Photographic Inspiration: Rankin

Rankin has to be one of the most famous working photographers at the moment.
His images are world famous and he has shot everyone from Marilyn Manson to Gordon Brown and even my favorite musician; Thom Yorke.
I have admired his work since I got into photography and it is still a massive influence on what I do
today. He has taken some of the most iconic images of the last decade, and even the person passing in the street who may not know who he is has almost certainly seen his work.
He has helped put photographers back into the spotlight, rather than being just somebody who took the picture and this is also something I think is pretty amazing, since the birth of digital, photographers have been getting less and less recognition and their photographs are more about who is in it rather than who took it.
The way he shoots some of his more well know subjects I find is amazing, the way he sometimes covers their face and takes away that instant association with the person is a strange idea but something that really works, it makes it about the picture again.
Here are a few images from Rankin:

Dave Grohl

 Bjork

Damien Hirst

Vivienne Westwood

The Queen

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

All images are copyright of J. R. Waddell trading as Rankin Photography