A few of us started talking about Photography influences on another thread and I thought it might be fun to start a thread discussing this without diverting other threads. I have so many influences and inspirations that it is a topic that could engage me for hours. I know there are plenty of photographers here as well. Who or what are your photography influences and inspirations and why?
To get the ball rolling, I mentioned John Blakemoor and especially his book ‘The black and white photography workshop’. A fabulous book that is absolutely not about black and white photography and everything about his philosophy of developing photographic projects and ideas. His main thesis was that it is important to build up a relationship over time with the subject (or object) being photographed and use that knowledge to inspire different ideas. This emphasis on repetition, getting to know a place or subject, going below the surface etc. has been a huge influence on my work. There is a great video of him talking about his philosophy at the on landscape conference a few years back that can still be found on you tube.
I’ve been enjoying photography all my adult life, amongst the many greats Steve McCurry is arguably my first choice. McCurry so iconic that when Kodak ceased Kodachrome production they presented him the last roll.
Its been a while since I looked at his work. Street photography is not a genre that I have personally spent much time on but the techniques he developed like the use of reflections, looking through ‘windows’ inside the window of frame etc are very inspiring and transpose to different more abstract / painterly subjects that I do spend time on. Nice choice. I do a lot of abstract work and I will revisit his work!
Doubt i could single out one shooter above all, so let me just mention a few that have been inspirations at different points in my life.
Firstly Ansel Adams when i first picked up a camera some 45 years ago. Read his trilogy, The Camera, The Negative, The Print, back to back several times, learned much of the basics from these whilst studying at college, and i still own them. Saw my first Adams original print in Yosemite Gallery when i was 20, whilst on my first US road trip. Next period was inspiration from some notable National Geographic shooters of the early 80s, the likes of David Alan Harvey and Sam Abell and Steve McCurry.
Over the next period i got into and was inspired by several US shooters like Joel Sternfeld, Richard Misrach and Joel Meyerowitz in the new topographics style. These days i’m more inspired by Luigi Ghirri and William Eggleston or Paolo Roversi, and would give an honourable mention to Saul Leiter. The single most inspirational exhibition i have ever seen though, goes to our own Don McCullin with his 2019 retrospective at the Tate Britain.
Asadour Guzelian, Jenny Matthews, Brian Harris, John Angerson, David Ashdown, Eamonn McCabe, Marc Aspland, Jack Hill, Nick Danziger, and Ruth, a girlfriend when I was thirty who shaped me.
Also one of my English teachers at school, Mr Purcell, who nurtured a love of story telling.
The Independent newspaper (the ‘photographers’ paper’, launched in 1986) was a huge influence on me in terms of how I saw the world and my place in it.
Edit: Somehow I missed Sebastião Salgado when making my list, above.
Honourable mention: Harold Evans for Pictures on a Page
I suppose a clue is the photography books on the shelves.
Plenty of books on my shelves, and all by inspiring photographers, but somehow my photos do not compare well.
I do not have the advantage of location.
However this does not stifle my photography, rather that I have to develop my own style, which is elusive.
So far the list of photographers mentioned contains familiar names with the exception of the English teacher, the influential girl friend Ruth, Jenny Matthews, Brian Harris, John Angerson, David Ashdown, Marc Aspland, Jack Hill, and the several US shooters.
I will have a look and see what appeals.
I could make a list of my photo books…
My first job was in a photography studio, just turned 19. There was a photographer there called John. He was about 7 years older than me, had been there for a few years and was the head photographer. He was very skilled and a nice bloke. I latched onto him and tried to assist him at every opportunity. I learnt loads in such a short time. Out of all the photographers I’ve met and worked with, he was by far the best. I was lucky to be shown what a good photographer can do at such an early age.
The commercial photography and fine art photography worlds are very different worlds indeed - I also learned huge amounts from some former commercial photographers in my favourite genre of landscape especially the craft of executing pictures and the control and use of lighting. I’ll talk about some of those photographers in future posts.
When I read this thread’s title, the name which immediately sprang to mind is Ansel Adams. I remember yonks ago being astonished at the level of detail he managed to capture in his landscape prints. Equally amazed when I read about the amount of work which went into getting the exposure just right and printing - all before the era of digital tech.
At different levels, three uncles who were founder members of the local camera club.
Then Kevin McDonald(?) who wrote for a photography magazine and still had time for a schoolboy with his Dad’s Ensign Fulvue.
When I was old enough to go to camera club, there were two members of note, Dave who worked as a process cameraman for a packaging company. Apart from the fact that he took our wedding photos, his most memorable work was a series of pictures taken in autumn woodland and printed on copper.
Then there was Arthur, who never failed to produce work for competitions. He had a limited income, had an old folding camera and a home made enlarger. He sourced his film, paper and chemicals from surplus stores and often turned up with gifts for the youngsters, a bottle of home brew developer, orthochromatic film.
Those I discovered, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Weegee Fellig, Eadweard Muybridge, Julia Margaret Cameron…
In 1973, for work, I started photographing various metal and material lab samples, both full size and under the microscope, using a wooden Gandolfi camera and a Nikon F set up. Durst kit in the darkroom. That work got me interested in photography so I signed up to the TimeLife photography series. 17 books and everything from historical
Daguerreotypes to the then latest techniques. How to light, frame, shoot, develop and present with pages of examples of past works. It was the most influential encyclopaedia of photography that I have come across. Some stunning photos in there.
