*This could have been posted in snapshots but I'm intrested in who inspires the photographer folks here so hopefully I can get away with putting it here*

Who are your favourite photographers and what are your favourite photographs? I don't know much about the history of photography or many photographers so this is my chance to get a bit of edyookayshun. I wouldn't say I have a favourite photographer at this stage but here are some photographs I like:



Lisa Fonssagrives (model) by Eriwin Blumenfeld (1939)
This was for French Vogue to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the construction of The Eiffel Tower. I feel the vertigo kicking in just looking at this.



Eddie Anderson; 21 Years Old; Houston, Texas; 20 Dolars. by Philip-Lorca DiCorcia (1991)





Can't go wrong with Missy Auf Der Maur from the Sotheby's exhibition The Kids Are Alright.

There's a few more I might put up later, there's one by Linda Connor, Petroglyph and Star Trails, but I can't find a good version on any website.

Mark Seliger:



There's lots of other photographers that I love, but I'm too lazy to post right now!

Ralph Gibson, Edward Weston, Robert Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson... some of "the classics".

Yeah please post some examples and stuff.

I was also wondering if people could recommend good photography books/ a good overview of the history of photography? I pretty much just have the internet and the wee Phaidon Photo Book to guide me



By Bob Gruen

These two I don't know the photographers but I've always loved them:





either a capture of a great moment or a very good idea, with the Summer of Sam headline etc.

Henri Cartier Bresson:



Robert Mapplethorpe



Annie Leibovitz:

i know this isnt really conventional photography as her work is montages of photos, and often other peoples photos. but you would find her books in the photography section most likely and i think she is tooo good and very inspirational!
hannah hoch



and this is one of my favourite ones!! soo much even though this picture is tiny:

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no no never say maybe to smack bunny baby again.

that is by robert capa, and i think it's a picture of pablo picasso. i was going to suggest capa for this anyway.
it's part of this series,


here is one of my favourties by him



i saw an exhibition of his work in stockholm at the nobel museum, i'd always know his photos of war, but not his other stuff. he's amazing.

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It's a new year, I'm glad to be here. It's a fresh spring, so lets sing.
In 2080 I'll surely be dead. So don't look ahead, never look ahead.

Omg love her <3
Collage is a branch of photography in itself so it's all good

Robert Doisneau




Anton Corbijn

Tina Modotti
David Lachapelle
Nan Goldin
Annie Leibovitz
Autumn de Wilde
Austin Young
Nat Finklestein
Floria Sigismondi
Arthur Tress
Robert Mapplethorpe
Myself

I liked Stipe (Michael)'s book of Patti Smith photos but I would have to see more

as a teen i liked Charles Peterson and Michael Lavine

I forgot Charles Peterson... I love his live photography, I just wish more of the bands I shot live were as interesting as some of his subjects!

For some reason I've just never liked Robert Capa's style, there's just something that to me feels a little bit forced about it. Nor have I particularly enjoyed the works of the big fashion photographers such as Leibovitz, Bailey, LaChapelle etc.

Martin Parr is someone whose photos I'm never quite sure of... I have equal parts great respect and loathing for his pictures.

I wouldn't call Annie Leibovitz a "fashion photographer" she's a master, and an artist. She's one of the most prolific portraitists of our time... and her early career was very rock and roll/ art scene (warhol/ keith harring / joe delasandro). Also her take on the Pirielli calender was pretty interesting.

she has done so much that it's not all interesting cos a lot of it is magazine work and i'm not that impressed with celebrity, - but it's not like she's shooting for blender, she's class. but my favourite of hers is a very early shot of a dashboard view and window wipers at work:



I feel the same way about La Chapelle, I guess it's easy to knock him because a lot of his work features celebrity - but his stuff is also unique, surrealist and totally signature. I like the way he uses colour and symbolism the camp factor and queer over/undertones that distinguish his work. Granted his final image is practically a painting by the time it's finished, but I respect digital image altering when it's used effectively.

though i do usually preference people who use film and ambient light

Sebastiao Salgado is one of my newly discovered favourites. He photographs exquistely and his subjects are quite diverse:









Plus I salute his continued use of film in a digital age.

I agree about Annie Leibovitz, she's done so much but I've seen quite a few things that I really like.
I thought that Picasso picture was from the same group of photos but I wasn't sure, they're the only Capa photos I've seen so far.

Ross- don't know if you have seen Charles Peterson's book Touch Me I'm Sick, it's great. I like how he photographs the audience as well as the bands, and captures the energy/atmosphere of the performance not just taking straight photos of "famous people".

This picture actually blew my mind when I read what it was, just marks on the water made by froth and bubbles, two seconds later it was gone



Tide Pool by Wynn Bullock

francesca woodman


diane arbus


araki nobuyoshi


marina abramovic

Martina Hoogland Ivanow
i can't find many of her pictures to link to but here is one example :


and there are some more here flash_AS_detection

I love Francesca Woodman too

Good call on the Salgado there Insomnia.

Sara, I've never seen that Charles Peterson book before, I'll maybe need to have a wee look on Amazon for it, unless you happen to know if any of the bookshops in Glasgow have it in stock? As I mentioned in the post above, I just wish I went to see more bands who had that same level of dynamism in their live shows... it seems every band I shoot in Glasgow are just quite happy to stand around on the spot. Also, I think more bands need hairy bass players...

As for the comments about Leibovitz/LaChapelle etc., I would never say that I don't appreciate that there is a definite level of artistry involved in what they're doing, but rather that I'm not a fan of their actual finished output. It's the same way I'd say I don't like bands like The Mars Volta - I appreciate that there's been a lot of work put into the creation of the work, but the final results feel a bit strained and overdone.

yeah I got my copy from Amazon, I think it was around £20 which is reasonable for the quality in my opinion, it's a big coffee table type book.

actually this site The powerHouse Gallery gives an idea of what's in the book.
Detchel- check the dashboard photo on the right

Gregory Crewdson is my favourite: