If you could shadow a famous photographer for one day, who would it be?

[maggieo]

André Kertész, because he was a mensch.

Man Ray, because just think about who else you'd meet.

I was with Peter Turnley in Cuba last month and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, because he's as great a guy as he is a photographer.

 

[maggieo]

Nobody wants to hang with Weegee? 🙁

That'd be a blast!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Philip Jones Griffiths. Not during war service but his work after.

Eugene Smith in Minamata, Japan.

QT Luong for a modern take on technique.

Finally, I want to walk with John Miur, pencil and sketchbook in-hand, during walks through the Sierras, learning how to see in a different way.

As for all the conflict photographers; Nachtwey, Capa, Huet, Eddie Adams, Burrows, Ut, and countless others, I've had my share of combat and so have they. We can sit around drinking and talking about it or not talking about it. Either way, some people have borne witness to to the horrors of history, they can keep it. I've had enough myself as have several on this forum.

Phil Forrest

 

[lawrence]

Diane Arbus

 

[Canyongazer]

Arny Freytag 🙂

 

[jordan.dickinson]

Diane Arbus - for the strange and amazing people she sought out.
Sebastiao Salgado - for the social commentary and amazing adventures.

 

[MrFujicaman]

I'm kind of surprised nobody said Vivian Maier !

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I'm kind of surprised nobody said Vivian Maier !

I wouldn't have wanted to watch the kids she was tending to as she darted down an alley to take photos or dumpster dive.

Phil Forrest

 

[Danielsan]

Diane Arbus for sure

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

Live long enough, and you could have some famous friends, or at least acquaintances.

 

[back alley]

gordon parks...
gene smith in pittsburgh

 

[JeffS7444]

Probably not a dull moment following Nobuyoshi Araki on a shoot!

 

[kxl]

Seal - an avid Leica shooter. It would just be cool to hang out with him for street photography and an impromptu duet with buskers.

Salgado.

 

[robry]

Sergio Larrain!

 

[sjones]

HCB, because I am convinced that he set up many of his so called "decisive moment" shots. Anyone that has shot street, especially w/ a manual focus camera, understands that some of his shots could only have been made this way...

Depends on what you mean by set up. Saw a scene and waited for a human to enter; definitely. Arranged for the human to enter the scene, doubtful.

Anyway, zone focusing is as fast as it gets. And if he missed focus a little, not really a huge issue. Also, he probably relied on some intuition and observation, seeing a scene develop, positioning himself, and then taking the photo at the ‘decisive moment’.

One of his friends mentioned how the two were walking and conversing when Cartier-Bresson quickly pointed and shot a photo of some children in a building lot and then kept walking with minimal interruption. I believe it was this photo, but I could be wrong:

http://pixdaus.com/separate-by-henri-cartier-bresson-kids/items/view/259511/

I’m sure there were other witnesses to his methods, and there have certainly been numerous other photographers who took extremely welled timed shots of fleeting subjects, so it’s not impossible…it was his ability to see the composition forming, often within seconds, as much as anything else.



Anyway, to follow William Eggleston, Robert Frank, and Garry Winogrand would be either very enlightening and fascinating or off putting, either way, I’d like to give it a go. Also Daido Moriyama, in part because I loved living in Tokyo.

 

[danielsterno]

absolutely Diane Arbus.......

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

HCB, because I am convinced that he set up many of his so called "decisive moment" shots. Anyone that has shot street, especially w/ a manual focus camera, understands that some of his shots could only have been made this way. It is just not possible for that many images to have been made on the fly, good photographer or not. Even luck could not have made it possible.

In the end of course, who cares how he made them? A good shot is a good shot, but the whole legendary thing is simply a marketing art-world way to get more money for the works (not for him, he's dead, but for those in the art world that are making a buck off old already created images).

That seems a really uninformed take on HCB, and the art market, and especially odd in HCB's case, considering his well known position regarding sales.

"I, Henri Cartier-Bresson, residing in Paris at 198 rue de Rivoli, 75001, declare the following – I have always signed and dedicated my photographic prints to those whom they are offered to – all other prints marked with a “Magnum Photos” stamp or my name, “Henri Cartier-Bresson”, are exclusively my personal property. All persons in possession of the later cannot be considered the true proprietors of these prints."

The internet is a strange place.

 

[gns]

...Anyone that has shot street, especially w/ a manual focus camera, understands that some of his shots could only have been made this way...

Examples, please?

 

[Ranchu]

The bicyclist.

 

[Dogman]

Examples, please?

It doesn't take long to confirm how zone focus is used by hitting a few websites with emphasis on "street photography" (Gawd, I hate that term!). It has been a common practice for many years, turning your multi-thousand dollar Leica outfit into a fixed focus point and shoot. I've seen it mentioned in interviews with Eggleston, Wessel, Meyerowitz, etc. As for HCB, you might notice some of his photos are a little soft in the focus department, likely due to the subject being just out of the zone.