As requested, I'm starting my own thread. To begin, I'll repost a good list of people to look at for inspiration:
August Sander
Evelyn Hofer
Bruce Wrighton
Malick Sibide
Hiroh Kikai
Andrea Modica
Richard Avedon
Judith Joy Ross
Michael Joseph
Bryan Schutmaat
Bruce Davidson
Karlheinz Weinberg
Mike Disfamer
Katy Grannan
EJ Belloq
Peter Hujar
John Myer
David Hilliard
Larry Sultan
Doug Dubois
nother list
Zanele Muholi
Matthew Brady
Ilse Bing
Diane Arbus
Lee Miller
Vivian Maier
Lee Friedlander
Robert Mapplethorpe
Peter Hujar
Cindy Sherman
Phil Toledano
Nan Goldin
Elinor Carucci
Jen Davis
Latoya Ruby Frazier
Shen Wei
Evan Blaise Walsh
Jess Dugan
Pieter Hugo
Masahisa Fukase
Larry Clark
Elinor Carucci
Will Steacy
Duane Michaels
Phillip-Lorca Dicorcia
Tom Bianchi
PaJaMa