Who is your favourite photographer?

Who is your favourite photographer?

I don’t have a favourite photographer. If you asked me who is my favourite artist, writer, actor, singer, band or what is my favourite movie, album, novel or piece of music, my answer would simply be, I don’t have a favourite. For me, narrowing down my choice to identify a favourite... There are too many to name. I would find it difficult enough to list a top ten, let alone a single favourite.

For some the answer to this question may be clearer. They may include photographers who explored light, form, and composition in black and white, such as Irving Penn, Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, or Robert Frank. They may note artists who used colour like a palette and canvas, such as Saul Leiter, William Eggleston, Ernst Haas, Maria Svarbova or Joel Meyerowitz. They could even include the stunning monochrome narrative work of Walker Evans or the contemporary work of Stephen Shore or Alec Soth. They could discuss ethics through the work of photojournalist Don McCullin, or Weegee, the voyeur and exhibitionist, the portraits of Bruce Gilden or the prolific and quirky photographs of Martin Parr. And what about Anne Geddes? From babies in flower pots, asleep and cradled in the hands of their parents, and sitting on cabbage leaves, the work of a few photographers is as recognisable as that of Anne Geddes. These are but a few of the many great photographers we have the privilege of learning from and admiring their work.

If you are a musician or studying music, do you think you would know or have heard of The Beatles, Beethoven, Bob Dylan, Madonna, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, U2, Ed Sheeran, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Mozart, or Ella Fitzgerald? Aretha Franklin, Bach, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin or Lady Gaga?

I think it is vital for photographers to study the history of photography, contemporary practice, and artists. It is through this insight and exploration that we grow, expand and continue to develop our own style and expression of art. I know for myself that I photograph to express the rapture of being alive, and to see and feel others’ work is to be immersed in that bliss.

In response to the question, “Who is your favourite photographer?”, what would you say?...

"We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us."

~ Ralph M. Hattersley, Jr. (1921-2000), American photographic educator, commentator, journalist and photographer