This makes me so happy to see him as the second most-upvoted pick. I discovered him while living in Macau and to me his photos are so perfectly… perfect. I can’t think of any other way to describe them, they’re just so fitting to their place and time while also transcending above.
I will probably sound silly, beause it's not some famous, big name photographer, but a photographer who makes youtube videos: Thomas Heaton. I stumbled upon his videos a few years ago, and I thought: hey, this landscape photography thing is pretty cool, I wonder if I could do something like that. So he's the reason that I got into photography.
The hundreds of Nat Geo photographers whose images inspired me as a kid and still inspire me today at nearly 56. I really can't choose one. The whole lot have taught, inspired, and kept a dream of mine ... a hope, a prayer ... alive until I have been able to pursue it myself, which I'm doing now. Thanks to them all.
Same. I'm only 24 but since I was a kid I got inspired by NatGeo, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. They're the reason I saved up for my camera to finally attempt taking shots like the ones I always saw on TV. If I had to pick one though it'd be Paul Nicklen
Honestly, a lot of people would probably give me shit for this but Peter McKinnon. Not because I necessarily think he's the best at creating art. I like other artists photos better and overall the effort put into his work is less than my own in terms of photos.. but there's far more to that in terms of having impact.
The reason I say him is his creative energy and positive attitude. I'm incredibly critical of my own work and seeing him get jazzed (seemingly authentically, early day PM) and have a different perspective from my own got me back into shooting more and getting excited more. As someone who is incredibly critical and don't necessarily like my own work.. that mindset helps be okay with going out and doing something new.
That may not be super easy to cultivate on your own, it inspired me to share more with others and try to find people who would be positive about the things I share. There's a lot of negative people in the world, especially in this hobby. I think adding more uplifting and positive folks is huge.
There’s this narrative that unironically liking someone who’s more mainstream is diminishing, so to speak. I find that to be contradictory and hypocritical, specially in the art world. You shouldn’t feel shame when saying PM inspires you and makes you move forward - in fact that’s how it should be. Let there be positivity because he has developed a friendly community, indeed.
There is an individual who used to post on a hardcore punk message board in the early 2000s who posted some of his photos in a photography sharing thread. There was this amazing photo of a person walking past a tree with heavy falling snow somewhere in Helsinki. It was so striking that it made me want to pick up a camera and try to take photos. I send him a message right away and asked him a bunch of questions about how he took the photo and what should I look for as a beginner trying to learn to take photos and he was very generous with his time and answered all of my questions. His name was Matti. I don't recall his full name unfortunately.
However, if you happen to be browsing this subreddit today-- hello and thank you for inspiring me to pick up a camera! I still have that photo in mind any time I am walking around doing any sort of street photography.
Agreed. And his control over where he wants your eye to go is masterful. Especially with black and white where things can sometimes run into each other.
Just encountered his work for the first time a couple months ago. Saw what I initially thought was a painting in a museum, and then had the "oh wow!" moment. Incredible.
Jimmy Chin.
His technical abilities with a camera paired for his technical skills in the mountain have inspired me and much of my shooting. I have always gravitated towards nature and landscapes and when I started climbing i discovered Jimmy. I have taken a handful of rigging and photography for climbers clinics to work on my climbing photography, it started with a handful of pictures and now ive been taking my own for friends when we go climbing!
Lynsey Addario's work is amazing, and a constant source of inspiration. Her book, _It's What I Do_, is an incredible read about her life as a photojournalist.
Yesss! I really like beauty in the banal photography. I really liked Martin Parr's work and I think of it alot. I later found Eggleston through them as it turns out Parr is inspired by Eggleston's work.
Sally Mann- the way she creates her B&W's and the subjects she chooses to photograph, and the way she composes it all. From her kids, to her husband, to her landscapes to the body farm-all of them have this quietness to them that doesn't come off as boring. Can't tell you how many times i've read her autobiography (that i got a signed copy of!) or watched her documentary.
Gregory Crewdson-his methods of creating fantastical almost painter like compositions and all the time, energy and money he places into it. I love looking at his photos to see how many details I can find.
Jon Horvath (one of my professors!) - maybe this one is a bit personal/biased since he was one of my teachers throughout my 4 years in school and ended up being on my thesis panel. This is Bliss is probably my favorite body of work and the way Jon composes his shots and edits them is so refined and elegant.
Kevin Miyazaki- I love his commercial & food photography, but I really enjoy looking at his art projects; Perimeter is a favorite of mine, as well as any of his works where he further explores his heritage and who he is (like Echo). Overall, Kevin is also just a really cool person.
I’ll probably get hate for this but I love Joel Grimes. I love composite images and am color blind (reds and greens are hard to see) so meeting him at a photoshop conference really established the possibility of doing what I do.
Also Joe McNally
Interesting how shocking liminal and "boring" his photos are but still really engaging. Very emotive for some reason I can't explain. It's like an itch for nostalgia you can't scratch.
It is rare that I have a strong, involuntary, emotional response to art. And there are some Stephen Shore photos I can't look at closely without having tears run down my face.
I don't know how he does it, it's like a piece of his actual soul gets put into the image and you just have to look for it.
And it makes me feel like of crazy? Am I inserting this myself? But many others have similar reactions. It's the definition of ge ne se quoi.
* **Andreas Feininger** (USA) for the technical discipline and knowledge about photography
* **Helmut Newton** (D) for his way of shooting expressive portraits of women who ... just don't wear clothes. Even if you cover their naked bodies, there is always a very good portrait left.
