Drew Gardner

Gardner is hilarious. He has such amazing quirky photos. All his photos make me laugh and remind me of the bright side of life. They are full of color and happiness and irony. I enjoy the world he sees. I love the textures and stories and creativity. His use of DOF is really nice. There is not that much to say besides....AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!

http://www.drewgardner.co.uk

Monika Stojak 

So I know she is not famous or anything, but in my world, she is a modern day marvel. She is freaking 17 years old and is from Poland. Every single photo of hers captures me in more ways than any other photographer has. There is a flawless representation of every woman. I am so so in love with her photos. I don't even know where to start. There is something so dainty about every posse she chooses or lets them choose.  Every texture and every DOF is full of quality I will probably never know in my photos. She has a great sense of style and framing.  I stand in awe of every photo.  The one below is so wonderful the way she used the figure of this woman to complete the pattern.

http://monislawa.deviantart.com/gallery/

Fay Godwin

Fay Godwin is from Germany and settled in London. His 1985 publication of Land edited by John Fowles is jammed full of textural pieces and magnificent tones.  His work inspires me to do more with space and black and white. It pushes me to capture more than I want to. To get off the center of the focus and capture what else is around the subject.  I love the out of place feel of objects like the buffalo below.

Garry Winogrand

Garry Winogrand (14 January 1928, New York City – 19 March 1984, Tijuana, Mexico) was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid 20th century. Winogrand's photographs of the Bronx Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium made up his first book The Animals. (1969) a collection of pictures that observe the connections between humans and animals. It is written by John Szarkowski. This book is full of wonder and magic. I love love love the photos found in this book. This man could be one of my heroes. His photos are so comical and portray such a unique side of us humans.  He really captures things that are amazingly ironic.  I just about ate up this book. Its so wonderful!  

Stephen Shore

Born in New York City, he began photographing at the age of nine. A self-taught photographer, he began working with Andy Warhol at his Factory when he was 15. His black and white photographs of Warhol's milieu were published in The Velvet Years: Warhol's Factory 1965-67 (1995). He was the master of large format photography.  He tells so many stories through every photo.  I enjoy the wide angles and broad subjects.  Any photographer can learn from him. He is full of creativity and unique ideas. He was so young in age but yet so old in the brain. I admire every photograph.

Helen Levitt

Wikipedia says this about Levitt and the book she created with these photos and others like it:

"Levitt grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Dropping out of school, she taught herself photography while working for a commercial photographer. While teaching some classes in art to children in 1937, Levitt became intrigued with the transitory chalk drawings that were part of the New York children's street culture of the time. She purchased a Leica camera and began to photograph these works as well as the children who made them. The resulting photographs appeared, to great acclaim, in 1987 as In The Street: chalk drawings and messages, New York City 1938–1948. Named as one of the "100 best photo-books", first-editions are now highly collectable." Her work is raw and captures a moment in time that is often difficult to capture. I enjoy sutle details in each photo like the clothing and the different textures that are played on. She captures the streets of New York so well and so fully. 

Bellocq was a Bold person.   E. J. Bellocq was a commercial photographer of French Creole extraction who worked in New Orleans in the first decades of the century. He mainly took photos of prostitutes.  He would leave them dressed or undressed according to the mood. I feel like He did it in such a tasteful way. The photos really make you feel a different emotion toward these women.   I am really moved by these photo especially since it was so early n the ages of photo.  It pulls me into a new world. The book where you can find images like these is 

 E. J. Bellocq: Storyville Portraits. Photographs from the New Orleans Red-light District, Circa 1912 by Bellocq, E. J. (Photographs) ; Lee Friedlander (Reproductions) ; John Szarkowski (editor)