Nan Goldin
A lot of Nan Goldin's make me really uncomfortable and I really dislike the snapshot aesthetic (which is so awesomely popular these days). The big question with Nan Goldin tends to be about the moment at which the picture was taken and if it was a spur of the moment thing or somewhat posed. I think Goldin would argue that none of her pictures are posed and that the reason why they're successful is that they capture real-time emotions. That might be why some of her AIDS work is so chilling. How could she allow herself to let her shutter release snap at such a time? At that point, she's as much in the story as her subjects.
Andre Kertesz
The first and third of Kertesz's photos are more "true fiction" than the second, but I like the second so I added it anyway. These pictures must be set up but Kertesz did prefer 35mm to larger formats, so it could be real as well. Also many of his pictures have a slight air of immediacy (crooked lines and strange croppings).
Chris Rainier
So I know these are set up, he uses a large format camera, but I really love these. There is an element of fiction in his shots because he does live with these people and then has them model for his pictures. However, their dress and their tattoos and marks are real. There are definitely stories behind these photos. I actually heard him talk and he was really cool.
Sebastiao Salgado
Salgado is one of my favorite photographers because understanding the content or context of his images is not a prerequisite to know that these are amazing photographs. In purely formalist terms, they are beautiful prints and you don't really need anything more than that. But if you do choose to look at the content, he transports you to other worlds that you think cannot be real, but are very real. Maybe it is his printing technique or the black and white, but I think these pictures would have very different stories depending on who was taking the picture.
