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Inspirations

dseelig

Member
Just wondering what are the big inspirations that got people into photography. For me my early ones were first Walter Ioos and Neil Leifer SI photographers. Then very quickly- i was 13 at the time 1970-71- David Douglas Duncan, Larry Clark, Robert Frank. I was raised on lower East Side of NYC in the 60's and 70's. I remember my 2nd grade teacher had 2 rows of white and oriental kids and the one row no kids and 3 rows of Black and Puerto Rican Kids, guess which side of the room she looked at. So Frank and Clark's work really spoke to me. In my life I have done personal journalism pro sports , concert work,editorial and newspaper work. David
www.davidseelig.com
 

jlm

Workshop Member
adams, e and b weston, strand, cunningham, avedon, porter, picker, penn, feininger, Life magazine
 

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
David Douglas Duncan, Capa, Arbus, Adams, Tim Page, Monet, Van Gogh, Evans, Eugene Smith, Wim Wenders, Josef Sudek, Gary Winogrand
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
First and most impressionable was probably Arizona Highways magazine, then Porter, then Weston (E) and Adams, then Bresson and Salgado, then Kenna, Loranc and Burtiynski.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
There are so many photos of different photographers that have been inspirational, but two great artists have been particularly important to me:

Rembrandt van Rijn for his use of light and colour and Henri Cartier-Bresson for his composition and timing.
 

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
I think we lost a great force for inspiring young photographers with the end of Life magazine.
 

Scargos2

New member
Had a point and shoot camera. went to a class on digital photography 4 yrs ago at age of 64. Instructor had a Nikon DSLR, that got me started with a DSLR and now a M8 .
And I am loving it.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I think we lost a great force for inspiring young photographers with the end of Life magazine.
Not only the end of Life magazine, and similar magazines in other countries, but the changes in the news production process. It's my impression, correct me if I'm wrong, that magazines to an increasing degree rely on photos bought from news and photo agencies instead of having their own photographers covering events etc. Photographers are probably still as good as they ever were, but the whole nature of an agency photo is that it's generic, so that it will fit any of a number of magazines and other publications. Finding magazines these days with a distinct photographic style isn't easy, and it probably only gets worse.

Maybe we should start a list of magazines that still maintain a personal photographic style. Another thread maybe?
 

viablex1

Active member
had to be shooting in an abandoned asylum and getting photos back that I hated. I took a course at palm beach photographic center, I have to say Weston is a big influence, but so are some people on www.uer.ca/
 

woodyspedden

New member
For me, the most impacting was Life magazine. Spectacular photographers shooting scenes from World War II to iconic Hollywood celebrities at the height of their celebrity! (Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Clark Gable etc)

Then you had Gary Winogrand, Ansel, and all the others who captured the most important events of the 20th century (Robert Capa would come to mind as would HCB).

Then we had Diane Arbus and Helen Leavitt to show us life up close and personal. Most of us who lived and learned in this era were virtual New Yorkers or Chicagoans! (And most of us lived, as I did, in the rural farm areas of places like central Pennsylvania!)

So we have all these Icons to show us their way, with their visions, towards capturing the momentous events of our own personal experiences. How wonderful!

Woody
 

Lisa

New member
Arizona Highways magazine in my childhood (like Jack!), then later Galen Rowell when I really started taking photography seriously, and (relatively recently) Simon Marsden's weird stuff.

Lisa
 

kevinparis

Member
Not so much inspiration... you have to find your own voice...but images that work for me three wild cards and a classic... Karsch, Tim Page, Rolling Stone era annie liebowiczt and Cartier Bresson
 
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