Favourite Portrait Photographers!

There have been many amazing portrait photographers whose work I admire and am inspired by. Some are old school and shot only in black and white and some shot in color. Some of them are no longer with us and some are still shooting today.

One of my all time favourite portrait photographers is Yousef Karsh! Karsh is known for some of the most famous portraits of the twentieth century such as the iconic shot of Churchill standing with one hand on his hip and the other on the back of a chair. Karsh is also a favourite because he was a Canadian photographer. Karsh was so in demand that he shot everyone from Churchill to Queen Elizabeth to JFK and celebrities like Hemingway, Einstein and many more. His black and white portraits always look more like paintings than photographs. I have a book about Karsh that has many of his best photographs with details about how the pictures were taken. It is full of great stories and insights on how Karsh photographed his subjects. The book came from my cousin who live out in Nova Scotia, I think he found it in the basement of his house.

Annie Leibovitz is another inspirational portrait photographer whose work I love. The people who have posed for her are the "Whose Who" of pop culture and public figures. Her photos can be almost be divided into two categories. Her black and white portraits have a classic formal feel and look to them. However a lot of her color shots almost have a fantasy feel and look to them.

Jason Lenier is a current photographer that I discovered through his YouTube channel. His channel has behind the scenes videos of a lot of his workshops and photoshoots. He likes to shoot in unique places like abandoned buildings, graveyards, caves and abandoned amusement parks. I have found a lot of inspiration in his shoots.

These are just three photographers for now, this post will edit as I come up with more and discover more photographers that inspire me.