[Mike Cash]

I haven't spotted him around here in quite a while, and I put his name at the top of the list every time this done-to-death topic comes up: Nathan Combs.

When I can shoot like him, I'll cut my throat and die contented.

[Jools]

Some of these photographers are far from less-known, though I don't suppose they're household names compared to Adams.

Wynn Bullock
Paul Caponigro ("Running White Deer" may be my favorite photograph)
Minor White
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Joseph Sudek
John Sexton
Eliot Porter (in particular, Iceland)
Paul Strand

Bill Schwab is another, lesser-known, contemporary photographer whose work I like; I haven't looked for any new work of his for years, but he's very good.

And yes, Cosmo . . . Doisneau. I held back on buying the book featuring his work for Renault, and when I went back, it was gone. Still need to pick that one up.

This thread gives me some new names to look up. . . .

Great list. Sudek and White stand out in my mind.

Unless I missed it, I am surprised there has been no mention of Diane Arbus.

Also the photographers from the Farm Security Administration (1935-1944). Great stuff. In particular from this group, I've always enjoyed the work from Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Esther Bubley, and John Vachon.

[casil403]

A couple local boys come to mind...
Darwin Wiggett
Nature and Landscape Photography from Canada
Darwin Wiggett
John Marriott
John E Marriott Canadian Wildlife and Nature Photography

I should be so lucky to have landscapes as good someday....sigh....

[christophleipzig]

August Sanders photos are so phenomenal - what a great artist!

[Tamia]

In addition to many of the well-known photographers already mentioned, I've learned of a relatively unknown photographer whose street shots are really very good. Her name is Vivian Maier, and her work can be found on the blog Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work. Here's John Maloof's, the blog owner, forward:

"This was created in dedication to the photographer Vivian Maier, a street photographer from the 1950s - 1990s. Vivian's work was discovered at an auction here in Chicago where she resided most of her life. Her discovered work includes about 100,000 mostly medium format negatives and a ton of undeveloped rolls of film. Born February 1, 1926 and deceased on Tuesday, April 21, 2009."

It's worth a look, if for no other reason than the glimpse of life during the period Maier was shooting in Chicago, though what's known of her life story is fascinating.

[SJM]

I am reading Galen Rowell's book now "Inner Game Of Outdoor Photography" Very informative .

[desertscape]

Tom Till- Great landscapes
Larry Ulrich- Great flower macros
Josef and David Muench- Great landscapes
Art Wolfe- Great nature work

[normhead]

Richard Avedon... for his book 'Nothing Personal" , for his ability to make a great shot from a "nothing situation." A girl with freckles in front of a white back drop becomes an amazing photograph, a photograph about nothing... and everything, and Ansel Adams for the opposite point of view.. "If you can get to a fantastic natural environment, and capture 1/10th of what you are feeling, you have a great photograph." If you start from these two extremes, what you have in between is pretty much photography.

[philippe]

1 Eugene Adget (EU.)
2 Josef Sudek (EU.)
3 Paul Strand (U.S./EU.)
4 Willy Ronis (EU.)
5 Sally Mann (U.S.)
6 Edward Weston (U.S.)

[Zav]

A not so famous photographer I really like: Oleg Novikov.

[kryss]

For me Tony Sweet, John Shaw and Vince Versace.

[antzutd]

Flickr: `Kevin Wang's Photostream

not the greatest in the world, but i like the way he tries to find different photos styles.
(unfortunitely i can download his style files, coz' he shoots canon)

[jva59]

I've seen many photographers I admire mentioned here and some of whom I've never heard but want to learn more about. Here are a few who haven't been mentioned, I think. I share the admiration others have expressed for Capa and Cartier-Bresson, but I'd like to put in a word for Werner Bischof, who was a terrific photographer, but was also, like the other early Magnum photographers, there when it mattered, namely in Europe in the immediate aftermath of the war, then Japan, Vietnam and Peru. Much the same can be said about W. Eugene Smith. Edwin Smith, who is much less well known, was an English photographer active in the 30s-50s. Like many photographers, he started out as, and thought of himself as, a painter, until the photography took over. Architecture and landscapes are what he's best at, though perhaps buildings in place or places with or without buildings in their relation to human beings would be a better description. A (the only) recent monograph about him is aptly titled 'the evocation of place'. He did a lot of work for now out of date coffee table books on subjects like 'The English Cottage and Farmhouse' which are often very beautiful and can typically be had for a song. Another photographer who did a lot of work for old coffee table books--usually in collaboration with V.S. Pritchett so that they are that rarest of all things, picture books about London, Dublin, NY and the like with readable texts--was Evelyn Hofer, also the subject of a recent monograph.

[ddurrant]

Growing up in Seattle, one of my favorite photographers was Josef Scalyea, a Seattle Times photographer. He always had great images.

Another all-time favorite is Jerry N. Uelsmann. Awesome multiple exposures!!

[KierraElizabeth]

Two of my faves that sit on the table are
John Wawrzonek's The Illuminated Walden--I'm a Thoreau lover and the nature photos are spectacular.
Robert Bergman's A Kind of Rapture really great portraiture and unique faces that seems very "American" to me