Inspiring Photographers - Jan Söhlke Photography

To keep track of inspiring photographers I started this list – because nothing else worked.

Irene Andessner

Austrian fine artist. Collaborates with various photographers for »self portraits done by somebody else«. »Ursula K.«-series is especially interesting, also »Donne Illustri« and »Maternoster«. »Ida – Artemis – Merian« is my favourite, though (one, two).

Zack Arias

Websites: zackarias.com · www.dedpxl.com

Dealing with unhappy subjects
Top Five Books
Video: If I had to start my photo business today (via Sara Lando)

Laura Barisonzi

Website: www.barisonzi.com

Photographer from New York, good shots of wushu, yoga, and parkours.

Nick Brandt

Website: www.nickbrandt.com

Beautiful animals in black and white. See »elephant drinking« and »elephant with exploding dust«.

Joachim Brohm

Website: www.joachimbrohm.com

Architecture and Landscape.

Gregory Crewdson

Website: www.artnet.com/awc/gregory-crewdson.html

With Crewdson each picture is a meticulously planned, large scale project – all of them fantastic. There is no proper website, but the google has many of his images. Benjamin Shapiro just finished a film on Crewdson (www.gregorycrewdsonmovie.com) and vimeo has one – two – three clips (hat tip to the Strobist).

Imogen Cunningham

Website: www.imogencunningham.com

»If you don’t like it, it’s your problem, not mine.«

Meg Partridge made a film »Portrait of Imogen«.

Peter Dench

Website: www.peterdench.com

Many of Dench’s projects have a focus on the UK in common and remind me of my time in Northumberland – some in a good, some in a…uhm…different way.

Mitch Dobrowner

Website: www.mitchdobrowner.com

Storm- and cloud-chaser.

Philippe Echaroux

Website: www.pays-imaginaire.fr

Great pictures, interesting ideas. There’s a youtube channel, too.

Rosa Frank

Website: www.rosa-frank.com

For me a personally important inspiration on people photography with a focus on the fine arts (dance, opera, theatre, music).

Sacha Goldberger

Website: www.sachabada.com

Sacha focusses mostly on his grandmother and does the most amazingly themed shoots with her. To me he is an inspiration both in the conceptual department but also in his approach on age and the expectations that come with it.

Philippe Halsman

Website: www.philippehalsman.com

Monroe, Nixon, Dalí, Duke and Duchess of Windsor: Halsman made them all jump. Smithsonian has a portrait gallery and a piece on him by Owen Edwards: When he said »Jump«.

Peter Hapak

Website: www.phapak.net

Moving portraits of »The Protester« for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. There’s a behind-the-scenes video on youtube.

Natsumi Hayashi

Website: www.yowayowacamera.com

Flying self portraits. A bit of a one trick pony, but still nice.

Gregory Heisler

Website: www.gregoryheisler.com

Portrait Photographer. Youtube has a bunch of videos on him. Three are fairly recent, more should be coming according to David Hobby. His »50 Portraits«-Book is fantastic.

Lewis Hine

Website: Sorry, no websites back in the days…

Sociologist and photographer with a focus on child labour.

Fan Ho

Website: www.fanhophotography.com

Hong Kong street photography spanning from 1950s to present day.

David Hobby

Website: strobist.blogspot.com

David Hobby’s take on off-camera flash. His flash-course is a gem and comes in two pieces: Lighting 101 and Lighting 102. He also keeps an »on assignment« category, where he shares in-depth background information on some of his real live shoots.

How-to-list (interesting: light christmas morning)
Video Vault
50 DIY projects

George Holz

Website: www.georgeholz.com

Setup video on (eight light) Beyoncé shoot. Video on Jack Nicholson shoot.

Jasper James

Website: www.jasperjames.co.uk

Fascinating City Silhouettes series.

Chase Jarvis

Website: www.chasejarvis.com

Regularly broadcasts Chase Jarvis Live.

Erik Johansson

Website: www.alltelleringet.com

Photographer and retoucher with a clear inclination towards the the latterer.

Gertrude Käsebier

No websites back then, but at MoMA.

Herlinde Koelbl

Website: www.herlindekoelbl.de

Famous for her long term projects. Check out »Targets« and August-Sander-inspired »Kleider machen Leute«

Mark Laita

Website: www.marklaita.com

Inspiring still life and food. »Created Equal«-project is overwhelming.

Sara Lando

Website: www.saralando.com Blog: www.saralando.com/blog-en

Ms Lando is the Strobist’s Correspondent to Europe and has a series »On Photographing People« (pt. 1–pt. 2–pt. 3) over there. Also My week with Heisler (pt 1 – pt 2 – pt 3)

Dorothea Lange

No websites then, but at MoMA.

Neil Leiffer

Website: neilleifer.com Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Leifer

Sports photographer who took the stunning overhead shot of Ali after knocking out Cleveland Williams atthe Astrodome in Houston, Texas on 14 Nov 1966.

Victoria Ling

Website: www.victorialing.com

Fascinating still lifes (something I don’t usually get too excited about). Her portraits from pencil shavings leave me speechless. She also keeps a blog.

Gerd Ludwig

Website: www.gerdludwig.com

National Geographics’ man in Eastern Europe. Check out his Chernoyl project (exclusion zone and victims).

Vivian Maier

Website: www.vivianmaier.com

As full time nanny, part time street photographer, Maier over the years has gathered a portfolio that allows an intimate insight into USA street life and culture. Watch the »Finding Vivian Maier«-trailer.

Fabrizio Maltese

Website: www.fabriziomaltese.com

Steve McCurry

Website: www.stevemccurry.com Blog: stevemccurry.wordpress.com

Famous National Geographic shooter (»The Afghan Girl«). He got to shoot the last roll of Kodachrome ever made (documentation here). From 19 January – 16 June 2013 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg hosted the exhibition

Steve McCurry: In the Flow of Time. Photographs from Asia 1980 – 2010 and I have never before and never after seen prints that actually radiate with light!

Scott McClellan

Website: www.aasm.ca

Portfolio section – photo section – behind the scenes video.

Andreas Meichsner

Website: www.andreasmeichsner.de

Great architecture shots, lovely project on TÜV-experiments called »the beauty of serious work«.

Eric Meola

Website: www.ericmeola.photography

Arnold Newman

Website: www.arnoldnewmanarchive.com

»People photography is 1% inspiration and 99% moving furniture«

Long interview on youtube where he talks about his approach (and blows cigar smoke all around live on telly in 1981).

Walter Nürnberg

Website: none back in the days

See Getty for instance for his industrial masterpieces.

Erwin Olaf

Website: www.erwinolaf.com

The grief-series.

Platon

Website: platonphoto.com

Article on »Power«-Project
Putin Shoot Video and article

Martin Prihoda

Website: www.martinprihoda.com Blog: www.atomicsafari.blogspot.com

Prihoda does mostly advertising and editorial shoots for fashion magazines in India. He also keeps a blog on photography, life, and all the rest.

Andreas von Reiswitz

Website: www.vonreiswitz.com

Black and white portrait photography of man and beast. My favourite is his Family Constellation Project where he asks random and unrelated strangers in the street to come together for a family portrait.

Funny and at times uncanny conceptual pictures. His »Storytelling« series (»Scream«, »Trouble in Paradise« and »Pursuit of Happiness«) has many great moments.

Strobist’s correspondent to Europe Sara Lando has an article on Schmid.

Martin Schöller

Website: www.martinschoeller.com

There’s not much to see on his website, but there are several collections of his images elsewhere: at livejournal some of his famous portraits and at imention more portraits and a fun with stars series.

»Behind the Cover« at Time magazine.

Yohei Shimada

Website: www.yoheishimada.com

Strobist correspondent Irwin Wong had an article on him.

Taryn Simon

Website: www.tarynsimon.com

I am a bit reluctant to call it »political photography«, even in the best sense of the term, but it is definitely concerned photography on the highest aesthetic level. Recent talk at TED (and an earlier one).

Matthew Jordan Smith

Website: www.matthewjordansmith.com

In conversation with Matthew Jordan Smith. On Tyra Banks shoot.

Matthew also operates a Photography Help Store.

Connecting with Models

Alfred Stieglitz

No websites back then, but at Met-Museum.

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Website: www.sugimotohiroshi.com

Interesting takes on a broad range of subjects like water, architecture and the colours of shadows.

Christian Tagliavini

Website: www.christiantagliavini.com

»Waiting for Freud« and »1503« series (the latter won Hasselblad Masters 2012 in »Fine Art«).

Winkler + Noah

Website: www.winkler-noah.it

Mostly pretty standard (high class) advertising with cars taking up a lot of space. What I like are some of their kids and grans.

Dan Winters

Website: www.danwintersphoto.com

He has a whole variety of approaches, ranging from gangs over bees to celebrity shots. I especially like his Brad Pitt series, my favourite is the one of Brad and Quentin in the cinema. His book Road to Seeing is praised everywhere but hard to get.

Peter Yang

Website: www.peteryang.com

»Peter’s best travel advice is to get a neck pillow and eye shade. He says you will look like a fool but sleep like a king.«