, Ansel Adams, Capa etc....But in the early days I never was really a fan of looking at others work because the way my brain works, scared of being influenced too much by others as trying to find my own way, but subconsciously hard to get away from.

I'll mention 2 others that I rarely see talked about in general, Patrick Lichfield and David Bailey, not because of their commercial work but their personal work, as I've mentioned in another thread I wanted to originally be a Portrait Photographer and their work was a deciding factor in those thoughts, but I waver....

It was his work with Colour that caught my eye and the movement, so emotional and expressive and also his simplicity, in his equipment and his abilty to be so versatile in subject matter, his Movie Still work is outstanding, yeah more portraits, ahem!


From The Misfits


Johnnie Ray, NY 1952

But the colour motion images captivated me and still do to this day, influence my images.


Traffic, New York 1957


Madison Square Garden, New York 1957

He also apparently said; “The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But you have to SEE.”

Which makes me smile!

I do now buy Photograpy books and look at others work because I'm set in my ways now and nothing is going to change that.

 

[kxl]

I don't have a single favorite, but collectively: the FSA photographers + Salgado. Photos that inspire me are those that I can look at within the context of the prevailing social, economic, political, historical, etc... events happening at the time and place when the photo was taken. I'd like to think that most, if not all photos that I capture also represent such context.

 

[Rayt]

It was painters like Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth that got me interested in art. I just used a camera instead of a canvas. Josef Koudelka, Bruce Davidson, HCB, Robert Frank offered much later inspiration.

 

[ellisson]

I know this is a tough question to answer if my own case is any guide. For example, to be fair, I probably have more than one favorite photographer at any time and also, my perception of who I might include as a favorite photographer probably changes over time depending upon where I am in my own life as well as my own state of my development as a photographer. So, to keep this relevant and hopefully interesting here is what I am asking:

- Who do you consider to be your present favorite historical photographer bearing in mind that might change over time? (Expressing it this way might also help this thread stay alive over time if people feel tempted to come back and post some more should they change their favourite over time).

- Why do you feel this way?

- Don't just leave it there! - Please provide one or more examples of their photos that you particularly love or find have influenced you.

In my case, right now I have to say I feel myself to be smitten by the work of Leonard Misonne. I think I have mentioned him once before. I am drawn to his dreamy style of work (which no doubt is at least partly due to the technology he was using at the time as much as his own artistic eye.) He was well known for his landscapes and his street photography, both of which excel.

To pinch a bit from Wikipedia (which in turn pinched the following from the Directory of Belgian Photographers🙂 "Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality."

I agree with the above and I should add that I have no objection to a touch of sentimentality in the right place and I suppose it is particularly fair to say this about some of his photos - especially the photos of rural people and families in bucolic and village settings near the turn of the century. After all the "fin de siècle" (literally turn of the century in French) is an era considered by many, even today, to be a kind of golden age in Europe, with a great deal of romanticism attaching to it- before the 20th C knocked the stuffing out of us.

Here are a couple of his city / street photos that click with me.

View attachment 4878059View attachment 4878060

These seem more painterly or 'sketcherly" art than from out of a camera. I relate to the this - the overall mood and atmosphere instead of clinical sharpness that seems to be the emphasis in camera and lens marketing. I wonder how he "post-processed" his work.

 

[ellisson]

Dorothea Lange is one of my favorites, as much for the social impact of her work as for the sheer poignancy and grit of her photos, driving home uncomfortable realities. I admire that aspect of photography.

 

[p.giannakis]

Dimitris Harrisiadis for me. I got his book back in the early 90s and I was so impressed by his work.





I consider him (together with Kostas Balafas) to have captured Greece the way I remembered it as a small kid visiting the remote villages of the Pelloponese and Epirus for holidays.

There are some pictures that feel so familiar to me - although I don't know where the following picture is taken, I spent my summers as a kid next to the sea with little taverns like this. This picture feels so familiar.



I've been so many times through this book (and still am) that it has started falling in pieces...

Another influence is Erich Lessing. I saw one of his exhibitions about Eastern Europe back in 2007 and I was so impressed !

 

[peterm1]

Misonne, to me, always looks like a visual accompaniment to Satie. There is a fin de siècle feel about it. Gorgeous.

David Vestal influenced me, I think, more than anyone, more with words and attitude than photos. I still think “do your work” whenever I get my camera out and put it on. When I started developing film and printing, I read The Craft of Photography The Craft Of Photography : David Vestal : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive and went from there.

ROBERT MANN GALLERY — Artists – Vestal

www.robertmann.com

That's interesting...........I had not thought of Satie though I do know and like his compositions. But I agree now that you mention it. 🙂

 

[Photar]

I like to think that Robert Glenn Ketchum had some influence on some of my photography. Mostly by including the (often detrimental) human influence on nature as a part of landscape photography. His work also was one factor for my decision to buy into the Pentax 67 system. Other influences are Peter Dombrovskis and Christopher Burkett. I would like to emphasise that I will never achieve anything comparable to the work of these great masters. Their work can be found online.

 

[Out to Lunch]

My uncle H. who always carried a camera, had a darkroom, and gave me his used flash cubes.

