Since photography is my “thing”, I thought I’d take a moment
to write about an idol of mine, a man that developed a style of black and white
photography that has been unmatched by any other photographers since. Ansel Adams is a legend in his depiction of
the American west; using filters to give his images a dimension, texture, and
meaning ~ photos that are recognizable to this day in reproductions on calendars,
posters, and books.
Adams was born in San Francisco, CA, in 1902, and raised as
an only child. He didn't attend college,
in fact his education was a mixture of private schools and home schooling; receiving
his diploma after completing the 8th grade in 1917. Adams love of photography was born when his
father gave him his first camera on a family trip to Yosemite National Park in 1916
~ a Kodak Brownie box camera which he used to take his first photograph. He was enthralled by the light in Yosemite,
writing “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.” (1) Adams expanded upon his
photography by acquiring better cameras, a tripod, and learning basic darkroom
skills while working part-time for a San Francisco photo finisher.
Throughout Adams life he honed his photography skills, capturing
the beauty of the American west in black and white and gaining notoriety and
praise from esteemed artists worldwide. While
Adams did branch into color photography, he didn't enjoy it as much as black
and white, feeling he didn't have as much control while shooting in color and that
color was distracting to the artist.
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| Yosemite Falls 1953 Yosemite National Park |
When I look at Adams work, I see beauty in his color
photography. His landscape pictures are
what I seek to capture; the blues in the water, red in the sunsets, snow-capped mountain peaks. But his black and white photos
are mesmerizing. The way he is able to
capture so much focus in his depth of field while seizing the many tones of
black and white have establish him as a master of his craft. Most people think it’s easy to capture a shot
in black and white but it’s actually quite hard. When you take out color, you really have to
strive to have texture and depth in your photography. You have to be aware of your exposure time,
your depth of field, how the light is playing off the object and how to capture
that light to highlight the essence of a scene.
Adams not only achieved perfection in his black and white photography,
he set a standard for all photographers to work towards. It is something I am conscious of when I look
at my black and white shots ~ and it is something that is extremely difficult
to accomplish. But it does give me
something to shoot towards!
Work Cited:
(1) Ansel Adams. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams
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| Mt. McKinley and Wonder Lake 1947 Gelatin Silver Print 40 in. x 48 12 in. |
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| Tetons and Snake River 1942 Gelatin Silver Print 15 38 in. x 19 38 in. |
(1) Ansel Adams. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams
