Yoshikazu Shirakawa Thing is... you can't really post a Shirakawa and have it mean much. He worked in Ektachrome up to the bitter bitter end, and shot large format stuff that was always presented large format. I own Eternal America and it's incredible. Clarence John Laughlin Works in black'n'white, double exposures and the like. He's good at making shit look haunted.
Love me some Andy Goldsworthy. Did you every see Rivers And Tides? 90 minute doco about him.
Andy Goldsworthy is one of my favorites as well. I guess you could say he's more of a sculptor who takes pictures of his work than a photographer, but the distinction at that point is getting a bit ethereal. On the topic of mud cracks and Andy Goldsworthy, here's an installation he did (he talks about it in Rivers and Tides around the 80 minute mark) with clay. The pattern of cracks (modeled after the meanders of a river, a common theme in his work) arises due to the clay drying at different rates and the underlying thought process behind the installation is really pretty inspiring.
Thanks for the Andy Goldsworthy introduction. I've always enjoyed Annie Liebovitz's work. She's one of those artists that even if you don't know who she is, chances are you've admired her work.