Who's the Best Photographer?

[undeterred]

For me its Robert Mapplethorpe. Fell in love with his work before I knew anything about him.

[Ptah]

1. Ansel Adams is my favorite

[Deja Q]

2. Me

:P

j/k

Ansel Adams - terrific with black'n'white, and like Ansel Robert knows how to work with filters too. :) (the white stripes are gray and the blooming caused by the sun is minimal...)

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Edward S. Curtis

http://www.edwardscurtis.com/curtisbio.html

He captured history
http://www.edwardscurtis.com/

[bertha katzenengel]

4. for portraiture, i'm rather fond of Annie Leibovitz (one photo potentially disturbing)

[Gatchaman]

9. O. Winston Link

[undeterred]

17. there's no one like Annie

although Mapplethorpe was good with portraits too. I saw a book of his photos of women and famous people and it was amazing- this part of his work often gets overshadowed by the homoerotic photos.

[electricmonk]

5. Lee Miller's my favorite

http://www.leemiller.co.uk/

Followed by Richard Avedon, Minor White, Margaret Bourke-White and Glen E. Friedman

[BrotherBuzz]

6. Pirkle Jones, Dorothea Lange, Ed Weston, Ansel Adams....

Imogen Cunningham. The best? Tough decision to make because they all added to the tapestry. Interesting for me is the fact that most of the great ones got their start on the West Coast. The f64 club and the Zone system seems to be the genesis of it so it's fair to say Ansel Adams was the God Father of photography; he defined it.

[WCGreen]

7. I really like Photographer Number 482 over to the Olin Mills....

[sakabatou]

8. I'd say me, but you know

A little ego boosting doesn't hurt anyone.

[GreenTea]

10. Jim Marshall

http://www.jimmarshallvault.com/

[edbermac]

11. Diane Arbus

Here's a pic she took of a very young George W Bush...

[Madrone]

13. I love Diane Arbus!

I also like Edward Weston - the guy Ansel Adams learned from.

[undeterred]

19. Hey, what about ME?

William Wegman

[BrotherBuzz]

21. Ansel Adams and Ed Weston were equal in many ways..

but Adams got the top billing only because he defined the 'Zone System'.

Because of his strong artist strength at composition, Weston was the unofficial leader in the 1930s of Group f.64, and Adams secretly looked up to Weston.

Now, Pirkle Jones is one person that learned and mastered photography from both Adams and Weston, and Pirkle knew Ansel's negatives better then he did. He worked out the burning/dodging formulas for many of the famous prints (including older works) that were used from 1947 onward. He made Adams look good.

The negative is the composer's score, the print is its performance - Adams

[undeterred]

22. I had just learned how to use an SLR camera and

develop film when everything started going digital. Just think how much great work was done with the older technology. It really is all in the vision/composition.

[ghostsofgiants]

12. I'm a big fan of Floria Sigismondi's photography

[greendog]

14. I've always liked Peter Beard

[prole_for_peace]

15. keith carter...an artist from my town

[undeterred]

16. Wow.

I am loving seeing all this black and white photography.

[graywarrior]

18. Annie Liebowitz

[Lex]

20. Margaret Bourke-White