The 5 Names You Need to Know in Fine Art Photography

Gerardo Montiel Klint shares 5 influential artists that helped him discover his passion for photography

Gerardo Montiel Klint (@gerklint) is an industrial designer and photographer, teacher, workshop leader, and member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores in Mexico. He has received numerous accolades in his career, including the Acquisition Award of the XIII and XI Photography Biennial, the Silver Medal for Fine Arts Mexico 2008, the Omnilife 2000 Grand Prize, and Fonca/Banff Center artistic residencies in 2001 and 2002-2003.

His work has been featured in collections and galleries throughout the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, and China. He is also co-founder of the Hydra platform, belongs to the advisory team of EXIT magazine, and co-directs Klint & Photo, a production house and photographic studio specialized in advertising, interior design, fashion, and portraiture.

The art of photography can be segmented into different genres according to its uses and scope. For Gerardo Montiel Klint, fine art photography specifically refers to images that try to convey a particular style or signature, but with no goal other than the artist's self-exploration.

Montiel Klint discovered fine art photography thanks to five photographers whose work influenced his style and the direction of his career, transforming hisphotography into a tool for self-reflection.

Joel-Peter Witkin (United States)

Witkin’s work is deeply disturbing for many. It moves between the macabre and the grotesque, photographing corpses, mutilated bodies, and scenes with literary, religious, and historical connotations. His images, which follow the pictorial tradition, have been exhibited in collections around the world.

Gerardo Montiel Klint concedes that he felt a certain repulsion when he was first exposed to Witkin's work, but that was what interested him the most. When specific images provoke violent feelings or emotions, it is because they are changing you to some degree.

Thomas Ruff (Germany)

This photographer uses technology to push the limits of what visual arts can do. In his opinion, photography can only capture the surface of something, so he decided to embrace experimental techniques and explore new avenues in his own work. His topics revolve around nudity, gender identity, war, and architecture.

Montiel Klint recommends studying the work of this photographer in-depth. He manages to give new meanings to various types of photography (such as utilitarian or industrial), forcing the viewer to find new aesthetic readings.

Andreas Gursky (Germany)

Gursky is known for his work in large format photography and his digital processing techniques to apply to topics such as industrialization and capitalism. He is also well regarded for his wide shots taken from great heights. His work is a reference in photography and modern art in general and has been exhibited in the world's most important cities.

Gerardo seeks a dialog with his viewers: the way he displays his photography in galleries offers unique perspectives on global affairs which provoke strong responses in those who see it.

Paul Kooiker (Netherlands)

Winner of the Holst Prize (2009) and the Prix-de-Rome (1996), the value of Kooiker's work does not lie so much in the photographs themselves—which are usually noisy or out of focus—but in the post-production and editorial work. He creates collections with a powerful inner dialog.

Montiel Klint is also drawn to editorial and fashion photography, which Kooiker captures with a unique perspective, focusing on unconventional images of the body, going beyond merely descriptive, scientific imagery.

Todd Hido (United States)

Hido's work has been published by The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Elephant, FOAM, and Vanity Fair. Today, it is featured in the collections of the most important museums around the world, such as the Whitney Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian. He works in night, interior, portrait, and nude photography.

It is his treatment of portraiture and landscape, and his deep understanding of how to organize and edit photobooks, that most interests Klint. Opening one of his books is like traveling with him and getting up close to the characters and communities he portrays.

If you want to learn how to use photography as a tool for personal exploration of your own ideas and concepts, sign up for Gerardo's Domestika course, Photography as an Expressive and Artistic Medium, where you will discover lighting, directing, and post-production techniques to create your own visual narratives.

English version by @angeljimenez.

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