famous / infamous shocking Photographer

[Davi]

Anyone care to help me out here? I have to put on a presentation about photographers of questionable ethics who have shocked with their work. Only problem is I'm one of those uncultured heathens who can barely remember close family names let alone those of people who may have done something of little interest to me in the past...

so... erm... any names I can research?!!!

[Getragdogleg]

Kevin Carter.

[dibbly dobbler]

Steve Carter

[Davi]

Getragdogleg said:

Kevin Carter.

feck me, perfect, ta!

[Davi]

dibbly dobbler said:

Steve Carter

I wanted ethically questionable, not morally corrupt and sexually deviant...

[Zod]

Helmut Newton.

[Dogsey]

Some have questioned the ethics of one of my favourite photographers, Sebastiao Salgado, who has made a very comfortable life for himself by photographing some of the worlds poorest people. Ethics aside his work is amazing.

[Simpo Two]

Dogsey said:

Sebastiao Salgado, who has made a very comfortable life for himself by photographing some of the worlds poorest people. Ethics aside his work is amazing.

Hanging a ham sandwich on the lens gives some great expressions...

(idea from Drop the Dead Donkey)

[Byker28i]

The famous example often cited is Eddie Adams picture of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner:
http://www.artnet.com/artists/lotdetailpage.aspx?l...

did the presence of a camera and photographer actually contribute to the outcome?

[tog]

Mapplethorpe has to be worth a mention, but probably a bit tame compared to Andres Serrano, whose work tends to involve his own bodily fluids.

[curtisl]

Getragdogleg said:

Kevin Carter.

That is the obvious choice but no doubt the most suitable and tragic. Get a copy of the bang bang club and read that for the full shocking story of the apartheid and how the vulture shot that won him the Pulitzer prize came about.

[Davi]

Superb effort all, many thanks you've provided loads of ammo there. I'll be able to use nearly all of those in the presentation!

[GetCarter]

Davi said:

dibbly dobbler said:

Steve Carter

I wanted ethically questionable, not morally corrupt and sexually deviant...

Oi... there just happen to be a lot of sheep round here, right.

[Major Bloodnok]

Not sure how 'controversial' you want to get, but try some of these:

Mapplethorpe (already mentioned)
Weegee (Arthur Fellig)
Kohei Yoshiyuki (series called The Park)
Merry Alpern (Dirty Windows)
Nan Goldin
Sally Mann

[Dogsey]

Major Bloodnok said:

Not sure how 'controversial' you want to get, but try some of these:

Mapplethorpe (already mentioned)
Weegee (Arthur Fellig)
Kohei Yoshiyuki (series called The Park)
Merry Alpern (Dirty Windows)
Nan Goldin
Sally Mann

Can't stand Nan Goldin's work, never seen what all the fuss is about with her.

If sexual deviancy is included in this then Nobuyoshi Araki is worth a look.

[Major Bloodnok]

Dogsey said:

Major Bloodnok said:

Not sure how 'controversial' you want to get, but try some of these:

Mapplethorpe (already mentioned)
Weegee (Arthur Fellig)
Kohei Yoshiyuki (series called The Park)
Merry Alpern (Dirty Windows)
Nan Goldin
Sally Mann

Can't stand Nan Goldin's work, never seen what all the fuss is about with her.

If sexual deviancy is included in this then Nobuyoshi Araki is worth a look.

I'm not keen on Golding, either, but the OP asked for 'controversial'...

There was also that woman, whose name I can never remember, who got into a bit of bother about 10 years back over an exhibition of photos of her naked children (a bit like Sally Mann).

There was an exhibition on at Tate Modern last year called Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera that included a lot of controversial stuff. There's a link here that may help with further research.