Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

I have assembled a list of ten photographers that I feel you should know about. These are photographers that have provided me with real guidance as I defined, and continue to define, my own unique voice as a photographer.

EACH of them offer endless examples of powerful portraits and a unique vision. There are countless others that create images that you can draw inspiration from, and I will try to provide more references as the class progresses based on what I believe could be a good resource for your work.

This list is in no particular order.

All of the photographer names are hyperlinked and there are links embedded in the text when I reference specific works.I strongly encourage all of you to explore futher as you define your own voice as photographers.

Peace!Jonathan

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion:Photographers Who Inspire Me

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

I had the honor of working for this master photographer from 1993-1994 and it was essentially like receiving a PhD in photography. I got to see so many of his images, including the entire session from “In The American West.” His portraits are engaging, ofter confrontational and stark, but always the truth according to him. He captured the soul of that person and manipulated the session to reveal the story he wanted to tell. I especially love his clean and graphic work that was achieved on an 8x10 large format camera.

The rich details that are available in these prints were nothing short of spectacular. It’s inherent in that format because the negative is actually 8x10 inches so it maintained that rich detail when printing. His work in fashion was exceptional. He often created larger projects to document portraits of the Civil Rights Movement, work with patients in mental hospitals, and the moment when the Berlin Wall came down.

Richard Avedon

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

Known for “the decisive moment,” it was always about the exect millisecond when Cartier-Bresson chose to take the shot that helped define his unique vision.

Timing and anticipation is an important tool to master in order to capture the moments that are often fleeting. His strong portraits were created typically within an environment versus a photographic studio. Cartier-Bresson was more of a photojournalist, his images capture the experience and not just the person.

Through his images, you get a sense of the person interacting in the environment and can draw upon clues present to create your interpretation of the story.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

Davidson is an amazing photojournalist who is best known for work done in Harlem on 110th street, Civil Rights images, and classic New York life.He had a brilliant eye for the moment. My favorite stuff from him is in a book called “Circus” and another called “Subway.”

Davidson’s extreme dedication to getting the moment and endearing himself to a group of people builds the trust that is necessary to have real access to the subjects. A photographer can’t just expect that to happen in a single moment; often subjects need to warm up and feel comfortable being photographed.

It’s a very different experience allowing someone access to who you are. There is an examination that naturally takes place when a photographer looks for an important moment in a “sitting” or session or out on the streets.

Bruce Davidson

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

Salgado’s work has a deep understanding of the grandness of a moment. A photojournalist with Magnum for many years, he self-assigned projects to explore. His shots in gold mines is said by many to be his most important body of work, however, it ALL is breathtaking.My favorite stuff came from his work in Africa.

When thinking about your photos and a portrait, consider how the environment plays a role in documenting the moment. A portrait doesn’t always have to be within 10 feet of a subject.

While this course speaks very clearly to a traditional portrait, there can always be an understanding of a group of people through this kind of analysis.

Sebstiao Salgado

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

Danny’s gutsy work with a group of outlaw motorcyclists is a beautiful series and a constant source of inspiration for me. Working with subjects that have a clear perspective of who they are can often be tricky. To be “let in” to the moment and by getting your intentions across can grant you the access that another photographer couldn’t achieve from a subject. He photographed this body of work over a 4 year period. At a certain point, it’s often important to just fade in to the background. Let the photographic moment just happen and be ready to see clearly the moment that you desire.

This also holds true in concert settings where you don’t want to disrupt the natural flow of things, but want the important moments.

This “fly on the wall” perspective is an important skill to understand and use wisely.

Danny Lyon

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

A French photographer from the 30s up until is passing in the 90s, Doisneau achieved a wonderful body of work based on his perspective and point of view of a moment. He wanted to tell stories that were more than just a documentation of the moment, however. Doisneau sought out moments that defined life as he saw it. His work with children is magical and playful. His focus was on street culture, and he had a keen eye for the eccentric and what he called “the marvels of daily life.”

Patience for a moment is always going to be important. You may see nothing for days and then a moment of inspiration strikes. The more you practice your craft, the quicker you see the moments developing and are able to capture them.

Robert Doisneau

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

A lighting genius and a creative force of the industry today, Knight pushes the borders of traditional photography way out. He takes chances, but executes them on the highest level.While you may not be moved by the work, his impeccable attention to detail is in a league of its own.

Think about taking chances with your work.

Perhaps this is a style that you want to explore versus anything that falls in the category of “traditional” like some of the photographer’s work that I have shown and described above.

Nick Knight

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

One of the greatest experiences that I had as an assistant was working with Steven Klein, a photographer who I will call a creative genius.

Often times taking real risks based on your interests of perspective can leave people very vulnerable to criticism. You must be ready to defend your work at all times in order to make your viewpoint clear. Steven’s images are instantly recognizable because of the adherence to HIS story and viewpoint.

Learning from Steven taught me to be true to what moved me and to experiment with different lighting, gels and non-traditional means of achieving a photo. I’m more than grateful for this lesson.

Steven Klein

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

This master photographer was known for his fashion work, portraiture, and still work. A triple threat of sorts. There was always a sophistication and careful attention to detail in Irving’s pieces. His lighting and composition were impeccable. His portraits allowed you to examine the subjects on a very intimate level without being uncomfortable. It was one of the first times that I felt compelled to incorporate this in my work. I did a lot of close up work to allow viewers to go where they would most likely never go... inches away from the subject. I felt that I had added another “weapon” to what I would deliver to clients when I shot my work. It seems like a really obvious observation on the surface, a close up shot, but I felt that I now had a reason to get close. Irving’s work gave me permission to examine these musicians in close proximity. I also loved some of the very simple compositional elements that he incorporated like the walls that were used to create a V that he often let his subjects interact with. Psychology again applied... “what would the subjects do within that space and why?” I often asked myself. There were times that I tried it to find the answer out for myself employing something that “forced the space” and pushed the physical borders in the environment of the portrait.

Irving Penn

Creating Powerful Portraits with Jonathan Mannion: Photographers Who Inspire Me

At the time that I was emerging on the scene in ‘95, Watson was creating some of the work that I wanted to emulate. Working for Avedon at the time and feeling that his work was somehow inaccessible (and unachievable in a way), Albert Watson’s portraits had a rugged edge to them that I believe fit my sensibilities.I thought that my images could fall within a zone that felt like his work.

The book “Cyclops” was a great reference for me in that there were a lot of graphic design elements that enhanced the image. These design elements (graphic brush strokes, rugged borders, a light with more contrast) were something that I felt would combine well with my vision.

Albert Watson