Ask HN: Which photographers do you admire?

Weegee and W. Eugene Smith were my primary influences back when I was shooting as a hobbyist and, later, as a professional.

The former taught me the importance of simply being there and being ready to shoot in the moment, lighting and composition be damned. The latter showed me that you could compose art -- real, emotional and meaningful art, not just cookie-cutter photos -- by thoughtfully capturing emotional moments.

I really like the tack sharp focus that Ansel Adams brought to the scenes he captured.[1] I later learned that he revisited the same places over and over in search of just the right mood, etc. I used to do the same thing when I worked in Chicago.

Myself, I'm into landscapes, time-lapses, and virtual-focus/synthetic aperture photography, though it's been quite a long time since I was able to venture forth and take photos. Here's my old "Top 100" folder from those days[2]

[1] https://flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/albums/72157623...

[2] https://flickr.com/photos/---mike---/albums/7217772029640662...

In no particular order:

Richard Avedon

Lee Friedlander

Sally Mann

Jerry Uelsmann

Ansel Adams

many many more I'm forgetting

Vivian Maier.