My name is Spyros Papaspyropoulos and I am one of the co-founders of www.streethunters.net, a complete and free online street photography resource. I was asked by Udi the chief editor of DIYPhotography.net to share with you the results of a little project we did a month and a bit ago. A project that resulted in the first ever crowdsourced list of the 20 most influential Street Photographers.
Let me explain about the process behind this project before I get into the list.
On the 25th of March 2015, we released a post called “SEARCHING FOR THE 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL STREET PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR 2015“. In that post we asked the Streethunters.net Readers to make their own suggestions of Street Photographers they thought were influential. As a team we started the list by providing the first 20 names of Street Photographers that have influenced us in our work throughout the years. We allowed suggestions to come through for a week, finally ending up with 75 names! The goal behind this project was to provide a means to get as many names of Influential Street Photographers out there. The talent that was hidden away needed a push to come to the surface and we felt it was about time for new Street Photographer names to make their appearance and to get noticed not only by the people they influence, but by the world.
On the 1st of April, we released the next post called “Vote for the 20 most Influential Street Photographers of 2015“. In that post we presented to our Readers the list of 75 names that had been suggested and provided them with a poll so they could vote for their most influential names. The poll allowed multiple choice since it is only logical that we are each influenced by more than one Street Photographer. That poll was accepting votes for 1 week. At the end of the week a total of 21,137 votes had been placed and the post had been shared more than 100 times.
The 3rd and final week of our project arrived and on the 8th of April we presented “The 20 most Influential Street Photographers according to the Streethunters.net Readers” which is The First Crowdsourced List Of Street Photographers Ever Made. The list was very interesting because it included names from all around the world. Street Photographers that have been influencing people on a daily basis that to some might have seen unknown, sat next to names that are “giants” and have guided the inspirations of many for decades. The results were at the least terribly interesting. So let’s get to that list.
Rui Palha (Portugal)
Manish Khattry (India)
Thomas Leuthard (Switzerland)
Eric Kim (USA)
Vineet Vohra (India)
Rohit Vohra (India)
Bernd Schaefers (Germany)
Marius Vieth (German living in Holland)
Bruce Gilden (USA)
Nicholas Goodden (UK)
Alex Webb (USA)
Tatsuo Suzuki (Japan)
Kevin “Shakes” O’Meara (USA)
Kevin Horn (USA)
Valerie Jardin (French living in USA)
Trent Parke (Australia)
Tavepong Pratoomwong (Thailand)
Chuck Jines (USA)
Martin U. Waltz (Germany)
Zack Arias (USA)
Closing I would like to say that we were surprised at the feedback we received from our Readers after publishing this list. Most of it was positive and we thank each and every person for supporting us. However, throughout the comments that we received on our blog and some of the ones we read on Social Media there were many confused replies. Our list created a ripple in Street Photography circles, especially from people that didn’t take the time to read the post’s concept. But we consider that a good thing for Street Photography because it helped get our crowdsourced list of names of Influential Street Photographers circulated around the world all that much faster and give promotion to some less well-known street photographers, so we are happy about that.
Thank you all for reading. If you want to visit the original post, just go to “The 20 most Influential Street Photographers according to the Streethunters.net Readers” on streethunters.net.
Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!
About the Author
Spyros Papaspyropoulos is a street photographer from Greece and co-founder of StreetHunters.net. His work can also be seen on his personal website.