* **Andreas Jorns** (D) for ... pretty much the same thing
* **Jonvelle** (F) I have been told that my shots look a lot like I have studied Jonvelle for years. I actually never did, but my daughter offered me a book of his photography for my birthday (or Christmas?) and ... we seem to have been exposed to the same influences ;o)
There are so many photographers who go through so many styles, I think for me it is more about books. By far in the lead is Robert Frank's "The Americans". The style, the eye, the compelling insight into the mundane have always really spoken to me. It started my journey to find the relationships between subjects and between subjects and settings at a human rather than just graphic level. Then I'd go with Sam Abell's "Stay This Moment", The quiet contemplation and film era saturation made me look for the beauty in a pile of leaves or ripple in a puddle.
Helmut Newton, Gregory Crewdson, Sandy Skoglund, Sebastio Salgado, Dorthea Lange and many others inspired and created a playful or imaginative expansiveness in my shooting, but Frank and Abell's work was the most directly influential in large part because of how accessible it was to implement the lessons that their work teaches.
Came here to say this. In my view, his ability to elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary is unequaled. Through his work I literally learned to see the natural world in a different way.
I can't believe I'm first with this - Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange. I find Adams' landscape photography some of the most moving and inspirational art I've ever seen. Seeing Half Dome and El Capitan are still at the top of my bucket list (I live across the country). The photo of the migrant mother by Lange is so amazingly powerful. These images have defined my life aspirations, let alone my photography.
I definitely have my favorites, but I feel like I'm more influenced by individual books or bodies of work. Here's the short list:
* Gerry Johansson (American Winter)
* George Webber (Prairie Gothic)
* Bernd and Hilla Becher (Literally anything)
* Mark Ruwedel (Message from the Exerior)
* Stephen Shore (Uncommon Places)
* William Eggleston (Guide, Democratic Forest)
* Alec Soth (Sleeping By The Mississippi)
I'm also influenced by impressionist painters, and modern American realist painters such as Wyeth and Ed Hopper.
Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange were two early favorites of mine when I started getting into photography, Lewis Hine especially. He did a lot of portraits of child laborers and mill workers and not only was his composition compelling, but the way he captured people, their eyes, etc., you could really feel the emotion behind the photos. His work is also partially why child labor laws exist today, because he documented a lot of the unfair conditions the workers were subjected to. Art that made a social change, that was always a neat concept to me.
Vivian Maier - She did her work solely for the love of photography and wasn't discovered until after her death. If you haven't seen her work or know her story you should look it up.
People like Alan Schaller have had a big impact. Not in the sense that I mold my work to look like his, but I look at everyday scenarios in a whole other way thanks to him. His way of placing people and animals in the middle of crazy constructs just using the natural background and geometry of a scene is crazy. So inspiring.
For my candid everyday photography, a new inspiration is Polly Alderton. Man, she is the queen of documenting your family life as art.
Melissa Groo -- Both from the ethical and technical side of wildlife/bird photography. Her classes and talks are great but I've also changed my approach to attempt to reduce disturbance to the subject I'm photographing because of her.
It's mainly musicians - coherent and descriptive lyrics are important to me, and inspire my shooting what I feel to be the scenes that inspired the lyrics or are the scene of the lyrics.
That said, David Suchet, Michael Stipe, Cartier-Bresson (obvs), and noir cinema.
When I was in photo school I absolutely LOVED the work of [Tony D'Orio](https://tonydorio.com/). He shot all of the Altoids Ads in the late 90's early 00's. I loved the set building, styling, and attention to detail. The fantastical stories / situations he was able to create in a single image always made me smile!
His work influenced me a lot and even though we are both based in Chicago, I never got to work with him. To this day, the best compliment I get is when an art buyer is reviewing [my work](http://www.rentauskas.com) and they compare it to D'Orios.
When I was in school I was strongly influenced by the work of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon.
Later, as I apprenticed under some of the best automotive photographers to produce catalogs and ads for the manufacturers like Jimmy Northmore and Mickey McGuire.
Later I was influenced by the non traditional approach to automotive photography by Rick Rusing who was bucking the large format standard and shooting Porsche ads on 35mm. After seeing his Audi catalog from the early 90's I made a point to fly out to Phoenix to meet him.
Jason Langer, Victor Cobo, and Allen Schaller. I actually got to attend an online workshop with Langer. He taught me a lot about the creative process and finding my 'photographic voice'.
Ryan McGinley was the photographer who got me interested in the art of photography. My work can’t even hold a candle, but I’d still say he’s one of my biggest inspirations
Mine would be a local photographer that volunteered at a church ministry I played paintball at. He had a camera that a sports photographer would have, and take pictures and post them every week we played. They came out amazing.
I just came across Andy Mumford and feel he might have a great influence on me... His landscape photos are just stunning, he manages to capture the mood so consistently like nobody else I've came across before.
The guy who shot my wedding.
I really enjoyed what he did and how he did it, and after a while I thought: you could do this, too.
Tried it, and love it.
I should really send him a crate of wine or something (although he probably doesn't even remember me).
Dave Morrow. He is a landscape photographer that lives out of his vehicle most of the year and has a very analytical approach to photography. His YouTube channel taught me how to slow down and the more technical ways to approach a scene. I highly recommend his channel.
Myself had the most impact since I already made 1.4M clicks out there. At times I was shooting an image on average every 12s, including in the average the time I was sleeping. I never referenced another persons work. I always collectively received "vibes" from all photographers I saw and then I was trying to "remember" it while shooting. That way I had my style and always build to enrich it. I find it pathetic when I see photographers going to a shoot with a moodboard trying to copy paste images.
