Photographers that inspire me #2

In these series of posts i thought it would be good to give you an insight into the photographers, and their various styles of photography, that inspire me to go and take more photographs. i hope these photographers help to give you ideas and inspiration.

Nadar (Gaspard-Felix Tournachon) 1820-1910

Nadar was a photographer, caricaturist and journalist during the time of Napoleon III. The reason why I find him so inspiring is because of just how much he help pioneer.

Nadar was artistic, immensely imaginative, and possessed a flair for the dramatic.  His photographic portraits became known not just for the quality of his work, but for bringing out the character of the subject as well.  

Nadar also used his creative talent to push the boundaries of early photography He took his first photographs in 1853 and in 1858 he Nadar became the first person to take an aerial photograph. Nadar built a rather large balloon (6000 m²) named Le Géant, this was to be the inspiration for Jules Verne’s "Five Weeks in a Balloon". Although the Géant project was at first unsuccessful Nadar was still sure that heavier-than-air machines were the way of the future. Later “The Society for the Encouragement of Aerial Locomotion by means of Heavier than Air Machines” was set up and Nadar became the president, with Verne as secretary. Whilst working in the catacombs of Paris Nadar pioneered the use of artificial lighting to help create his photographs.

Aside from floating around in balloons Nadar is most noted for his portraits of many painters, writers, and intellectuals around that time.  He preferred not to make portraits of women, since the results were “too true to nature to please the sitters, even the most beautiful”. He also took Victor Hugo’s last photographs on his death bed in 1885.

 I really love his 360◦ self-portrait sat on a chair, this was the first time a 360◦ had ever been taken.

Richard Ragsdale

I don’t know anything about Ragsdale and was unable to find out anything about this amazing artist. I find his monochromatic photographs very haunting and beautiful.

If you have any information on Richard Ragsdale please feel free to contact me on info@bigworldpicture.com . I will of course credit you for the source of info. 

Ansel Easton Adams 1902-1984

Adams is best known for his black and white photography of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park.  He created the Zone System as a way to determine the correct exposures and contrast of the final print. Using this method, the clarity and depth of the photographs came to characterize Adam’s work. He used large format cameras because of their high quality images and this helped with exposures and sharpness because of the size of the viewing screen. Even though the film was costly and the set up times were lengthy due to the size and weight of the camera and its tripod or platforms.

Adams produced his first portfolio in this new style of photography, “Parmelian Prints of theHigh Sierras”, this included his now famous photo “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome”. He took this with his Koronacamera with glass plates and a red filter to help heighten contrast. He had one plate left and already had a vision of the effect of the darkened sky and so with his expertise, set everything up just right before risking his last shot, and it paid off.  He said afterwards “I had been able to realize a desired image: not the way the subject appeared in reality but how it felt to me and how it must appear in the finished print”.

In 1940 Adams put together A Pageant of Photography, this was the most important and also the largest photography show in the West to date, attended by millions of visitors.

He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1966. He was awarded the Conservation Service Award by the Department of the Interior in 1968, a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, the Sierra Club John Muir Award in 1963 and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007. He has also had a peak named in his honor  Mount Ansel Adams and also the Minarets Wilderness was renamed Ansel Adams Wilderness, in 1985. Adams was presented with the Hasselblad Award in 1981. 

The Sierra Club's AnselAdams Award for Conservation Photography was established in 1971, and the AnselAdams Award for Conservation was established in 1980 by The Wilderness Society.

Written by Paul Casey Hemming @ Big World Picture Dot Com