One of the most influential street photographers of all time is Garry Winogrand. His work helped to define street photography in his time and still continues to be relevant even to this day.
One of the aspects of Winogrand that always interested me, was his no nonsense attitude about photography. While so many people try to find answers behind great photographs in the photographers intentions or equipment that was used to take the picture, Winogrand did not subscribe to this philosophy. Garry Winogrand famously discussed how one never should ask questions of a photograph. He simply chose to go about his days out on the street capturing amazing photographs and disregarding the rhetoric of his critics.
Perhaps then, it is this free style that gave Winogrand such a distinct vision? So many photographers choose to obsess over equipment or philosophy, but not Winogrand. This is worth noting, as Winogrand is noted as taking some of the most famous photographs in the history of street photography, and photography in general.
Winogrand’s photographic adventures took him across the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. Yet, no matter where Winogrand chose to photograph, All of his photos exhibited the same indescribable qualities that made Winogrand so famous. Indeed, there is always a certain intangible quality to his image is, that that makes his images relevant in terms of both content and form.
Garry Winogrand was one of America's most famous photographers, and his work still stands among the top even today. Winogrand proved that passion can be one of the most important elements when it comes to taking great photographs. He did not allow questions to get in the way of his photography. He simply went out and photographed the world around him, capturing things that interested him photographically. In our modern and complex world, where we continually look for more advance techniques to improve photography, we can certainly learn a lot from his simple approach. After all, it was this simple approach that led to him making some of the most visually deep,complex, and stimulating street photos to this day.