 

[peterm1]

These seem more painterly or 'sketcherly" art than from out of a camera. I relate to the this - the overall mood and atmosphere instead of clinical sharpness that seems to be the emphasis in camera and lens marketing. I wonder how he "post-processed" his work.

I agree. I like this style of photo which almost merely "suggests" the image. And I wondered too how he "post processed" his prints but I have no answers. I know how I do it in Photoshop / Nik Effects / Corel Paintshop pro etc. but am a "blank" when it comes to real darkroom work. It may be though that this type of image is inherent in the technology he used to produce the image. I will defer to others to answer this as I know little about it.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I wondered too how he "post processed" his prints

Wikipedia says:

"Misonne would often photograph things that were strongly illuminated from behind, producing a halo effect. He would also retouch the lighting effects in his photographs, experimenting with and using many techniques, such as the Fresson process and later the bromoil and mediobrome processes. He also invented the "flou-net" and "photo-dessin" processes."

If I'm not mistaken, pictorialists were not beyond applying Vaseline to their lenses...

 

[CMur12]

If I'm not mistaken, pictorialists were not beyond applying Vaseline to their lenses...

Or kicking the tripod during exposure.

- Murray

 

[Freakscene]

Wikipedia says:

"Misonne would often photograph things that were strongly illuminated from behind, producing a halo effect. He would also retouch the lighting effects in his photographs, experimenting with and using many techniques, such as the Fresson process and later the bromoil and mediobrome processes. He also invented the "flou-net" and "photo-dessin" processes."

If I'm not mistaken, pictorialists were not beyond applying Vaseline to their lenses...

I think that La Couleur du Temps: Photographies de Léonard Misonne tells you the process for a lot of his more well-known photos. Léonard Misonne: son oeuvre sa méthode (À l'occasion de l'exposition de ses œuvres aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire) (1938) also describes the process for a lot of his works.

 

[Archiver]

My favourite photographers are those who are able to capture human scenes with a sense of authenticity, artistry and often a sense of humour. The usual suspects include HCB, William Eggleston, Daido Moriyama, Andre Kertesz and Mary Ellen Mark.

The irony is that my flickr is largely personless scenes because I love colour, shape, light and the documentation of places. My paid work, however, is more the side of human documentation, but I never show that here.

 

[Zuiko-logist]

There's only ever been one for me: Ernst Hass, whilst I've seen others work because when you start reading about Photography the usual suspects are hard to get way from, HCB, Ansel Adams, Capa etc....But in the early days I never was really a fan of looking at others work because the way my brain works, scared of being influenced too much by others as trying to find my own way, but subconsciously hard to get away from.

I'll mention 2 others that I rarely see talked about in general, Patrick Lichfield and David Bailey, not because of their commercial work but their personal work, as I've mentioned in another thread I wanted to originally be a Portrait Photographer and their work was a deciding factor in those thoughts, but I waver....

It was his work with Colour that caught my eye and the movement, so emotional and expressive and also his simplicity, in his equipment and his abilty to be so versatile in subject matter, his Movie Still work is outstanding, yeah more portraits, ahem!

View attachment 4878077
From The Misfits

View attachment 4878080
Johnnie Ray, NY 1952

But the colour motion images captivated me and still do to this day, influence my images.

View attachment 4878078
Traffic, New York 1957

View attachment 4878079
Madison Square Garden, New York 1957

He also apparently said; “The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But you have to SEE.”

Which makes me smile!

I do now buy Photograpy books and look at others work because I'm set in my ways now and nothing is going to change that.

I echo your sentiments !

 

[lynnb]

For me it’s Elliott Erwitt, for his wonderful eye, humanity, and sense of humour. And his pictures of dogs.

I first became aware of him in the 1970s. His intimate personal pictures of wife Lucienne in their small NYC apartment were gorgeous and emotive. A very sad loss when he passed recently.

 

[CMur12]

There's only ever been one for me: Ernst Hass, whilst I've seen others work because when you start reading about Photography the usual suspects are hard to get way from, HCB, Ansel Adams, Capa etc....But in the early days I never was really a fan of looking at others work because the way my brain works, scared of being influenced too much by others as trying to find my own way, but subconsciously hard to get away from.

I'll mention 2 others that I rarely see talked about in general, Patrick Lichfield and David Bailey, not because of their commercial work but their personal work, as I've mentioned in another thread I wanted to originally be a Portrait Photographer and their work was a deciding factor in those thoughts, but I waver....

It was his work with Colour that caught my eye and the movement, so emotional and expressive and also his simplicity, in his equipment and his abilty to be so versatile in subject matter, his Movie Still work is outstanding, yeah more portraits, ahem!

View attachment 4878077
From The Misfits

View attachment 4878080
Johnnie Ray, NY 1952

But the colour motion images captivated me and still do to this day, influence my images.

View attachment 4878078
Traffic, New York 1957

View attachment 4878079
Madison Square Garden, New York 1957

He also apparently said; “The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But you have to SEE.”

Which makes me smile!

I do now buy Photograpy books and look at others work because I'm set in my ways now and nothing is going to change that.

Ansel Adams was an early inspiration, but Ernst Haas was ultimately my greatest influence and inspiration.

- Murray