I just finished reading this book, Why people photograph. That book is a very valuable book for photographers. I have to agree with most of his views on the twentieth century west. Another book that I would recommend is this one, The Photographer’s Eye.
Robert Adams is becoming one of my favorite photographers. Timothy O’Sullivan from the nineteenth century is another one of my favorites. They portray the west in two different ways, about a century apart. I find it interesting to sit there and look at the photos and see the difference a century of “advancement” makes. Ansel Adams also has some great landscapes, but with Adams towards the end he became formulaic in the way that he photographed stuff.
Another photographer that I find interesting is Francesca Woodman. She had some interesting ways of approaching the ideas that she had. You can find a book about her, here. Though with some of her work it seems like I am in class again, the pictures look like some of the photos that I have seen in class before. It makes me wonder if she didn’t commit suicide what she could have become.
Another photographer that I like, even though this style is dead, is Garry Winogrand. This photograph is one of the best that I have seen. If you look at the photo all the attention is drawn towards the women walking down the center of the sidewalk, but it sort of ignores the person slumped over in the wheelchair. It is a sad image in my opinion.
Have fun.