The Paintings and Photographs That Shaped My Photography
Meta description: How Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and Fan Ho's Hong Kong street photography quietly shaped one photographer's eye — and the compositions they still return to today.
On a recent episode of the LensWork podcast (HT266), host Brooks Jensen talked about the images that changed his life. I'm not sure any single image changed mine, but a few have left a lasting mark on how I see and shoot.
Edward Hopper's Nighthawks
The first is actually a painting: Edward Hopper's famous Nighthawks. It depicts a diner seen from a quiet street at night. Inside, four people sit around the bar. Two are guests interacting with the waiter. The third sits alone in the center of the frame, his back to us, so we never see his face. He seems isolated, disconnected from the other three.
I first saw the painting long before I got into photography, and I stared at it for a long time. At first I was drawn to the three people talking — they looked relaxed, like they'd stopped in after a night out, and I found myself wondering what they were discussing. But again and again, my eye drifted back to the man in the center. Ironically, he was the person I knew the least about, and yet I couldn't stop thinking about him. It took me a while to realize he's the actual subject of the painting.
Like much of Hopper's work, Nighthawks captures an urban scene where a person is right in front of us and yet completely unknowable. Looking back now, I notice that many of my recent photos feature a person, or a couple, standing in the center of the frame with their back to the camera. I've clearly been influenced by that painting — and I suspect it's part of why so many similar photos on Instagram resonate with me too.
Fan Ho's Street Photography of Hong Kong
The second biggest influence is Fan Ho's street photography of Hong Kong.
When I started studying photography, I worked through many of the medium's classic images, including Henri Cartier-Bresson's. I wasn't trying to replicate his work, and his photos — mostly shot in Europe — felt foreign to me, somewhere I'd never been.
Then I discovered Fan Ho, and the connection was immediate. These were photographs of my hometown, taken just a few decades earlier. What struck me most was his use of background: his compositions would have worked as strong images even without a foreground subject. One series, shot in front of a staircase, made it obvious he'd set up his tripod in one spot and waited for the right moment to arrive. I do the same thing often now. That staircase, by the way, still exists — it's preserved and open to visitors in Hong Kong today.
Why This Matters for How I Shoot
Neither of these discoveries felt like influence in the moment. It was only years later, looking back at my own photos, that I could see the throughline: a solitary figure facing away from the camera, a composition built to hold its own even without a subject, a willingness to wait for a scene to complete itself. The images that shape us don't always announce themselves — sometimes you only recognize the influence in hindsight.
What image or artwork has quietly shaped the way you shoot? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.