“Do you have a photographer that you think has influenced your photography journey?”
This was a question that was posed on Twitter several weeks ago. My initial response was to chuckle and think to myself “Of course not. No one has influenced my photography. I have learned it on my own.” But, as I continued to think about that question over the following days, I began to realize that there certainly are photographers that have influenced me and continue to do so to this day.
So, who are these photographers, these influencers, who have shaped my photographic outlook over the years?
John Shaw
When I started getting a little more serious with my photography in the early 1990s, one of the first photographers I discovered was John Shaw. I discovered John’s work the old-fashioned way – looking for photography books in a local bookstore. I purchased several of John’s books over the years. They were all very educational and taught me a lot, but the most inspiring book I have is John Shaw’s Focus on Nature, which includes over 100 of his photographs and provides a few paragraphs with each one that describes how he went about creating the image. In a way, he was writing blog posts before blog posts became a thing. Even now, during those times when I’m not feeling particularly creative, I like to pull this book out, give it a read, and gain new inspiration.
Art Wolfe
Art Wolfe is another photographer I found by perusing the photography section of a local bookstore. I purchased a couple of Art’s books, and they, too, were very informative. But, it was his television series Travels to the Edge that I found especially helpful and eye-opening. He would travel to locations around the world, such as Patagonia, Peru, Japan, and the American Southwest, photographing the landscape, wildlife, and the people and culture. All the while, he was providing valuable instruction to the viewers about what he was doing and why he was doing it. In effect, it felt as if you were getting a private, one-to-one photography lesson on every episode.
Jim Zuckerman
Looking back, Jim Zuckerman has probably had the most influence on my photography. I first learned about Jim when I stumbled across Petersen’s Photographic Magazine while looking at a magazine rack one day. Flipping through the magazine, I found a very educational article he had written about a particular photograph he had created and how he had composed and captured the scene. I was hooked and immediately subscribed to the magazine. I so looked forward to reading his latest article every month that I was like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. When I learned he had written several books, I purchased and read those as well.
But, his influence on my photography didn’t really happen until I found some videos he had on YouTube one evening in which he was traveling through New England and photographing various scenes. As soon as I discovered they were clips from a set of DVDs that had been produced, I quickly ordered them. Just like his magazine articles, he described what he saw, why he thought it was photogenic, and how he composed the image. Just like Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge series, it felt like participating in a personal photography workshop with a wonderful teacher. I watched Jim’s DVD’s repeatedly and would even take notes as I watched.
There was one scene, though, that really struck me. He was photographing some trees around a small pond in New Hampshire. It was Autumn, and the red, orange, and yellow leaves were simply breathtaking. As he photographed the scene, he described how the surface of the water was not quite as smooth as he would have liked because of the leaves that had blown into the water. He explained how he could use Photoshop to correct that later if he wanted to do so. Then, he made a comment that has had a profound effect on my photography to this day:
“I know that some photographers don’t like manipulating nature at all. They want to just photograph what they see. That’s perfectly fine. I sort of see myself as a photographic artist, and, so, this is my palette. And, like artists for thousands of years, I feel I can do to it whatever I want to make it as I envision it.”
I had never intended to be a documentary photographer accurately recording scenes for the historical record. I wanted to create artistic images people would want to hang on the walls of their homes. But, somehow I had self-taught myself that my images could only represent what I had seen with my eyes, not what I saw with my mind. Unfortunately, the scene I saw with my eyes didn’t always match the image I had in my head and created a very frustrating situation.
Jim’s words were an epiphany for me. They made me realize that I didn’t have to limit my photography to only what I saw with my eyes, or that my photography had to exactly record what was in front of me. Rather, I could use my photography to create whatever I wanted to create; there were no limits.
That realization gave me a tremendous sense of freedom. I no longer felt guilty when I replaced a sky to create a more dramatic scene or changed the color of the leaves because I wanted an Autumn photograph, but I was at the location in the Spring. Thank you, Jim Zuckerman, for helping me remove the self-imposed restrictions I placed on my creativity.
These three photographers – Jim Zuckerman, Art Wolfe, John Shaw – have unquestionably had a profound effect on my photographic journey since its beginning and continue to do so. But, there are also many others who I discover everyday who are influencing me to try new things, to take new paths, and to make new discoveries each time I photograph. And, that is one of the greatest joys of photography.