To be {inspired by…} great photographers is not to imitate; it is not to impersonate. It is to look at their art, to soak it in, to think about their thought processes and let those guide you in yours. It is not to copy but to allow your style to be influenced and to open your eyes to new possibilities.
By HeArt, a wonderful online community of photographers, hosted an entire month of {inspired by} themes. I was so inspired, I felt compelled to put my submissions into a blog post. So here it is!
Francesca Woodman ~ Francesca Stern Woodman was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models [Wikipedia].
Check out the winners for this theme (not mine, but the winners truly are stunning) here.
Imogen Cunningham ~ Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes [website].
See all winners for this theme here.
Ansel Adams ~ Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, and books [website].
Check out the winners for this theme (again, not mine but the winners are inspiring in their own right) here.
Henri Cartier-Besson ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35 mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and conceived of photography as capturing a decisive moment [Wikipedia].
See all the theme winners here.
I hope you enjoyed this look through a month of my image submissions. People often ask what the benefits are for submitting to By HeArt, other Facebook-based communities and their weekly competitions. To them I say this: researching and studying these photographers has given my own work a new lease on life, I have been inspired to try new things, I have found a new method and a new confidence for creating for black and white images. These pages are integral to my photographic and artistic development. They push me to be the best that I can be. I will be forever grateful to these pages for their support, their encouragement and the inspiration that they provide.
Love~ Ceri