I'm partial to Ansel Adams, myself. When I started learning photography, it was with black-and-white, 35mm film - and Adams' photos tend to be black and white. The work area outside of the photo lab was decorated with a lot of Adams' photos, many in black and white of course.

His composition (or "eye") was amazing, and unique in a lot of ways. He definitely understood contrast, too, and how to best take advantage of the "limitations" of black-and-white film when creating or emphasizing contrasts in his scenes.

Here's one of my favorites from him. It's called "White House Ruin."
Source(s):
http://www.anseladams.com


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