Photographic Hero

For one of our assignments, we were to research a Photographer who's work consists of mostly black and white film.  I chose to research Ansel Adams.

Ansel Adams was born in San Fransisco, California on February 20, 1902.  His Parents were Charles Hitchock Adams and Olive Bray Adams.  At the age of twelve, Ansel taught himself to play the piano.  The piano was his main occupation for the next twelve years and his intended profession by 1920.  He eventually gave up piano for photography.  However, learning to play the piano brought discipline, substance and structure to his frustrating and hyperactive youth.  The craft and training that is required of a musician greatly influenced his later visual artistry as well as his writings and teachings on photography.

In 1916, Adams first visited Yosemite National Park with his family.  Upon viewing the valley for the first time he wrote: "the splendor of Yosemite burst upon us and it was glorious... One wonder after another descended upon us... There was light everywhere.... A new era began for me."   It was during this visit to the park that Adams received his first camera.  His father gave him a Kodak Brownie Box Camera.  Adams had a loving and supportive relationship with his father, but had a distant relationship with his mother, who did not approve of his interest in photography.  He returned the park on his own the next year with better cameras and a tripod.   In the winter, he worked part-time for a San Francisco photo finisher and learned the basic darkroom technique.

In 1921 his first photographs were published and the following year, Best's Studio began selling his Yosemite prints.  Even at this stage his early photos showed careful composition and sensitivity to tonal balance.

During the mid-1920's Adams experimented with soft-focus, etching, Bromoil Process, and other techniques of such pictorial photographers as Alfred Stieglitz.  He used a variety of lenses to achieve different effects.  He preferred a more realistic approach which depended more on a sharp focus, heightened contrast, and precise exposure, and darkroom craftsmanship.

The 1930's were a particular productive and experimental time for Adams.  He expanded his works focusing on detailed close-ups and larger forms from mountains to factories.  He emphasized the use of small apertures and long exposures in natural light, which created sharp details with a wide range of focus.

When the 1950's came around, Adams became a consultant on a monthly retainer for Polaroid Corporation, founded by his good friend Edwin Land.  He made thousands of photographs using Polaroid products.  In the final twenty years of his life however, the Hasselblad was his camera of choice.

Adams preferred and always used 'large format' cameras for his photographs.  He, along with others from the f/64 group, believed that only large negatives could deliver the necessary quality of image desired for a pin-sharp realism.  Large format cameras are physically large and heavy.  They require a substantial tripod and take time to set up, as well as set limitations to the amount of photographs that can be taken on the account of the bulk, cost and physically large size of the negatives.  The size of these negatives being blown up for the final image made an enormous difference in the quality of the image compared to the final result which would have occurred form using a standard  35mm which would have  needed to use much more magnification to achieve the same resulting size of image, but of a lesser quality.

The reason Adams took photographs was to express his creative nature and his inner emotions.  It was not simply to record a scene.

Mt. McKinley and Wonder Lake

In the Mt. McKinley and Wonder Lake photograph, one can observe the qualities of Adams work. As a landscape image, which he is most known for, we can see clarity and crispness in all details including the farthest subjects in the image.  The contrasts achieved move from the brilliant sheen of the lake, to the hills surrounding the lake, and then to the shadows in the background mountain. The contrasts of the image have your eyes follow the hillsides to the mountain and then take the entire image in for a sense of completeness.  The richness of tones fill you with a sense awe and allow you to understand the immenseness and grander of what you are observing.

Rose and Driftwood

 Rose and Driftwood, one of his close-up photographs, is so vivid with tones, contrast and shadows that one perceives the textures of the subject and background quite easily. One can flow over the ripples of the driftwood feeling its ups and downs and every curve.  The veins in the peddles of the rose are alive and defined.  The rose fills the majority of the frame intensifying its beauty and character, as the driftwood for the background combines well for an unusual contrast as opposed to the usual flat colored background that appears in others works.

Jeffrey Pine

In Jeffery Pine, the curve of the tree draws you into the photo.  With the harsh light source of the sun, the crisp and sharp shadows created allow one to enjoy the curves and knots of the tree which are then amplified by the highlights on the opposing side of the subject matter.  The frame of the image is filled nicely and flows well.  As well as the intricacies of the the tree, one can  also observe the details in the boulders that are below the tree.  It is  another interesting combination of subjects that intertwine well because of the way they connect through the shadows of the tree.