A long time ago Etro did an advertising campaign that was inspired by August Sander. I loved that campaign and immediately set out to learn more about Sander.When I found this book I was struck by the quiet dignity of the everyday people in Sander's images. Not much later I found this book by Disfarmer (below) and was again struck by the quiet grace of his subjects.
In a very literal way both books influenced my photography - I like to have a very quiet, distant background whenever possible. I love how both Sander's and Disfarmer's subjects really seem to fill the space they are in with their strong personas. I also like that even though these were not shot as fashion images the historical fashion perspective they give us is invaluable.