The Work by Ansel Adams: Black and White Images - Essay Example

Ansel Adams Ansel Adams, the famous answer when average American is asked to a prominent photographer (Andriani, 2006). The famous artist of black and white images is still being talked about especially in photography even up to now. According to his business manager Bill Turnage, “You dont have to be an art history graduate to understand what Ansels trying to get at. His work resonates with all people who have a strong relationship with nature" (Andriani, 2006). Who is Ansel Adams? A son of a businessman, Charles Adams, and OliveBray, Ansel Adams, is a well known photographer and environmentalist (Turnage, n.d.). Grewing up as a grandson of a wealthy timber baron, Ansel Adams, he lived in a house in the midst of the sand dunes of Golden Gate (Turnage, n.d.). He got his distinct mark in his nose when he was thrown to the ground during the aftershock of earthquake and fire in 1906, when he was just four years old (Turnage, n.d.). According to Turnage (n.d.), he was born in a very conservative social and emotional environment being an only child of elderly parents. It was in 1907 when the family’s fortune collapsed that Adams’s father spent the whole time to regain their lost fortune (Turnage, n.d.). He loved music and started to play the piano which inspired and crafted his visual artistry. He gained an appreciation of nature living his childhood at the Golden Gate which is his primary foundation photography (www.sierraclub.org, History: Ansel Adams). He was once an unpromising and rebellious student which resulted to his removal from school (Szarwkowski, 2010). According to Szarkowski (2010), he was a gifted pianist thus made him become determined and ambitious musician. In was in 1916 when he got his first camera that he demonstrated his talent in photography (Szarkowski, 2010). It was in the year 1927 when he took his first High Trip of the Siera Club and finished his first fully dreamed of photograph, Monolith, the Face of Dome (Turnage, n.d.). This year became very important because he met San Francisco’s patron of arts and artists and insurance tycoon, Albert Bended, whose companionship, encouragement and polite financial support changed Adams’s life (Turnage, n.d.). It was Bended who took charge of the preparation and publication of Adams’s first portfolio, the Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras (Turnage, n.d.). Bender was the main influence who transformed a journeyman pianist to a creative photographer (Turnage, n.d.). Adams’s joined annual Sierra Club outing and became their official photographer. His role in the club grew quickly which in turn the club developed into a very important factor to his success in photography (www.sierraclub.org, History: Ansel Adams). His membership in the club developed his political involvement thus suggesting proposals for improving parks and wilderness (www.sierraclub.org, History: Ansel Adams). The club soon became an influential national organization that fought for the creation of national parks and protection of environment (www.sierraclub.org, History: Ansel Adams). He became prominent in photographic community in 1935 when he was working and contributing technical articles to a popular photography press (Szarkowski, 2010). In 1936, his worked was renowned by Alfred Steiglitz and he further used his position in the field to boost approval of photography as fine art since then (Szarkowski, 2010). President Jimmy Carter awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Adams in 1980 as recognition of his work as environmentalist and photographer (Szarkowski, 2010). Although he worked basically in the photographic print, he also got involved and became a motivator of the photomechanical reproduction (Szarkowski, 2010). He persistently explored the technical possibilities of photography in the 1940s (Szarkowski, 2010). According to Szarkowski (2010), Adams also got really busy of the “zone system” which “rationalized the relationship among exposure, development, and resulting densities in the photographic negative.” Adams’s became a legend in the technicalities of photography. This zone system enabled photographers to artistically visualize an image and produce a photograph that expressed that visualization (Turnage, n.d.). He ended up producing ten volumes of manuals regarding the technical area of photography which became the most powerful books printed in this subject (Turnage, n.d.). His passion for photography was very colossal. There were neither holidays nor vacations for him and he dedicated for at least eighteen hours per day. He was also fond of alcohol and as quoted by Beaumont Newhall in his FOCUS: Memoirs of a Life in Photography (1993), "Ansel was a great party man and loved to entertain. He had a very dominating personality, and would always be the center of attention" (Turnage, n.d.). He used his influence in photography to continuously fight for the cause of the environment. As described by Turnage (n.d.), “images became the symbols, the veritable icons, of wild America.” His photographs are remembered by people when talking about the national parks or environments (Turnage, 2010). Turnage (n.d.) simply put in Adams’s biography that “his black-and-white images were not "realistic" documents of nature. Instead, they sought an intensification and purification of the psychological experience of natural beauty. He created a sense of the sublime magnificence of nature that infused the viewer with the emotional equivalent of wilderness, often more powerful than the actual thing.” But even if Adams was known for his passion for wilderness and environment, he never made a creative photograph for this purpose (Turnage, n.d.). Most of the great works of Adams was done in the 1950s. According to Szarkowki (2010), “only a handful of important pictures were made during the last half of his adult life.” He spent reinterpreting his earlier work during the later part of his life (Szarkowski, 2010). One of the less familiar works of Adams is the Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley. Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, is made using gelatine silver mural print. The work was made in 1944 and printed by Ansel Adams in 1970s. The art was made in 15 ½ x 19 inches and signed by Adams in lower right portion (www.artnet.com, Ansel Adams). According to the USA Today Magazine (2010), the collection including the Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley was made that led to the manufacturing of high gloss and contrasts prints in 1970s. It was then when the first retail galleries for photography emerged (Focusing on Ansel Adams Less Familiar Work, 2010). This rare art in vintage prints were able to inspire the creation of digital photography using Adams’ iconic images. At first glance, you can say that the picture is cold. Coldness is very evident is the said photograph. The snow filled the mountains while the clouds started to disappear. The black and white style is very astonishing. Even if you are not an artist, you would appreciate the photograph as something very extraordinary. The photograph speaks of the coldness of the mountains and the wideness of the place. The work was indeed really amazing. It is not just because it was a really amazing shot, but you can really appreciate the efforts and sacrifices done by Ansel Adams to be able to get the shot. Being able to capture the clouds as they clear the sky is one of the moments you really want to take photo of as a photographer. The image seems to invite the audience and put them into the shoes of Adams when taking the shot during that specific time of the day. References: Andriani, Lynn. "Little, Brown And Ansel Adams: 30 Years. (Cover Story)." Publishers Weekly 253.47 (2006): 22-23. Business Source Elite. * “Ansel Adams.” Public Lot Details. Artnet.com, 2008. Web. 5 November 2011. "Focusing On Ansel Adams Less Familiar Work." USA Today Magazine 139.2787 (2010): 14. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. “History: Ansel Adams.” Sierra Club, n.d. Web. 6 November 2011. Szarkowski, John. "Adams, Ansel." Britannica Biographies (2010): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2011. Slater, Dashka. "At Home In The Wild." Sierra 92.2 (2007): 48-54. GreenFILE. Turnage, William. “Ansel, Adams, Photographer.” n.d. Web. 5 November 2011. Read More