Photographers or photographs that inspired you

[DeLeon]

I try to study at least one distinguished photographer every week or so, and some have really inspired me. I was wondering what or if any particular photographer or photograph has inspired any of you.

I enjoy the work that William Albert Allard has done for National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/allard/


And one of my all time favorites is Keith Carter. I think the way he captures life is absolutely amazing
http://www.keithcarterphotographs.com

[Hogleg 44]

How about O. Winston Link. http://www.linkmuseum.org/index.html
Spectacular B&W Railroad Photograher. His work rivals that of Ansel Adams in my opinion!

[bbailey]

Ewww, this is a tough one. I must have about 100 links in my "photographers" favorites folder.

My favorite famous photogs would have to be James Nachtwey, Steve McCurry. For me, those guys are as good as it gets I think. I remember looking at McCurry's famous Afgan Girl photo when I was a kid in the late 80's and it still made an impact even though I couldn't have been more than 12 the first time I saw it.

I blame my father's subscription to National Geographic for why I have always looked at the photos in a magazine before reading the stories.

Of my current favorite non-famous photographers, it would have to be Keith Kin Yan of the photoblog overshadowed.com. This guys style blows me away sometimes, espicially his nightime shots. Here are a few I found particularly cool:

http://www.overshadowed.com/mt/archives/000291.html
http://www.overshadowed.com/mt/archives/000431.html
http://www.overshadowed.com/mt/archives/000250.html

Of course I think I find I new site or photographer that insprires me every day. One of the great things about the Internet.

[LoungeLizard]

Wow...never thought about it. To be honest, never really studied photographers. The most obvious is Ansel Adams. As an undergrad, all I shot was ASA 25 and 64 films!

Then, there are the portraits of Francesco Scavullo and Richard Avedon.

I'm sure there's a lot more, I just neve really paid attention to their names!

[brad]

Famous photographers, I love Henri Cartier-Bresson's work.. I think of him often when I'm trying to do portraits... trying to capture "that moment"


Not so famous photographers? A pair of guys from The Netherlands that I met on WebPhotoForum.com:

Izaac Slagt: http://www.izaak-p-slagt.nl/
Frank Doorhof: http://www.doorhof.nl/

And a friend that's here in DFW who does photography at cat shows:

Helmi Flick: http://www.helmiflick.com

[Hogleg 44]

If you go for old Glamour, Cheesecake, Pics, (shame on this old Bettie Page fan) how bout Bunny Yeager! http://www.freedonia.com/~jeff/SUb/cent-filles/by.html

[Sheldon]

I think the ones that inspired me the most when I first started getting interested in Photography are people just like you and I. These are not famous photographers at all, but people who have a true passion for the art.

Here are just a few who have simple PBase accounts:

Francis Toussaint
http://www.pbase.com/francist

Monique
http://www.pbase.com/zippo

Paul Keates
http://www.pbase.com/paul_keates

[Bill Huber]

I guess I am like Sheldon and Jesus, I have not really studied anyone. I do know that the National Geographic has always been a source of wonder at the images they publish.
Like Sheldon I do have some people on Pbase that I keep and eye on, they are just normal people with a love to take pictures and they really know how to do it.

Not wanting to sound corny, but the people here, I watch their images and learn a little something from each one of them. Everyone has a little different style and I like seeing that style and it helps me not to get in a rut with my images.

[mramos]

portrait and wedding sites I like.
children http://www.alwphotography.com/
available light wedding http://www.jeffascough.com/
animal http://www.rachaelhale.com/
portrait/wedding http://www.lizbanfield.com/
http://www.pfisterphoto-art.com/22/
http://www.blinkphotography.com/

[imjamie]

As I love landscapes and such more than doing people photography, I have always admired the works of Ansel Adams and of Galen Rowell. They would be to me the masters of the landscape, one in B&W and the other in color. Though Adams did shoot some stuff in color, his B&W images will forever be a part of Americana. If you have never seen any of Galen Rowell's work, go to http://www.mountainlight.com/ and see some of his work. Really rich stuff in color and content. It's a shame he's gone as well.

Thanks,

[gpgyo]

For glamour/portrait work I think the pictures John Smeets, a frequent poster on FM, are incredible. For sports photography, Bob Levey's pictures are second to none. I'm not sure how famous these men are outside of Interest photo website circles and the services they shoot for, but other "famous" photographers are not available to ask the questions that help me become a better photographer.

Those are the two styles I am most interested in so I don't devote a lot of time to photographers of other styles.

Greg

[lscottpht]

Ami Vitale at www.amivitale.com and Raffaele Ciriello, an Italian photojournalist. He used to have a site called, Postcards from Hell. He was killed a couple of years ago in Ramallah, but his site continued for awhile. Now, it doesn't seem to be accessible. I also like a guy named Shaul (I don't remember his last name). I met him in Haiti on this last trip. His work is incredible. He won all the major prizes last year for his coverage of the uprising. You can see his work at Getty Images. Click on editorial (I think) and then do a search for Haiti. When you get to the Haiti page, you can click on photographers and his name will be there, and you can see his work. It's amazing. Also, Dan Eldon at http://www.daneldon.org. He was killed in Somalia while he was in his early 20's, I believe. There's a special about his work and his death, narrated by his sister, that's definitely worth watching. He was a rising star!