UKH

Which photographers inspired you in your formative years as a photographer.

As a rough guide give us two outdoor/climbing photographers and two others.

Galen Rowel

Hienz Zak

Don McCullin 

Robert Capa

Could I include George and Ashley Abraham as one? The other would be John Cleare. The Abrahams must be in there for me, the quality, quantity and style of their work considering the photographic and climbing equipment of the time was superb. Cleare's photos probably did more to get me into the mountains than almost anything else.

Cartier-Bresson, love his stuff... aiming high

Edwin Smith for architecture

Fay Godwin for landscape

Charlie Hamilton James for wildlife

Another vote for McCullin - his work started me off.

Also, not in order of importance:

August Sander; Jacob Reis; Robert Frank; James Natchwey; Eugene Richards; W. Eugene Smith; Catherine Leroy; Christine Spengler; Sabastio Salgado; Werner Bischof; Araki; Daido Moriyama; Gary Winograd; Alfred Steiglitz; Ansel Adams; Josef Kudelka; Weegee; Mary Ellen Mark; Walker Evans; Ami Vitale; Felicia Webb; Tom Stoddart; Dayanita Singh; Raghubir Singh; VJ Villafranca; Bill Brandt; Susan Meiselas; William Klein...

There's a pattern: photojournalism and documentary photography is my thing. Heart broken when the Independent Magazine closed in the 90s, closely followed by Reportage Magazine.

In addition to those already mentioned, particularly Bill Brandt & Don McCullin...

Bert Hardy: classic Picture Post photojournalism - I was lucky enough to meet him once and express my admiration;

Martin Parr: has anyone documented British society more brilliantly in the past few decades?

Bert, a huge talent. And how great to meet a hero 

I too got lucky - mine told me that given his background, if he hadn't been a photojournalist, he'd have been an armed robber. I met McCullin in the mid-90s - a very powerful personality; though maybe I was just thoroughly intimidated 😂.

I made a portrait of him, taking only one frame: he asked me if I was ok with just one. I assured him that yes, it's good. Of course it wasn't being well exposed by not quite sharp; probably, I think, cos my hands were shaking so much. Funny, cos I could get  sharp images whilst being tear-gassed, but his 'presence' just made me feel about 10 years old and a bit overwhelmed. 

A charming and ernest man. 

I remember sharing a fag and chat with Tim Page in a lull in the police charges and flying bricks at an anti BNP riot I was photographing in the 90’s. Nice guy

Yes - I hesitate to claim he "influenced" my recreational social documentary snapping given how pale an imitation it was!

Great story about McCullin. I presume you saw the retrospective at the Tate a few years ago. What a fantastic body of work.

I managed to catch the Don McCullin retrospective twice, once in London and once in Liverpool. It is always nice to see proper proper prints in a good setting, it elevates something that is already extraordinary to another level.

In addition to the classic climbing photography of the Abraham's and John Cleare, I'd add Ray Wood.

Bill Brandt

Cartier-Bresson

Ansel Adams

Bradford Washburn

Edward Burtynsky

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Jim Thornburg

Ray Wood

Ansel Adams

Sebastiāo Salgado

Lots of greats mentioned already. I will add:

Marie-Laure de Decker - French photographer of the Vietnam war, Chad, apartheid South Africa.

Karel Otto Hrubý - Czech photographer mainly active during the communist era.