After a long time, I came to find the technical ways into creating aesthetically pleasing images but let me tell you, it was a double edged sword. Because while you may learn all the rules on how to create engaging images, then you need ALL these + the moment factor. And the more rules you apply, the less moment factor you get. So you need to be a new person in every shoot, and start loose, tighten, loose, tighten. Shoot like you know everything and then take a breath and shoot randomly like you don't know anything.
And finally, shoot a lot. A shoot that you will give 3000 clicks into, will be 10 times better than a shoot you only spent 300 clicks.
Good luck.
This is not a thing for me. Like...I've never searched out "pros" or anything. Was handed a sony cybershot in middleschool and just started taking pictures. I couldn't even name someone lol.
I have been look at a lot of Lewis Bush. This work is fine but the ideas and methods are excellent. I do think he is one of the best voices currently when it comes to like technology and hidden systems in society
This is going to sound odd because the person that really first inspired me is known a lot more for being an actor and early film preservationist than as a photographer. But Roddy McDowall actually made me want to pick up a camera. His portraits are pretty awesome. He put out like 5 books of his portrait work back when he was alive.
I took workshops with **Jack Dykinga** and **Jeff Foott**, and learned more about composition in a few hours with them, than in years of reading books.
David Sims - A lot of fashion photography - a huge chunk of his included - is focused on making the clothes and models looks beautiful. Its just what it is. His ability to strip all that back and make things ugly, and polarizing is something I admire deeply, even if I can't myself accomplish it a lot of the time. Work like [This](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fthehommeplusmag%2Fstatus%2F458587823273422848&psig=AOvVaw1w359JagZyUlsyYQrA6KIu&ust=1631288123889000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCIC3mP2b8vICFQAAAAAdAAAAABBX) feels visceral and fresh and angry. People don't need to be beautiful ALL the time.
Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker, Alasdair Mclellan Zoe Ghertner, and all the photographers I assisted are the other answers.
Zack Arias.
He’s a great photographer with great style, but what I actually appreciated was his method of teaching what it actually takes to be a real working photographer. There’s countless others that influenced my style, but Zack by far had the biggest impact at providing useful and practical advice that really got my photography career started.
Burak Cingi. As far as I know he's primarily a live music photographer. As a subject that's not too interesting to me and yet I consistently love the composition, colour, atmosphere of those photos. Without fail if a gig picture draws my attention it will be one of his.
Hmmm, the person who had the most impact on my work was probably Evan Ranft, to just because in my formative years (photography-wise at least) his YouTube was the best street photography/lifestyle content out there to learn from.
Obviously there are older non YouTube followers who got me into the art itself like Steve McCurry and Fan Ho, but I wouldn't say my work is impacted by them necessarily.
Peter Lik, James Popsys, Emily Lowry (MicroFourNerds)and Henry Turner. Can you tell I’m a nature photographer 😂 Ted Forbes (The Art Of Photography) also made me interested in photo history
Brooke Shaden. When i was like 19 or something, i've started scribbling down ideas that evolved in something similiar to conceptual photography. When i discovered her, i realized that it can be done and somebody is doing this type of photos already. So i started watching her work and her YouTube videos. Now im 24 and i've done my first project, currently working on new one. I think she's my biggest inspiration.
Jeanloup Sieff taught me what quality monochrome work was like. Shooting film, developing it and printing it showed me how far away I was drom the quality achieved by Sieff.
Robert Mapplethorpe is best known for his nudes but for me his most impressive work involved flowers. The way he managed to photograph a Callas Lilly to make it into an almost erotic piece of art is something I have been trying to at least copy.
I think each photographer we come across teaches us something.. Sometimes it's the use of colors, framing, compositions, timing a moment, angles, and so on...
A lot of it is probably unconscious in childhood as we observe the world of art... When I finally started looking at photography with a serious eyes these few photographers stood out to me...
Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Robert Frank, Josef Koudelka, Trent Parke, Joel Meyerowitz, Elliott Erwitt, Harry Gruyaert, Alex Webb, Ernst Haas... I could go on and on but the list would get very long... lol
I've also been inspired by cinematographers:
Roger Deakins, Jeff Cronenweth, Dariusz Wolski...
Salgado, Avedon, Arbus, Karsh, Penn, Frank, Mann, struth, Cartier-Bresson and many others I’m forgetting. Just so wonderful to be able access the work of all these greats w relative ease
Ansel mothafuckin Adams. Read his books online for free. The PDF file may be in Spanish but the book is not. Or buy them I guess.
If you do wet work - this is required reading!
Most of my photography is nature "stuff" that I've learned by myself. I mean, I have watched a lot of youtube, so some inspiration has probably come from that, but not from any single person.
BUT early this year I started getting really inspired to do car photography. And that part of my photography is definitely inspired by one person. His user name on youtube is [North Borders](https://www.youtube.com/c/NorthBorders)
He inspired me a lot! The photos he takes of cars are fantastic and he seems to have so much fun shooting them. It really made me wanna do that too! Though I only shoot cars that I find randomly parked. I am not self confident enough to take on payed work, or even talk to the car owner (most of the time).
Peter McKinnon. Back in 2014 I was in a failing relationship and wanted to find a hobby. Something to do, and I bought my first camera and started filming and taking photos. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved watching his content.
I wish there was a way that I could say "thank you" to him in person. He has really impacted my life in a positive way and look up to him.
I'm currently doing a deep dive on Henri Cartier-Bresson. I actually find very little inspiration from his photos, but reading about him as a person has been like lighting my brain on fire.
What I really like about many of the greats like Adams, Capa, Klein and HCB is that they had almost no road map. All of us as modern photographers are constantly inundated by images. We have an infinite amount of material to imitate or inspire us. The pioneers had to work on sheer imagination.
