The thing I enjoy photographing more than anything is people either babies, children or adults, therefore the photographers I am drawn to the most are the ones that tend to photograph these.
I also like a look of older style photographs in particular black and white as done by photographers such as David Bailey and Cecil Beaton, who was well known for photographing one of my screen icons Audrey Hepburn.
I have started doing bit more research on modern photographers and have been looking at some of the work of Rankin, who is a well know fashion and beauty photographer amongst other things who is often as well known for being difficult to work with.
Rankins photographs are not too styled as he prefers to work with a few props only and relys on rapport between him and his subject especially with strong eye contact. He bores easily and likes to experiment.
The photograph 'Feeling Hungry' 1995 examines the link between fashion and anorexia and shows a very thin model gorging on a large chocolate bar with her jacket pulled in with clips to emphasise her thinness, a powerful but quite disturbing image I cam across in the book Masters of Photography (see book list for details).
Another photographer I am very interested in lives in Whitstable his name is Nick Moore ARPS LBIPP and he has won many photography prizes over the years. I have visited Nick many times in his studio and always find him willing to share his knowledge and passion for photography. Although he is mainly know for his portraiture work he also undertakes commercial photography and also photographs in Whitstable.http://www.nickmoorephotography.co.uk/ this link shows a variety of his work.
I was unsure where to put this particular article but I finally decided to add it here. I came across a Television programme about the acclaimed photographer Don McCullin CBE Hons FRPS. Having settled down to watch the programme complete with pad and pen for making notes, I was shocked at some of the harrowing images I was faced with, I must admit at times it was too much for me and I needed to miss parts. with no formal training Don began photographing the gangs in the 1950's. in fact photography helped him to escape a violent beginning to his life where he also received no education.
Don was committed to Justice and documenting what was happening, there were times when he didn't feel it was right to be photographing as the people committing the atrocities seemed to think he was ok with what he was witnessing however they would have been wrong. In the programme he talks about the times he has put his camera down to help someone only returning to it much later. One such instance was the civil war in Cyprus where an old lady couldn't keep up as they was being removed from their village, realising she would be shot he put his camera down ran to her and carried her to safety. He talks about the two weeks he spent with the American Marines in the Vietnam war, and how he tried to show the human cost rather than glorify it. He goes on to say he realised he had worn the same clothes for two weeks which he throw away when he returned. The sights he saw left him crushed and drained and that in the end it wasn't about the photography but about humanity. He worked for the Sunday Times until it was brought by Rupert Murdock. In 1973 Don was given an
CBE he was the first photographer to receive this honour. After the horrors of war Don McCullin went on to photograph landscapes. He was refused permission to photograph the Falklands conflict and although he blamed the government at the time he later found out the reason he was unable to go way because the royal navy had used their quota of press passes.
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