Who are/were the greats? And why?

J

Jack917

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Hi gang,

I'm still fairly new to photography and thought it would be important to know; who's who in photography?

I think the title says it all. If one were to study photography, not necessarily technique, but its history - Who are/were the people that have contributed (significantly) to the field?
 
Well. I seem to have a knack of contributing to a thread, and that's the end of the thread. Maybe some of my posts are too long and boring. That might happen here for other reasons too. You could do worse than look for a good book in a library. There was a Time Life series on photography that many libraries have and it is fantastic. There are some great names and you could look these up and read about them, look at their photographs and see which ones interest you. Eugene Atget in Paris from the last century, Lartigue in this century and of course Henri Cartier-Bresson. The German August Sander, the Hungarian Andre Kertesz. Lots of great American photographers, Paul Strand, Elliott Erwitt, etc etc. They all had an eye for composition and subject, but the greats also added something to what photography is. Some of the more modern notables have a rather more obscure perspective, for example Andreas Gursky. It is an evolving discipline. The best education is looking at lots of pictures, and of course taking lots of pictures.
 
Are you referring only to photographers who have become well known for their photographs, or for those who made the medium possible (or both)? Look for a book that gives the history of photography. There are so many who have done one or the other or both. To many to mention.
 
Get a book like "Looking at Photographs" or "The Photographer's Eye" and see who you like... seriously.
 
Thanks for the link raytoei!
hi,

here is a link which i found useful. there are so many photographers that I admire, that i have to specialize and narrow the field.

http://www.professionalphotographer....rs-of-all-time

cheers!
raytoei
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I was thinking along these lines. Mostly because I came across:
http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Z-Hans-Michael-Koetzle/dp/3836511096/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1
and
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
 
I like trying to understand periods of work in context with history. Alexander Gardner, Matthew Brady for example. Also find collaboration between Ansel Adams, Dr. Land etc fascinating, although it no longer seems en vogue to mention him.
 
Jack917 said:
Hi gang,

I'm still fairly new to photography and thought it would be important to know; who's who in photography?

I think the title says it all. If one were to study photography, not necessarily technique, but its history - Who are/were the people that have contributed (significantly) to the field?
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The most authoritative site on this is Robert Leggat's History of Photography. Gives mini bios on many photographers from it's beginnings upto the 1920s. A very good and illuminating read.

http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/
 
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Sparrow said:
If you're in the UK the answer could well be here ...

http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Events/LivesOfGreatPhotographers.aspx

... interesting exhibition, Weegee struggles to look anything but mediocre in that company and the f64 lot don't get a look in :eek:
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I did a little pilmgrimage there years ago before it changed its name. I was massively underwhelmed by the place cos I was expecting hundreds and hundreds of black and white prints on display. Turned out there were not many to see. They are mostly squirreled away in vaults out of the light. Really depends what is on display at any one time.

If you happen to visit London, then goto the V&A Museum. There you can request to see some of what's in the collection and it will brought to you to actually view the prints in person.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/history/index.html

http://www.vam.ac.uk/resources/print_study_reading/index.html
 
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You might want to check out The History of Photography podcasts offered by Jeff Curto (available through iTunes). He's an instructor at the College of DuPage and these are his class lectures. It's a good overview of the major developments (ha!) in the art and science and would help place some photographers in context.
 
Don't pay too much attention to the photographers themselves : they're too many and boring very often. :angel:

I prefer to advice you a book from a "non photographer" : "Camera Lucida" (Roland Barthes)
 
BBC did a great 6 episode miniseries called the genius of photography. Get your hands on that if you can. It covers not only photographers but the history of the technology as well.

-jakub
 
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