Strangely enough, probably nobody you know. I got into this in part because I know a lot of people who do art in Baltimore and wanted party chat that gave me something to talk about. The big historical art icons are already well known, but the folks I know do their best to make a living somehow in our local art scene in Baltimore, which is generally pretty vibrant. Having been to all of the big museums in DC and New York, I know that the icons are already famous, so they don't need me.
If I had to pick someone local who got me interested on photography, it would be a guy I grew up with in the media, very famous locally, who spent a lot of years shooting around Baltimore and Delmarva, A Aubrey Bodine (lots of him in Google Images). When I look at his stuff there, I realize that I've copied a few of those locations and moods without realizing it.
Bodine foretold some of the digital era in his photos since he extensively edited his images, using layers, dodging and burning, drawing on negatives, inserting objects into pictures, swapping out skies, etc, the old-school version of contemporary digital editing. Being personally irascible, I'm glad he didn't live next door to me, but he really did do good stuff in spite of his temperament.
