Who Do YOU Like Better

Who Do YOU Like Better

  • Ansel Adams

    Votes: 55 20.2%

  • Henri Cartier-Bresson

    Votes: 144 52.9%

  • Garry Winogrand

    Votes: 48 17.6%

  • William Eggleston

    Votes: 25 9.2%
  • Total voters
    272
I based that on the assumtion that if WE was the "father of colour photography" which I don't really agree with, then those that follow a similar genre of work must add to the substance of those they follow. therefore making Eggleston greater in an art historical reference. I most definately would not call Brouws unoriginal in any way.
 
Cale Arthur said:
... both of your assertions seem to paint Brouws as 'unoriginal by proxy'.

--c--
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no one made that assertation. I've never heard of the photographer until this thread. your liking Brouws doesn't make you unoriginal, nor does attempts within this thread to place Brouws in relation to Eggleston make him unoriginal. I can attempt to place Winogrand in relation to Walker Evans and others who were instrumental in what we now refer to as street photography, that doesn't make Winogrand unoriginal because he wasn't the first, or the "father" or whatever.
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Thea said:
Out of the limited choice given, I chose Eggleston. However it was difficult to choose between him and HCB, for completely different reasons.

I really began to appreciate Eggleston because of Martin Parr, and saw a small series of his work last year at the Brighton Bi-Annual (UK) from his "Graceland" series, they were so powerful and yet incredibly subtle. For that all too short time, (viewing his work) I glimpsed how it must be to have such a creative genius.
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Thea said:
I have to add, I am really into Stephen Shore's work at the current time.
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me too.

Thea said:
The list of choice was criminally short with no female photographers, and 3 American nominees to only one European...!! :)
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criminally? impossibly short. intentionally short. honestly, it guess it would be lots of fun to do something like Rich Silfver did with rangefinder cameras, and go through several weeks of polling and playoffs, twelve choices per thread, 10 threads, etc. to determine everyone's favorite or "the best" (we'd get to the end and HCB would still reign supreme!) :) But it would be sad to see Lisette Model (one of my favs) go down in the first round without a mention! With a smaller list we get to hear several opinions about each choice. Maybe it's time for an all Euro photographers poll (I vote Koudelka!) or an all women photographer poll...Thea? :)


:)
 
RayPA said:
I can attempt to place Winogrand in relation to Walker Evans and others who were instrumental in what we now refer to as street photography, that doesn't make Winogrand unoriginal because he wasn't the first, or the "father" or whatever.
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Ray, i understand what you're saying, and with that i agree. However, my point had less to do with 'who was there first' (i also wasn't trying to defend anyone), than it did with the latter two sentences that i quoted from d_ross above, in which it seems to say that WE's work is made better by a perceived visual similarity to another artist's work. I'm open to the fact that i've missed the point entirely, but i do think that the notion of an artist's oeuvre gaining some kind of historical momentum through (the perception of) imitation by others is a strange one, when it seems to me that they're both quite original in their own way(s). But perhaps i read too much into a post that i now realize was somewhat removed (by me) from it's original context. Regardless, my apologies to both of you for any misunderstanding - i didn't mean to take your thread for a ride. :)

--c--
 
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no need to apologise to me :) I clearly see where your coming from and I didn't really phrase my original statement that well either.
 
A lot of this type of discussion focuses on what the critics/museums/curators go for. (The late John Szarkowski was the 'curator of photography' at MOMA for a couple of dozen years or so.) As a result, it's largely the same pantheon of names that we hear about all the time. Why? Because the critics and curators play them up. And every once in a while they make a new 'discovery'.

I enjoy looking through the galleries right here on these forums, and there are some talented people posting their pictures, whether they be pros or amateurs. For right now, I won't name any names, but there are opportunities here and on other sites to comment on posted pictures, and maybe we should make more use of that.

Does that speak for all of us? I doubt it. But the same phonomenon goes on in most of the art world.
 
Ray,
"criminally? impossibly short. intentionally short. honestly, it guess it would be lots of fun to do something like Rich Silfver did with rangefinder cameras, and go through several weeks of polling and playoffs, twelve choices per thread, 10 threads, etc. to determine everyone's favorite or "the best" (we'd get to the end and HCB would still reign supreme!) :) But it would be sad to see Lisette Model (one of my favs) go down in the first round without a mention! With a smaller list we get to hear several opinions about each choice. Maybe it's time for an all Euro photographers poll (I vote Koudelka!) or an all women photographer poll...Thea? :)"


I see you point(s),
and will consider the idea of an all women photographer poll...maybe I could have some suggestions? I dont want to be too narrow..

Lisette Model, I just bought the re-release of her Aperture Monograph, wow fantastic.
 
Thea said:
Ray,
...

Lisette Model, I just bought the re-release of her Aperture Monograph, wow fantastic.
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I just picked this up too. I was "suffering" with my little Phaidon 55 release with its little images, and then this re-release comes along...WOW is right!


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I like all of them but picked Winogrand. I saw a documentary on Eggleston on the Sundance channel a few months ago. His color work is fantastic. MOF it was viewing his photos that excited me about shooting color film again. RFF has some good photographers that shoot color.
 
I love Ansel Adams, but it is Eggleston for me. I am only really starting to discover HCB, and am only familiar with a few Garry Winogrand images.

As for Egglestons composition, I can see how one might view it as sloppy esspecially if that is the only image seen. In context with his other work, you see it is very deliberate, whether on exposure or editing.. who knows? I have seen H.C.B. contact sheets as well in an article meant to challenge "the decisive moment". The point was to show that the decisive moment was actually him choosing between 3 or 4 different compositions. I don't see anything wrong with that. At any rate, the posted Eggleston image with an even horizon would be boring. It is the same kind of tension Bill Frisell or David Lynch (who was influenced by W.E.) use. I love the unwarranted apprehension that is evoked with many of his photographs.

Thank you for the Jeff Brouws link! good stuff. I might have chosen Walker Evans as well.
 
I voted for William Eggleston 2 main reasons colour and his images for me are along the lines of if one thing matters everything matters (title by Wolfgang Tillmans), its a line of photography I find very interesting and am going down. But there all good photographers and I could have voted for any. There are however a plethora of great photographers that could be listed and voted on or compared and I would bet that a lot of us would still end up saying what about? Well Im going to make some photographs
Peace
 
Adams was a hypocrite and Cartier-Bresson was a manipulative jerk. I don't know anything about the other two.

Oh, wait, you probably meant "whose photographs do you like most?"...
 
Since Dianne Arbus was not on the list, I voted for Garry Winogrand.

HCB was certainly in the running though.

I'd also would have voted for Lee Friedlander, Duane Michals, or Walker Evans.

Then there is Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, and Sally Mann.

Wait, there are about fifty more...............
 
HCB +1 (though Winogrand is pretty close)

But on top:
Koudelka, Salgado, Dorothea Lange, Doisneau and Willy Ronis ... then HCB, Winogrand, Weegee ... etc.
 
and there is also Uelsmann
and Weston, especially Point Lobos oh yeh Weegie


BTW I saw my first Walker Evans and Friedlander *Prints* last month in SF; I was very impressed; I had only seen them in books. I also saw some images and video by Dijskra, really very nice.
 
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