Ansel Adams
Personal Background
Ansel Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. He was the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century and the most famous photographer in the history of the U.S. Adams was not a good student. His father took him out of school when he was 12. He started playing the piano at a young age. He became an ambitious musician and was considered by qualified judges to be a very talented pianist. Adams also proved to be a talented photographer, when he received his first camera. While working in Yosemite National Park, he took his first impressive landscape photographs.
Dates of Artist’s Life
- Born: February 20, 1902, San Francisco, California
- 1914: Out of school
- 1916: Received his first camera
- 1930: Devoted his life to photography
- 1946: Established the first academic department to teach photography as a profession
- 1948: Published his book “The Negative”
- 1950: Most of his great work as a photographer was completed
- Died: April 22, 1984, Carmel, California
Style
Ansel Adams was known for his black and white images. His photos consisted of various landscape and nature shots. He specifically pays attention to the elements of art in his pieces. Line, shape, forms, space, color, and texture. For example, Adams paid attention to what you can see in the foreground, middle ground, and background. His pictures are divided accordingly. Adams' work presents the natural world in a realistic way.
Philosophy
Adams' straightforward photographic style masks his interesting motivation. His images reflect a radical political engagement. He hoped that his sharp-focused black and white photographs would persuade Americans to value creativity as well as to conserve and expand American freedoms and wilderness preserves. He collaborated with Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to work on photography to promote social and political change and justice. His black and white photographs were not just documentation, but reflected an experience of nature as a spiritual place.
Influences
I already knew Ansel Adams before this project. My uncle is an amateur photographer and told me about Adams. I find black and white photography very interesting and have used this style in the past. I find Adams' photography very fascinating. He attaches great importance to the elements of photography. It is remarkable how he can depict a landscape so beautifully and naturally in black and white. Adam's photos are perfectly planned. The lighting is perfect, the division of foreground, middle ground and background is very well chosen. I try to follow his example when I take black and white photos, especially landscapes.
Compare and Contrast
“Aspens” (Adams)
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“White shadows”
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I took a photo of a forest. At first, my photo didn't look like Adams' photo. I edited it in Photoshop. The photo was the hardest to edit. I had to reverse the black and white effect. Then I had to edit the bushes in the foreground and the shadow at the top of the photo. I did this with the brush tool. Then I added a solid color layer and chose a light blue because the white isn't a clear white in Adam's photos. I think my photo turned out well.
"Forest and Stream" (Adams)
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"Fantasy land"
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I also took the photo in the forest. It was a challenge because I had to find a place that looked something like Adams' photo. I took the photo on a stream. I got the perspective right. But there are more trees in Adam's photo. In my photo there aren't that many trees and there aren't that many leaves either. Still, I think it resembles Adams' photo.
“Alaskan Cedars” (Adams)
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“Living tree"
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I took the photo from a tree that looks similar to the tree in Adam's photo. Unfortunately I did not find the same type of tree. Still, I think the tree I photographed goes well with it. In Adam's picture there is a large shadow in the center of the picture. I couldn't show the shadow very well because the tree I photographed didn't have such a gap. I managed the black and white effect quite well. The lighting is good.
Personal Artist Statement
My first photo looks a bit surreal because the black and white effect is reversed. The viewer can interpret the image himself. There is room for creativity. My second photo makes me feel like it's another world. It looks fabulous. My third photo conveys a sense of liveliness. The tree has its own pattern, which is different for each tree. You can compare that to us humans. Because the photo is only focused on the tree, you pay more attention to it. I like my photos because people are not used to this kind of photography these days.
Resources
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ansel-Adams-American-photographer
- https://sites.psu.edu/rclblogepurnell/2015/09/16/ansel-adams-and-the-elements-of-art/
- https://museum.housatonic.edu/education/ansel-adams-classic-images/about-ansel-adams
Images
- https://www.photocrowd.com/blog/197-how-shoot-ansel-adams/
- https://shop.anseladams.com/collections/original-photographs-by-ansel-adams/products/forest-and-stream
- https://shop.anseladams.com/collections/original-photographs-by-ansel-adams/products/alaskan-cedars