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Who Has Influenced You?

Started by ABERS, December 21, 2014, 10:26:45 PM

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ABERS

Learning of the death of Jane Bown today and realising she was not only my favourite 'people' photographer, but someone who has had an influence on my approach to photography. I used to look forward to her weekly contribution in The Observer. The first photographic book I bought was her 'Gentle Eye' which I often take a look through and get reinvigorated to take a few snaps.

One image that always springs to mind is her portrait of John Betjeman and always brings a smile to my face.

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw83632/Sir-John-Betjeman

Have you been influenced by anyone in particular?

Oldboy

#1
It wasn't one photographer but rather all of them who shot for National Geographic magazine. I couldn't believe the colours they got, making everything very real, almost like been there.   :tup:

jinky

Loved Jane Browns stuff too.
"Her preferred setting was f/2.8 at 1/60 second and she would conspire to make the environment work at this setting"

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/21/jane-bown

ABERS

So that's three of us that get inspired to some degree by others' photography. If you're not inspired by anyone, what does inspire you?

:badh: :badh:

Reinardina

She inspired me too. 

Lots of things inspire me, if I am in the right frame of mind, from a quirky sign, via a quirky person to something really breathtakingly beautiful. This can be anything form a vista, a work of art, colourful reflections on a city pavement to autumn light falling on something special/unusual.

And other people's pictures can/do inspire too.
__________________
Reinardina.

Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye.
Shakespeare. (Love's Labours Lost.)

Beaux Reflets

#5
Like OB the photography seen in National Geographic often caught my eye and being brought up in a  Artistic family inspired me as well.  :)  I do not think any specific person's work has influenced me :-\  :tup: :beer: :legit:
:beer: Andy

"Light anchors things in place and gives perspective meaning."

The choices we make are rooted in reflection.

http://beauxreflets.blogspot.com/

Hinfrance

I am rather taken by Bob Carlos Clarke's earlier efforts. But I find many of the more well known names give me ideas, as does trawling through various groups on Flickr.

But for me really for me the world is a smorgasbord, and not just the vast reservoir of antecedent photographers and visual artists.
Howard  My CC Gallery
My Flickr
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H.L Mencken.

Graham

 I've thought about this until my head went all numb. There are probably six or so photographers I admire enough to buy their books, but to say they inspire me, that's a totally different question.
Inspire me to pick up my camera? inspire me to emulate their style? I really don't know.
I've got several editions of Snowdon Sittings, if ever I have to do a portrait sitting I have a thumb through them. they seem to fire me up and relax me in equal measure.
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. 

My Gallery
My Flickr Pics

spinner

Nobody famous. I was inspired by my older brother. Sadly lost a decade long fight with cancer last year. It was 50 yrs. ago, I remember the magazines, but not the names. He was always trying to emulate the bright lights of the 60's and I tried to emulate him.
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
Ol' blue eyes

http://ddsdigita4.wix.com/ddsdigital
https://www.flickr.com/photos/spin498/

ABERS

Influenced, inspired, perhaps two words that have some degree of similarity. I really meant in the original post, did any particular photographer make you initially want to see if you could make pictures that grabbed your attention as their work did for you?

Once you have taken the plunge and decided to have a go, along the way there are many photographers whose work you admire and that makes you realise there is a long way to go and that your own photography is always lacking something to make it special.

The big mistake is made when inspiration or influence turns into emulation.


Oldboy

Quote from: ABERS on January 16, 2015, 08:56:26 AM
Influenced, inspired, perhaps two words that have some degree of similarity. I really meant in the original post, did any particular photographer make you initially want to see if you could make pictures that grabbed your attention as their work did for you?

Not a photographer par sec but a painting, The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer. This is the image that has inspired me to try to capture what he painted in all my nature photography.  :tup:

Reinardina

#11
Quote from: ABERS on January 16, 2015, 08:56:26 AM
Influenced, inspired, perhaps two words that have some degree of similarity. I really meant in the original post, did any particular photographer make you initially want to see if you could make pictures that grabbed your attention as their work did for you?

Once you have taken the plunge and decided to have a go, along the way there are many photographers whose work you admire and that makes you realise there is a long way to go and that your own photography is always lacking something to make it special.

The big mistake is made when inspiration or influence turns into emulation.

There was no particular photographer to lure me into photography.

My father had a camera and he took photos of family events; I took that Zeiss Ikon on school trips as a child. Later I bought my own camera, yet again, mainly for holidays and family snaps, so I've always taken snaps, but was never a photographer.
I did enjoy it very much and my photos were always sharp. (That was definitely not the case with the snapshots of colleagues and friends!) So I suppose I must have given it more attention than the average 'shooter.'

Then I lost my sight, and couldn't focus the camera anymore, as I couldn't see the two 'hairs' that had to align.

Twenty years later, I discovered digital photography, that took care of the focusing for me. On the screen I could see if the image was sharp, as I did not have to look at just those two lines.

I was still very much a 'round the house' photographer.

It was only when I wanted to find out more about digital photography and the possibilities, that I discovered websites and magazines. It was only then, that the photographer in me started to wake up.

The competitions helped to guide me in directions I had not wandered to before, and photographers on those sites did influence me, as most of them were far more advanced than I, and did things I never even thought of.

I am still travelling along photography highways and byways, finding new things to do, new techniques to use.

Street photography, flowers, architectural detail, monochrome, textures and layers, the odd portrait, 'creative' editing' have all been embraced, and I regularly go back there.

Mark (Cutter) introduced me to layers and textures, so he influenced me.
The stark monochromes of a certain ABERS influenced me, the delicate nature photography of Beaux Reflets influenced me, and those are 'just' the people most of us on this site know.

I have, of course, seen photographs of many world renowned photographers over the last few years that made an impression, and Dali is someone who stirs something.

Yes, I have the urge to make photographs that grab the attention, but I do not think there was a particular photographer/artist that is my main inspiration.

I'm still looking for what I like best and what I do best. Still travelling, still searching, still experimenting. Still very much a housewife with a camera, rather than a photographer.

__________________
Reinardina.

Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye.
Shakespeare. (Love's Labours Lost.)

Simple

I inherited the photography bug from my father.
Ansel Adams made me love landscapes While Charlie Waite and Joe Cornish inspired me.
Frans Lanting made me want to shoot wildlife as an artform.
David Lachapelle and Andrew Zuckerman gave me an interest in Portraiture.
Joe McNally inspired me to use flash whenever I can.
I will never be as good as any of them, but I will keep trying and learning continuously. That is why I love photography and never get bored with it.

hssutton

Hey! Simon you missed my name of that list   ::)
Much like Reinardina, no one really influenced me. As a 16 year old apprentice electricion, what seems like a 1000 years ago, I always got the dirty jobs. Installing electricity into an old house I discovered an old Kodak No. 2 A Model C Box Camera, circa 1920 in the loft. This set me on the road to spending a small fortune on camera equipment. I bought my first 35mm SLR in 1950 on the black market in Germany. This was a Praktica I can not remember the model number, but I know it was smuggled out of East Germany and I bought it a few hundred cigarettes plus a few gallons of army petrol. Those days you could buy anything for a few fags:)

I guess I was only influenced by two photographers. These were members of the local Photographic Society, To me their work was something very special. Actually I should say to me their work was simply amazing, especially one of them who worked on the coal face at the local colliery. His darkroom was in a small cupboard under the stairs, just enough room for him and his enlarger, developer and fixer trays, he advised me on setting up my first darkroom. Those days this would be the bathroom. Initially proccessing B&W. In 1963  Patterson marketed the Paterson-Pavelle home colour printing process, so I then started to print in colour, not without some problems though. I got married in 1963 and a family member took some photos in colour, so I had my first chance to try out this new system. I still vividly remember my first print, I was so exited when I saw the result That I shouted to my new wife who was downstairs to come and see this wonderful colour print which was in the washbasin with the water running (final wash) My wife came rushing upstairs to see my wonderful creation, but as she came into the bathroom the whole image slowly slid of the paper and went down the drain :( Of course I did another print, but made sure it was washed very gently without any running water.
In 1984 I did finally manage to get a dedicated darkroom in which I processed all my B&W, colour and colour reversal.

Not quite the answer to the question though.

Harry

Simple

Harry, Believe it or not, but I was going to mention you but thought it would embarrass you.  :legit:

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