Are you inspired ,influenced

Just wondering where Photographers get thier inspiration from ? . or do you need it .

I quite often see references to the likes of Ansell Adams , Helmut Newton etc etc being mentioned,
things like " I want to do a Helmut Newton style shoot " . What was his style ?,was he really that good ,
would he and others like him actually "cut the mustard" in todays competetive market.

I would assume that right place right time played a massive part in thier success and not
some extreme shining talent , I mean David Bailey " Who's he " . just a cheeky little chappie :) (with a team )

I've never been easily impressed , and hopefully never influenced by other peoples stuff ,( not knowingly
anyway ) and hopefully never will be . recently I've seen some brilliantly creative shots on here that would stand
up to any of these so called Iconic shots like the film star ? Hair in bun ,cigarette holder and pearls who's name escapes me .

I'd be interested to know, has anybody here recreated this stuff ,and of course was it difficult .