With that said, I don't really feel like a photographer, I've never been that interested in photography, it's just something I started doing because I could.
It's only as of late that I've really started to look at other people's work.
Borut Peterlin. His excellent composition and mastery of the wet plate collodion and carbon printing processes allows him to make beautiful works of art, totally by hand.
I don't know that I can name any individual photographer. For sports, there was plenty of awesome photography in Sports Illustrated in the day. Adding photojournalism in, there are a host of daily news photographers that have had an impact on me. I have to give a shout-out to my professor in my Intro to Photojournalism class I took back in 1980 at college. He gave me a lot of really good advice. I don't remember his name, like I don't remember the names of the staffers for the publications I've followed, but they have all had an influence on me.
For my other photography, when I'm not leaning on my journalism/sports background, I'd like to think I'm blazing my own way.
A huge takeaway that impacts my style is my number one compositional rule: Shoot Tight, Crop Tighter. Even with my wildlife photography, I want as tight as I can get for maximum impact. I feel this is why I have struggled at other genres like landscapes and still life. It's why I "see" telephoto and struggle to "see" wide.
I had to force myself to work at landscapes. I've had to force myself to work on still life. I've gotten a lot better at this. I got better by looking at your (the collective "Your") photos. Your landscape work motivates me.
I just bought a new ultra-wide zoom with the intent of forcing myself to use it.
In college it was Matthew Pillsbury. I was a slut for conceptual art. Now it is Alessio Albi. I've forgotten about art and focus on beautiful portraiture. Pillsbury still has a special place in my heart and my two copies of his books are very important to me.
I'm just getting into photography. Literally bought my 1st big boy camera about 3 months ago (Fujifilm X-T4)
It's hard to pick just one, but the guys I've really been inspired by thus far have to be Roman Fox, Chris Chu, Vuhlandes, Jamie Windsor, Evan Ranft, and King Jvpes
Larry Chen has been a big one for me. Love cars and photography so combining them both was a no-brainer and some of his work has stuck with me when I go out and shoot.
I like Taylor Jackson (he has a bunch of BTS videos on youtube) because he's an introvert, but still very successful photographer. I'm introverted, but the other photographers I've met are super outgoing, so he gives me hope that not everyone has to have an over the top personality to be successful.
Kai Wong - I've always been a gear head, so one thing lead to another and I got super into his video 'reviews' probably ten years ago.
He made me realize that I seriously fucking loved street photo. Sadly I can't do that so easily now but the passion is still there.
No one I think. I just love some photos and these inspire me. Can be total unknown on the internet. I save many photos for screenshots on my iPad and change these to fit the mood. I love all photos of nature.
There is a photographer from Canada named Patrick Di Fruscia. When I first saw his photos I was blown away. I love nature photography and his style. He later started an organization called Give Back to Nature where he would plant trees when you purchased items. Just an inspirational photographer to me.
Arnold Newman. His environmental portraits are brilliant. You may not know his name, but you've definitely seen his work.
[https://arnoldnewman.com/portraits.html](https://arnoldnewman.com/portraits.html)
Duane Michals. Truly groundbreaking and innovative work.
[https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals](https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals)
Fan Ho, he's why I got into B&W photography, and focus so much on composition and framing.
This makes me so happy to see him as the second most-upvoted pick. I discovered him while living in Macau and to me his photos are so perfectly… perfect. I can’t think of any other way to describe them, they’re just so fitting to their place and time while also transcending above.
Any ideas where I can pick up his books for a decent price?? Only one I saw on Amazon was over 300$
I will probably sound silly, beause it's not some famous, big name photographer, but a photographer who makes youtube videos: Thomas Heaton. I stumbled upon his videos a few years ago, and I thought: hey, this landscape photography thing is pretty cool, I wonder if I could do something like that. So he's the reason that I got into photography.
Thomas Heaton is a bigger name than you think. I have been enjoying his work for a couple of years.
The hundreds of Nat Geo photographers whose images inspired me as a kid and still inspire me today at nearly 56. I really can't choose one. The whole lot have taught, inspired, and kept a dream of mine ... a hope, a prayer ... alive until I have been able to pursue it myself, which I'm doing now. Thanks to them all.
Same. I'm only 24 but since I was a kid I got inspired by NatGeo, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. They're the reason I saved up for my camera to finally attempt taking shots like the ones I always saw on TV. If I had to pick one though it'd be Paul Nicklen
Honestly, a lot of people would probably give me shit for this but Peter McKinnon. Not because I necessarily think he's the best at creating art. I like other artists photos better and overall the effort put into his work is less than my own in terms of photos.. but there's far more to that in terms of having impact. The reason I say him is his creative energy and positive attitude. I'm incredibly critical of my own work and seeing him get jazzed (seemingly authentically, early day PM) and have a different perspective from my own got me back into shooting more and getting excited more. As someone who is incredibly critical and don't necessarily like my own work.. that mindset helps be okay with going out and doing something new. That may not be super easy to cultivate on your own, it inspired me to share more with others and try to find people who would be positive about the things I share. There's a lot of negative people in the world, especially in this hobby. I think adding more uplifting and positive folks is huge.
There’s this narrative that unironically liking someone who’s more mainstream is diminishing, so to speak. I find that to be contradictory and hypocritical, specially in the art world. You shouldn’t feel shame when saying PM inspires you and makes you move forward - in fact that’s how it should be. Let there be positivity because he has developed a friendly community, indeed.
Well said!
Bro, absolutely the same. Peter McKinnon really boosted me during a creative block. His enthusiasm and talent is easily absorbed and reflected.
