civilized ku # 2777 ~ What's the point of standing upon the shoulders of giants if your only vision is downward?
Tuesday, August 5, 2014 at 12:35PM 
electrified shed ~ The Hedges / Blue Mountain Lake, NY - in the Adirondack PARK• click to embiggen
Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees. You may see and be affected by other people's ways, you may even use them to find your own, but you will have eventually to free yourself of them. That is what Nietzsche meant when he said, "I have just read Schopenhauer, now I have to get rid of him." He knew how insidious other people's ways could be, particularly those which have the forcefulness of profound experience, if you let them get between you and your own vision. ~ Paul Strand
Can you name any picture makers whose work you like but have managed to not let interfere / influence your own picture making? Inspiration without imitation, so to write.
In my case, Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, Walker Evans, Paul Strand, and Eliot Porter come to mind, although there are other well-knowns I could include. There are also a number of lesser-knowns on my list as well.
What I admire most about their work, in addition to their pictures, is their consistency of vision. They all possess/ed a distinct personal manner in looking at and seeing the world. And, almost to a man / woman they tend to focus their picture making efforts in manner in which, as James Agee wrote; ... all consciousness is shifted from the imagined, the revisive, to the effort to perceive simply the cruel radiance of what is ..." which has inspired me to pursue my own distinct manner of looking and seeing.
How about you? Any picture makers, or words who / which have inspired your picture making?
Reader Comments (3)
I take inspiration from a lot of photographers but there's a subset where I have to work quite hard to "get rid of them". Eliot Porter was the first, and Robert Adams and Lee Friedlander have a similar effect - in fact I think very carefully before even opening a book as I know I need time to think critically about the viewing experience or I'll find myself trying (and failing) to emulate them the next time I have a camera in my hand.
>>Any picture makers, or words who / which have inspired your picture making?
Mark Hobson
Although, for the record, I was posting square-cropped observational photos before I found the Landscapist.
There are a number of other photo based/oriented websites I visit most days. Some to admire the work, some to get news, some just because I find them engaging in some way. Picture books and galleries are also great, but I don't always have the time or easy access.
My inspiration comes from many directions, but mostly from trying to be alert to what is around me and the desire to capture what I find visually interesting.
Without question, it is Minor White for me. And I have also loved Eliot Porter for a very long time.