Gregory Crewdson
I just got back from an amazing presentation held at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The presentation was given by Gregory Crewdson a photographer best known for his elaborately choreographed photographs that frame mystery in everyday life.
It was inspirational. His work is fantastic. That said, it is not the type of work I usually admire and you will just have to check it out to form your own opinion. However, it was wonderful to see a photographer who thought as an artist and not a documentarian. He conceptualizes images in his head and then goes to great lengths to execute them, the result being masterpieces. I picked up more tidbits of creative thought and insight from his lecture than any other single event in recent memory.
I urge you to check out his work and do enough research to understand what goes into each photo he creates. You may or may not like his style, but his artistry, creativity, clarity of vision, drive to make his visions into reality are without question.
You can get more information about Mr. Crewdson and see samples of his work at Luhring Augustine for starters. He was also in PDN magazine within the last year. That was my first introduction to the artist.