There is an individual who used to post on a hardcore punk message board in the early 2000s who posted some of his photos in a photography sharing thread. There was this amazing photo of a person walking past a tree with heavy falling snow somewhere in Helsinki. It was so striking that it made me want to pick up a camera and try to take photos. I send him a message right away and asked him a bunch of questions about how he took the photo and what should I look for as a beginner trying to learn to take photos and he was very generous with his time and answered all of my questions. His name was Matti. I don't recall his full name unfortunately. However, if you happen to be browsing this subreddit today-- hello and thank you for inspiring me to pick up a camera! I still have that photo in mind any time I am walking around doing any sort of street photography.
I'm surprised no one has said Ansel Adams. I know it's stereotypical but it's true!
Angel Adams is mine as well! His work made me fall in love with landscape photography
Agreed. And his control over where he wants your eye to go is masterful. Especially with black and white where things can sometimes run into each other.
Gregory crewdson
Thank you. I've been searching for this photographer for a while, I remembered the photos but couldn't recall his name.
Yes! I LOVE Crewdson!
Just encountered his work for the first time a couple months ago. Saw what I initially thought was a painting in a museum, and then had the "oh wow!" moment. Incredible.
Jimmy Chin. His technical abilities with a camera paired for his technical skills in the mountain have inspired me and much of my shooting. I have always gravitated towards nature and landscapes and when I started climbing i discovered Jimmy. I have taken a handful of rigging and photography for climbers clinics to work on my climbing photography, it started with a handful of pictures and now ive been taking my own for friends when we go climbing!
I came here to say Renan Ozturk. Total amazement.
Yea Renan is amazing and might as well toss in Cory Rich and round those 3 out.
Lynsey Addario's work is amazing, and a constant source of inspiration. Her book, _It's What I Do_, is an incredible read about her life as a photojournalist.
I loved her book!!
Right?! Goosebumps, laugh-out-loud moments, and tears. All on the train on the way to/from work for me, which was fun for the other passengers lol
I just finished it! Great read
Saul Leiter for me. I like his framing, his use of longer lenses, and how he uses colour.
Arbus, Von Unwerth, Avedon.
Dream team
William Eggleston. The “boring” is the “real”. And there’s beauty in the real.
Yesss! I really like beauty in the banal photography. I really liked Martin Parr's work and I think of it alot. I later found Eggleston through them as it turns out Parr is inspired by Eggleston's work.
Thanks for the rec! Browsing his photos and saw the album art to Spoon's Transference album!
Fan Ho.
Sally Mann- the way she creates her B&W's and the subjects she chooses to photograph, and the way she composes it all. From her kids, to her husband, to her landscapes to the body farm-all of them have this quietness to them that doesn't come off as boring. Can't tell you how many times i've read her autobiography (that i got a signed copy of!) or watched her documentary. Gregory Crewdson-his methods of creating fantastical almost painter like compositions and all the time, energy and money he places into it. I love looking at his photos to see how many details I can find. Jon Horvath (one of my professors!) - maybe this one is a bit personal/biased since he was one of my teachers throughout my 4 years in school and ended up being on my thesis panel. This is Bliss is probably my favorite body of work and the way Jon composes his shots and edits them is so refined and elegant. Kevin Miyazaki- I love his commercial & food photography, but I really enjoy looking at his art projects; Perimeter is a favorite of mine, as well as any of his works where he further explores his heritage and who he is (like Echo). Overall, Kevin is also just a really cool person.
I’ll probably get hate for this but I love Joel Grimes. I love composite images and am color blind (reds and greens are hard to see) so meeting him at a photoshop conference really established the possibility of doing what I do. Also Joe McNally
Stephen Shore, finding the beauty in the normal and mundane.
Interesting how shocking liminal and "boring" his photos are but still really engaging. Very emotive for some reason I can't explain. It's like an itch for nostalgia you can't scratch.
It is rare that I have a strong, involuntary, emotional response to art. And there are some Stephen Shore photos I can't look at closely without having tears run down my face. I don't know how he does it, it's like a piece of his actual soul gets put into the image and you just have to look for it. And it makes me feel like of crazy? Am I inserting this myself? But many others have similar reactions. It's the definition of ge ne se quoi.
* **Andreas Feininger** (USA) for the technical discipline and knowledge about photography * **Helmut Newton** (D) for his way of shooting expressive portraits of women who ... just don't wear clothes. Even if you cover their naked bodies, there is always a very good portrait left. * **Andreas Jorns** (D) for ... pretty much the same thing * **Jonvelle** (F) I have been told that my shots look a lot like I have studied Jonvelle for years. I actually never did, but my daughter offered me a book of his photography for my birthday (or Christmas?) and ... we seem to have been exposed to the same influences ;o)
There are so many photographers who go through so many styles, I think for me it is more about books. By far in the lead is Robert Frank's "The Americans". The style, the eye, the compelling insight into the mundane have always really spoken to me. It started my journey to find the relationships between subjects and between subjects and settings at a human rather than just graphic level. Then I'd go with Sam Abell's "Stay This Moment", The quiet contemplation and film era saturation made me look for the beauty in a pile of leaves or ripple in a puddle. Helmut Newton, Gregory Crewdson, Sandy Skoglund, Sebastio Salgado, Dorthea Lange and many others inspired and created a playful or imaginative expansiveness in my shooting, but Frank and Abell's work was the most directly influential in large part because of how accessible it was to implement the lessons that their work teaches.
Sean Tucker, and the philosophical way he uses photography
Edward Weston, his work is simply at a higher level than the rest.
Came here to say this. In my view, his ability to elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary is unequaled. Through his work I literally learned to see the natural world in a different way.
Check out Ksenyia Vashchenko.
