Three photographers that have inspired me the most and have probably been the most useful for my growth are Daido Moriyama, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand.

If you’re watching this and maybe you’re just getting started, or maybe you’ve been shooting photos for a long time and you just need a little extra boost, I highly recommend checking out these three masters.

They’re famous. You’ve probably heard of them.

But they’re three different photographers with three distinct styles, even though I think there’s some overlapping philosophy between them.

GARRY WINOGRAND

Winogrand was more of a street shooter.

He wanted to be in that bustling street, capturing a moment between people. A happy moment, a sad moment, whatever was happening.

His work was primarily people-focused.

That’s what I take from Winogrand. Get out on the street. Get around people. Walk around and see what happens.

LEE FRIEDLANDER

Friedlander had a mix of both, but it seems like he really thrived photographing ordinary things.

Maybe it’s a cactus.

Maybe it’s a sign.

Maybe it’s some random object that kind of looks like a face.

That’s what I really like when I look at his work.

He’s turning an ordinary, mundane object that anybody else could walk by and not think twice about into something that’s a little different.

That’s a huge influence on the way I photograph.

DAIDO MORIYAMA

Then there’s Daido.

He obviously photographed people and things, but I think he was more about showing the texture and the light of a scene.

It didn’t necessarily have to be about the people.

If the people fit into the frame, great. That’s a bonus.

But if you look at his photography without people, it’s still awesome.

He’s another guy who could turn an everyday scene into something super cool.

And probably the best thing about Daido for me is his philosophy and what he does with his work.

He puts the photographs into books and magazines.

That idea really connects with me.

He just keeps photographing and keeps putting the work out into the world.

And he’s kept doing it into old age.

To me, that’s a good life, man.

That’s a really good life.

Find something that you like that much that you’re still doing it when you’re old.

If you’re looking for some kind of purpose in life, it doesn’t have to be photography, but that seems like a pretty good way to go about life.

Find something you love doing and just keep doing it.

THE JOY OF TAKING PHOTOS

That’s another thing I get out of looking at these photographers.

There’s an immense amount of joy you can get from just taking photos.

The older you get, I think the fewer things you get really excited about.

You lose some of that joy you had when you were a kid, when you could get excited about basically nothing.

I see little kids getting excited about the dumbest things and I’m like, that’s the way to live right there.

Photography brings some of that spirit back into my body.

I’ll see a reflection in a mirror and suddenly I’m taking a selfie.

I’ll see some weird object on the ground and stop to photograph it.

I’ll see something completely ordinary that I’ve probably walked past a hundred times and suddenly it looks interesting.

That’s what this little camera does for me.

What a privilege it is, really.

KEEP SHOOTING

I also look at Winogrand’s life as motivation to do this every day.

We never know when our time is up.

So why wait around?

If you like taking photos, go take photos.

That’s another thing I take away from all three of these guys.

Just keep going.

Keep walking.

Keep looking.

Keep shooting.

THREE DIFFERENT WAYS OF SEEING

What’s interesting is that I can be walking around and actually start recognizing these different ways of seeing.

I’ll see something and think, that’s more of a Friedlander shot.

Then I’ll see something else and think, that’s a Daido shot.

There are other scenes where I think Winogrand would have been interested because there are people and something is happening between them.

They’re three different artists with distinct styles and philosophies.

And I really like combining all three of those philosophies into what I’m doing with Survey.

Maybe one day I’ll branch out and do something completely different.

But for now, honestly, it’s kind of all I need.

With those three philosophies, I can make a huge variety of photographs anywhere I’m at.

YOU CAN PHOTOGRAPH ANYWHERE

That’s another reason these photographers have been so useful to me.

You don’t necessarily need to be somewhere famous to make interesting photographs.

Winogrand’s approach, at least the way I see it, benefits from having people around. You want that bustling city street because so much of the work depends on people and the moments happening between them.

But with Friedlander and Daido, you could go almost anywhere.

You could go to the middle of nowhere in Iowa.

You could be living in the middle of a cornfield.

You could walk down the same dirt road every single day for the rest of your life.

If you start looking at the world through some of the ideas you see in Friedlander’s and Daido’s work, I think you could make an interesting body of work on that dirt road.

That’s what’s so powerful about it.

You don’t need New York.

You don’t need Tokyo.

You don’t necessarily need some crazy event happening in front of you.

You can photograph the ordinary stuff that’s already around you.

That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve taken from these three photographers.

Winogrand showed me the possibilities of people and the street.

Friedlander showed me how interesting ordinary objects and visual relationships can become.

Daido showed me texture, light, instinct, and the idea of just continuing to make work and put it out into the world.

I take something from all three.

And right now, that’s basically the foundation of how I think about my own photography and what I’m trying to do with Survey.