Inspirational links

No this is not a post about you know what 😀

As photographers and all artists we all need to be inspired.
Without inspiration live it boring and your work will not be what it could be (I don’t want to say boring again).
Inspiration can come from many things, seeing a beautiful landscape, a TV broadcast or your own personal live.
In the old days we had to get our inspiration from books or our travels or of course close at home.
Today with the internet the options are almost endless.

In this blog post I will give you some links to photographers I admire and whose work I love to look at and sometimes get inspiration from. Please feel free to share your own personal links (you can even link to your own site if you think you can inspire others).

So let’s start the list with my personal favorites:

http://www.lachapellestudio.com.
No surprise for many of you, for me David Lachapelle is without a doubt one of my biggest inspirators. Also the only photography I own a lot of books from. I do own a lot of photography books but from Lachapelle I own the whole collection (expect the outrageously priced ones :D)

http://www.scottkelby.com
Great blog with loads of followers and for a reason. Scott is I think one of the most approachable people you can meet in this business. It’s a small miracle to see what he is doing and still has time for some great photography. Read one of his many books and you will get a sense of the passion he has for what he is doing, and did I mention already he is a great allround photographer ?

http://www.chasejarvis.com
Great photographer and very active online, read his blog, follow the live broadcasts and many many videos online.
Chase is someone who really understands how social media works, too many people claim social media is only for the amateurs, Chase proves them all wrong.

http://www.dbem.net/
I found the work from Douglas Bizarro + Elizabeth Moss via an episode of America’s next topmodel and was struck by the beauty of their work, amazing fashion shoots with total control of photoshop, inspiration at it’s best, wow factor.

http://www.davehillphoto.com/
This must be the photographer with the “honour” of having the most threads worldwide about “how did he do this”.
Somehow people still think that you can just shoot something and transform it with a magical filter into something else……
Listen up, it’s all in the light, styling and planning (and a bit of photoshop :D)

http://www.erwinolaf.com/
A list can’t be complete without (for me) the best Dutch photographer, look at his work and just be amazed by the wonderful scenes he creates. HIGHLY recommended viewing.

http://www.manipulator.com/
What’s in a name ?
Loved her monkey portraits, but also the total look of her work. Jill Greenberg has her own style and I love it.

http://www.montalbetticampbell.com/
Interacted with them several times on a fora and discovered their work this way, check it out if you love some great photoshop work (which I do).

http://www.mariotestino.com/
does he need any introduction ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz
She doesn’t seem to have a site online (?) but Annie is without a doubt one of the great names of Fashion and Music photography.

Without a doubt I’m now missing a lot of photographers so I will probably add to the list in the coming days 😀
Again feel free to join the thread and post your inspirations…..

7 replies
  1. Bouke Peterson
    Bouke Peterson says:

    Hi Frank,

    As you have stated yourself, there are sooo many influences, from different angles of life. Arts (painters like Rembrandt, Hals, Caravaggio). Restricting myself to photographers, apart from some you already mentioned, I especially dig the work of the following photographers:

    Albert Watson (http://www.albertwatson.com), great photographer and graphic designer: fashion, portraiture (a lot of musicians-portraits for Rolling Stone), still life, landscape. Great books: Cyclops, Maroc, Strip search.

    Tierry le Goues (http://www.thierrylegoues.com/), great fashion photographer, check his website. Books “Soul” (with only BLACK models) and “Popular” (nudes/sports combined with everyday life in Cuba)

    Rankin (http://www.rankin.co.uk) Portraiture & Fashion. A dazzling amount of wonderfull work on his site. Don’t forget to check the Film | Behind the Scene-section there!
    Also impressive is his cooperation with make-up artist Alex Box, who uses the visage as a canvas. (http://trendland.net/2009/11/24/the-makeup-artist-alex-box-rankin/)

    Nigel Parry (http://www.nigelparryphoto.com/) Great Portraits of Celebrities: Artist, Musicians, Writers, Actors, Business, Sports, Money & Power.

    Yousuf Karsch: portraiture (http://www.karsh.org/#/the_work/portraits/)
    Strong black and white headshots, brilliant lighting.

    Later more…………………

  2. @jewelzdezine (aka Julie)
    @jewelzdezine (aka Julie) says:

    Thanks. Great link info. I’m always looking for inspiration and how artists view photography in different ways.

  3. Paul Tortora
    Paul Tortora says:

    Thank you for sharing this info. Very resourceful and inspirational. Also enjoyed your video training session on Kelbytraining and can’t wait to see more. Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent with your fellow photographers.

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