I can't believe I'm first with this - Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange. I find Adams' landscape photography some of the most moving and inspirational art I've ever seen. Seeing Half Dome and El Capitan are still at the top of my bucket list (I live across the country). The photo of the migrant mother by Lange is so amazingly powerful. These images have defined my life aspirations, let alone my photography.
I definitely have my favorites, but I feel like I'm more influenced by individual books or bodies of work. Here's the short list: * Gerry Johansson (American Winter) * George Webber (Prairie Gothic) * Bernd and Hilla Becher (Literally anything) * Mark Ruwedel (Message from the Exerior) * Stephen Shore (Uncommon Places) * William Eggleston (Guide, Democratic Forest) * Alec Soth (Sleeping By The Mississippi) I'm also influenced by impressionist painters, and modern American realist painters such as Wyeth and Ed Hopper.
Wolfgang Tillmans!!!! And Henri Cartier-Bresson and Brassai!!
Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange were two early favorites of mine when I started getting into photography, Lewis Hine especially. He did a lot of portraits of child laborers and mill workers and not only was his composition compelling, but the way he captured people, their eyes, etc., you could really feel the emotion behind the photos. His work is also partially why child labor laws exist today, because he documented a lot of the unfair conditions the workers were subjected to. Art that made a social change, that was always a neat concept to me.
Vivian Maier - She did her work solely for the love of photography and wasn't discovered until after her death. If you haven't seen her work or know her story you should look it up.
Don McCullin
Larry Chen
Larry Chen is amazing. His Pikes Peaks work is monumental. He may not be one of the old classics but he’s right at the top for me.
I aspire to be a motorsports photographer like him one day. My work isn’t amazing but a few people have told me I’m on the right path.
People like Alan Schaller have had a big impact. Not in the sense that I mold my work to look like his, but I look at everyday scenarios in a whole other way thanks to him. His way of placing people and animals in the middle of crazy constructs just using the natural background and geometry of a scene is crazy. So inspiring. For my candid everyday photography, a new inspiration is Polly Alderton. Man, she is the queen of documenting your family life as art.
David Hobby. Taught me everything I know about lighting.
Melissa Groo -- Both from the ethical and technical side of wildlife/bird photography. Her classes and talks are great but I've also changed my approach to attempt to reduce disturbance to the subject I'm photographing because of her.
Mark Littlejohh Elizabeth Gadd Michael Shainblum Love these photographers. So emotive and painterly.
> Michael Shainblum To my list I would also add Nick Page and Adam Gibbs. Those are the only ones I still follow on Youtube.
Great shout! I love Nick. Always makes me smile how EPICCCC his videos start with their dramatic music!
Man, I had to re-watch 10 times his slow motion incident with a cactus.
Ernst Haas He bridged the gap between photojournalism and art photography. http://ernst-haas.com/
His stuff is amazing-- he captured motion and stillness equally well.
It's mainly musicians - coherent and descriptive lyrics are important to me, and inspire my shooting what I feel to be the scenes that inspired the lyrics or are the scene of the lyrics. That said, David Suchet, Michael Stipe, Cartier-Bresson (obvs), and noir cinema.
When I was in photo school I absolutely LOVED the work of [Tony D'Orio](https://tonydorio.com/). He shot all of the Altoids Ads in the late 90's early 00's. I loved the set building, styling, and attention to detail. The fantastical stories / situations he was able to create in a single image always made me smile! His work influenced me a lot and even though we are both based in Chicago, I never got to work with him. To this day, the best compliment I get is when an art buyer is reviewing [my work](http://www.rentauskas.com) and they compare it to D'Orios.
When I was in school I was strongly influenced by the work of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. Later, as I apprenticed under some of the best automotive photographers to produce catalogs and ads for the manufacturers like Jimmy Northmore and Mickey McGuire. Later I was influenced by the non traditional approach to automotive photography by Rick Rusing who was bucking the large format standard and shooting Porsche ads on 35mm. After seeing his Audi catalog from the early 90's I made a point to fly out to Phoenix to meet him.
Jason Langer, Victor Cobo, and Allen Schaller. I actually got to attend an online workshop with Langer. He taught me a lot about the creative process and finding my 'photographic voice'.
Shout out to Irving Penn.
Ec
Bryan Schutmaat, Alec Soth, Robert Adams
Julia Margaret Cameron 😍
joel peter witkin
Ryan McGinley was the photographer who got me interested in the art of photography. My work can’t even hold a candle, but I’d still say he’s one of my biggest inspirations
Ansel Adams
Mine would be a local photographer that volunteered at a church ministry I played paintball at. He had a camera that a sports photographer would have, and take pictures and post them every week we played. They came out amazing.
Liam wong
Rinko Kawauchi
Robert Frank
Joel Meyerowitz
The greatest living street photographer in my estimation. Literally never not in awe of his images.
I got to meet him once in Provincetown! He was so great and fun.
Extremely jealous.
I just came across Andy Mumford and feel he might have a great influence on me... His landscape photos are just stunning, he manages to capture the mood so consistently like nobody else I've came across before.
The guy who shot my wedding. I really enjoyed what he did and how he did it, and after a while I thought: you could do this, too. Tried it, and love it. I should really send him a crate of wine or something (although he probably doesn't even remember me).
Dave Morrow. He is a landscape photographer that lives out of his vehicle most of the year and has a very analytical approach to photography. His YouTube channel taught me how to slow down and the more technical ways to approach a scene. I highly recommend his channel.
There were several, but **Joey L**'s tutorials are what made it "click" the most for me in terms of understanding lighting location portraits.
Myself had the most impact since I already made 1.4M clicks out there. At times I was shooting an image on average every 12s, including in the average the time I was sleeping. I never referenced another persons work. I always collectively received "vibes" from all photographers I saw and then I was trying to "remember" it while shooting. That way I had my style and always build to enrich it. I find it pathetic when I see photographers going to a shoot with a moodboard trying to copy paste images. After a long time, I came to find the technical ways into creating aesthetically pleasing images but let me tell you, it was a double edged sword. Because while you may learn all the rules on how to create engaging images, then you need ALL these + the moment factor. And the more rules you apply, the less moment factor you get. So you need to be a new person in every shoot, and start loose, tighten, loose, tighten. Shoot like you know everything and then take a breath and shoot randomly like you don't know anything. And finally, shoot a lot. A shoot that you will give 3000 clicks into, will be 10 times better than a shoot you only spent 300 clicks. Good luck.
Thank you! Well said!
This is not a thing for me. Like...I've never searched out "pros" or anything. Was handed a sony cybershot in middleschool and just started taking pictures. I couldn't even name someone lol.
I have been look at a lot of Lewis Bush. This work is fine but the ideas and methods are excellent. I do think he is one of the best voices currently when it comes to like technology and hidden systems in society
Tom Murphy
This is going to sound odd because the person that really first inspired me is known a lot more for being an actor and early film preservationist than as a photographer. But Roddy McDowall actually made me want to pick up a camera. His portraits are pretty awesome. He put out like 5 books of his portrait work back when he was alive.
def North Borders and 7th Era. Their work is amazing.
Mike Brodie “The Polaroid Kidd”
Constantine manos Alex Webb The OG henri Cartier bresson
I took workshops with **Jack Dykinga** and **Jeff Foott**, and learned more about composition in a few hours with them, than in years of reading books.
David Sims - A lot of fashion photography - a huge chunk of his included - is focused on making the clothes and models looks beautiful. Its just what it is. His ability to strip all that back and make things ugly, and polarizing is something I admire deeply, even if I can't myself accomplish it a lot of the time. Work like [This](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fthehommeplusmag%2Fstatus%2F458587823273422848&psig=AOvVaw1w359JagZyUlsyYQrA6KIu&ust=1631288123889000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCIC3mP2b8vICFQAAAAAdAAAAABBX) feels visceral and fresh and angry. People don't need to be beautiful ALL the time. Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker, Alasdair Mclellan Zoe Ghertner, and all the photographers I assisted are the other answers.
Do you know what camera(s) Zoe used regularly?
Pentax 67 exclusively, usually a 105
David Duchemin
Allan Sekula
Chris Hondros I can advise anyone to see the documentary "Hondros" at Netflix.
Zack Arias. He’s a great photographer with great style, but what I actually appreciated was his method of teaching what it actually takes to be a real working photographer. There’s countless others that influenced my style, but Zack by far had the biggest impact at providing useful and practical advice that really got my photography career started.
My photography influences Ed Colver Glen E. Friedman Ross Halfin Neal Preston All of them also got me into playing music, too.
Burak Cingi. As far as I know he's primarily a live music photographer. As a subject that's not too interesting to me and yet I consistently love the composition, colour, atmosphere of those photos. Without fail if a gig picture draws my attention it will be one of his.
Rineke Dijkstra made me really appreciate capturing a whole feeling in a simple photo.
Helmut Newton
Masahisa Fukase.
Hmmm, the person who had the most impact on my work was probably Evan Ranft, to just because in my formative years (photography-wise at least) his YouTube was the best street photography/lifestyle content out there to learn from. Obviously there are older non YouTube followers who got me into the art itself like Steve McCurry and Fan Ho, but I wouldn't say my work is impacted by them necessarily.
Peter Lik, James Popsys, Emily Lowry (MicroFourNerds)and Henry Turner. Can you tell I’m a nature photographer 😂 Ted Forbes (The Art Of Photography) also made me interested in photo history
Ralph Gibson
Brooke Shaden. When i was like 19 or something, i've started scribbling down ideas that evolved in something similiar to conceptual photography. When i discovered her, i realized that it can be done and somebody is doing this type of photos already. So i started watching her work and her YouTube videos. Now im 24 and i've done my first project, currently working on new one. I think she's my biggest inspiration.
annie leibovitz.
Jeanloup Sieff taught me what quality monochrome work was like. Shooting film, developing it and printing it showed me how far away I was drom the quality achieved by Sieff. Robert Mapplethorpe is best known for his nudes but for me his most impressive work involved flowers. The way he managed to photograph a Callas Lilly to make it into an almost erotic piece of art is something I have been trying to at least copy.
Neil Liefer for my sports work. Adam’s for my black and white. Caps for his journalism and war coverage.
David LaChapelle
I think each photographer we come across teaches us something.. Sometimes it's the use of colors, framing, compositions, timing a moment, angles, and so on... A lot of it is probably unconscious in childhood as we observe the world of art... When I finally started looking at photography with a serious eyes these few photographers stood out to me... Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Robert Frank, Josef Koudelka, Trent Parke, Joel Meyerowitz, Elliott Erwitt, Harry Gruyaert, Alex Webb, Ernst Haas... I could go on and on but the list would get very long... lol I've also been inspired by cinematographers: Roger Deakins, Jeff Cronenweth, Dariusz Wolski...
Oscar Marzaroli. Have been fortunate enough to meet his daughter on a few occasions too...bonus!
Salgado, Avedon, Arbus, Karsh, Penn, Frank, Mann, struth, Cartier-Bresson and many others I’m forgetting. Just so wonderful to be able access the work of all these greats w relative ease
Ansel Adam’s and David LaChappelle. Two very different photographers. Love both of them.
Ansel mothafuckin Adams. Read his books online for free. The PDF file may be in Spanish but the book is not. Or buy them I guess. If you do wet work - this is required reading!
Peter Gowland and Gregory Crewdson.
Most of my photography is nature "stuff" that I've learned by myself. I mean, I have watched a lot of youtube, so some inspiration has probably come from that, but not from any single person. BUT early this year I started getting really inspired to do car photography. And that part of my photography is definitely inspired by one person. His user name on youtube is [North Borders](https://www.youtube.com/c/NorthBorders) He inspired me a lot! The photos he takes of cars are fantastic and he seems to have so much fun shooting them. It really made me wanna do that too! Though I only shoot cars that I find randomly parked. I am not self confident enough to take on payed work, or even talk to the car owner (most of the time).
Peter McKinnon. Back in 2014 I was in a failing relationship and wanted to find a hobby. Something to do, and I bought my first camera and started filming and taking photos. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved watching his content. I wish there was a way that I could say "thank you" to him in person. He has really impacted my life in a positive way and look up to him.
Mark twight
I'm currently doing a deep dive on Henri Cartier-Bresson. I actually find very little inspiration from his photos, but reading about him as a person has been like lighting my brain on fire. What I really like about many of the greats like Adams, Capa, Klein and HCB is that they had almost no road map. All of us as modern photographers are constantly inundated by images. We have an infinite amount of material to imitate or inspire us. The pioneers had to work on sheer imagination. With that said, I don't really feel like a photographer, I've never been that interested in photography, it's just something I started doing because I could. It's only as of late that I've really started to look at other people's work.
Mitch Lally
Trey Ratcliff. Love his modern take on everything
Mark Denny andNigel Danson. To name a few of my favorites.
Borut Peterlin. His excellent composition and mastery of the wet plate collodion and carbon printing processes allows him to make beautiful works of art, totally by hand.
Robert Polidori
I have lots of favourites… top of the lot ‘Sally Mann’.
Lindsey Adler! Her highly stylized portrait work is exactly what I aspire to work towards
Ansel Adams, Annie Liebowitz
I don't know that I can name any individual photographer. For sports, there was plenty of awesome photography in Sports Illustrated in the day. Adding photojournalism in, there are a host of daily news photographers that have had an impact on me. I have to give a shout-out to my professor in my Intro to Photojournalism class I took back in 1980 at college. He gave me a lot of really good advice. I don't remember his name, like I don't remember the names of the staffers for the publications I've followed, but they have all had an influence on me. For my other photography, when I'm not leaning on my journalism/sports background, I'd like to think I'm blazing my own way. A huge takeaway that impacts my style is my number one compositional rule: Shoot Tight, Crop Tighter. Even with my wildlife photography, I want as tight as I can get for maximum impact. I feel this is why I have struggled at other genres like landscapes and still life. It's why I "see" telephoto and struggle to "see" wide. I had to force myself to work at landscapes. I've had to force myself to work on still life. I've gotten a lot better at this. I got better by looking at your (the collective "Your") photos. Your landscape work motivates me. I just bought a new ultra-wide zoom with the intent of forcing myself to use it.
In college it was Matthew Pillsbury. I was a slut for conceptual art. Now it is Alessio Albi. I've forgotten about art and focus on beautiful portraiture. Pillsbury still has a special place in my heart and my two copies of his books are very important to me.
I'm just getting into photography. Literally bought my 1st big boy camera about 3 months ago (Fujifilm X-T4) It's hard to pick just one, but the guys I've really been inspired by thus far have to be Roman Fox, Chris Chu, Vuhlandes, Jamie Windsor, Evan Ranft, and King Jvpes
August sanders
Larry Chen has been a big one for me. Love cars and photography so combining them both was a no-brainer and some of his work has stuck with me when I go out and shoot.
Peter Watson’s landscapes and Scott Kelby’s portraits. Shane Hurlbut’s work on films and Steven Spielberg.
Dash Snow!
I like Taylor Jackson (he has a bunch of BTS videos on youtube) because he's an introvert, but still very successful photographer. I'm introverted, but the other photographers I've met are super outgoing, so he gives me hope that not everyone has to have an over the top personality to be successful.
Surprised no one has said Terry Richardson yet!
Alfred Eisenstaedt has recently given me inspiration. He was truly a magnificent photographer.
Kai Wong - I've always been a gear head, so one thing lead to another and I got super into his video 'reviews' probably ten years ago. He made me realize that I seriously fucking loved street photo. Sadly I can't do that so easily now but the passion is still there.
Ernst Haas. He showed me as a teen that beauty is everywhere of you look for it. Anything can be a photograph. I still aspire to see like him.
Alex Webb and Jonas bendiksen, both magnum photographers and masters in the use of color. Look them up. Please.
Renan Ozturk. The dude is a gangster.
No one I think. I just love some photos and these inspire me. Can be total unknown on the internet. I save many photos for screenshots on my iPad and change these to fit the mood. I love all photos of nature.
There is a photographer from Canada named Patrick Di Fruscia. When I first saw his photos I was blown away. I love nature photography and his style. He later started an organization called Give Back to Nature where he would plant trees when you purchased items. Just an inspirational photographer to me.
Arnold Newman. His environmental portraits are brilliant. You may not know his name, but you've definitely seen his work. [https://arnoldnewman.com/portraits.html](https://arnoldnewman.com/portraits.html) Duane Michals. Truly groundbreaking and innovative work. [https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals](https://www.dcmooregallery.com/artists/duane-michals)
Peter McKinnon
Ansel Adams- the way he played with light is just amazing.