Ansel Adams

By Jaelene Alexandra Quijada

Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution. Ansel Adams Powerful, Expression, Perception There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. Ansel Adams Picture, Viewer Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art. Ansel Adams Communication, Art, Ideas When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. Ansel Adams Focus, Words, Silence A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. Ansel Adams True, Words, Nor A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. Ansel Adams Great, Sense, Feels You don't take a photograph, you make it. Ansel Adams Art, Photograph There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. Ansel Adams Art, Image, Worse No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit. Ansel Adams Men, Themselves, Create There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit. Ansel Adams Great, Art, Experience In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. Ansel Adams Brainy, Time, Wisdom Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space. Ansel Adams Nature, Space, Wonder Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment. Ansel Adams Often, Test, Landscape There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. Ansel Adams Good, Rules When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without. Ansel Adams True, Rather, Word Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit. Ansel Adams Men, Times, Fight Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. Ansel Adams God, Somebody, Places To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things. Ansel Adams Nature, Humanity, Record Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs. Ansel Adams Art, Everybody, Paintings The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance. Ansel Adams Negative, Score, Print These people live again in print as intensely as when their images were captured on old dry plates of sixty years ago... I am walking in their alleys, standing in their rooms and sheds and workshops, looking in and out of their windows. Any they in turn seem to be aware of me. Ansel Adams Again, Looking, Turn It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. Ansel Adams Environmental, Government, Fight It is my intention to present - through the medium of photography - intuitive observations of the natural world which may have meaning to the spectators. Ansel Adams Natural, Present, Meaning A good photograph is knowing where to stand. Ansel Adams Good, Stand, Knowing A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into. Ansel Adams

Biography Early Life Ansel Adams was born in on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. His family came to California from New England, having migrated from Ireland in the early 1700s. His grandfather founded a prosperous lumber business, which Adams’ father eventually inherited. Later in life, Adams would condemn that industry for depleting the redwood forests. As a young child, Adams was injured in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, when an aftershock threw him into a garden wall. His broken nose was never properly set, remaining crooked for the rest of his life. Adams was a hyperactive and sickly child with few friends. Dismissed from several schools for bad behavior, he was educated by private tutors and members of his family from the age of 12. Adams taught himself the piano, which would become his early passion. In 1916, following a trip to Yosemite National Park, he also began experimenting with photography. He learned darkroom techniques and read photography magazines, attended camera club meetings, and went to photography and art exhibits. He developed and sold his early photographs at Best’s Studio in Yosemite Valley. In 1928, Ansel Adams married Virginia Best, the daughter of the Best’s Studio proprietor. Virginia inherited the studio from her artist father on his death in 1935, and the Adamses continued to operate the studio until The business, now known as the Ansel Adams Gallery, remains in the family. Career Adams’ professional breakthrough followed the publication of his first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras, which included his famous image “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.” The portfolio was a success, leading to a number of commercial assignments. Between 1929 and 1942, Adams’ work and reputation developed. Adams expanded his repertoire, focusing on detailed close-ups as well as large forms, from mountains to factories. He spent time in New Mexico with artists including Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Strand. He began to publish essays and instructional books on photography. During this period, Adams joined photographers Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans in their commitment to affecting social and political change through art. Adams’ first cause was the protection of wilderness areas, including Yosemite. After the internment of Japanese people during World War II, Adams photographed life in the camps for a photo essay on wartime injustice. Weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Adams shot a scene of the moon rising above a village. Adams re-interpreted the image—titled “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico”— over nearly four decades, making over a thousand unique prints that helped him to achieve financial stability Later Life By the 1960s, appreciation of photography as an art form had expanded to the point at which Adams’ images were shown in large galleries and museums. In 1974, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York hosted a retrospective exhibit. Adams spent much of the 1970s printing negatives in order to satisfy demand for his iconic works. Adams had a heart attack and died on April 22, 1984, at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California, at the age of 82..

childhood Adams decided to make piano as his career. He learnt reading music and playing music quite naturally and by 1920 he made piano his primary occupation. He visited Yosemite National Park for the first time with his family in 1916 of which 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.” His father gifted Adams his first camera, a Kodak Brownie box camera with which Adams captured all his moments and landscape views at Yosemite. In 1917 Adams paid his second visit to Yosemite. This time he came equipped with better cameras and a tripod. He utilized the winter in learning basic darkroom techniques by working as a part-timer for a San Francisco photo finisher. Adams read several photography magazines and attended many camera club meetings besides going for photography and art exhibits. Adams was attacked by the Spanish Flu during the 1918 flu pandemic in 1919 which made him fall seriously ill and take several months to recover from. Adams had friends who were mostly musicians or had musical interests and connections. His best friend Cedric Wright was a violinist and amateur photographer. Adams enjoyed philosophies like Edward Carpenter's Towards Democracy, a literary work which espoused the pursuit of beauty in life and art. His own philosophy was later stated by him as, “"I believe in beauty. I believe in stones and water, air and soil, people and their future and their fate”. Adams engaged himself in hiking, camping, photographing and improving his piano playing skill. He played piano and learnt the greater techniques and musical expression in the later years. He also gave piano lessons to earn some extra money with which he bought a grand piano suitable to his musical ambitions.

career Adams’ professional breakthrough followed the publication of his first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras, which included his famous image “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.” The portfolio was a success, leading to a number of commercial assignments. from than on his career started

Ansel Adams Ferns, Hawaii negative c. 1950, printed x 20-inch image mounted and framed to 24 x 30 inches, excellent condition collection of AA assistant Don Worth [ ]

Ansel Adams Arches, North Court, Mission San Xavier del Bac Tucson, Arizona Negative 1968, Gelatin Silver Print 1977 Signed on lower right recto by artist 20 x 16-inches print size. Archivally matted and framed to 30 x 24 inches Excellent condition

Ansel Adams Oak Tree, Snowstorm Yosemite National Park, California negative 1948, 8x10 inch gelatin-silver special edition print c.1969 signed by the artist on right recto of mount, framed to 16 x 20 inches with ultraviolet filtering Plexiglas Excellent condition

Ansel Adams El Capitan, Winter Yosemite National Park, California Negative 1948, signed 8x10 inch gelatin-silver special edition print c.1969 framed to 16 x 20 inches with ultraviolet filtering Plexiglas, excellent condition

Ansel Adams Tenaya Lake and Mount Conness Yosemite National Park, California negative c. 1946, print c x 10 inch gelatin-silver special edition print, signed by the artist on right recto of mount framed to 16 x 20 inches with ultraviolet filtering Plexiglas excellent condition

Ansel Adams Teklanika River Denali National Park, Alaska Negative 1947, Gelatin-silver print made later by the artist Signed in ink on lower right recto by artist 9 x 11-7/16-inches print size Mounted on 14 x 18-inch Strathmore Illustration Board Archivally matted and framed to16 x 20 inches Excellent condition

Ansel Adams Yosemite Falls Yosemite National Park, California Negative c. 1948, Gelatin-silver print made later Signed in ink of lower right recto by artist 7-1/2 x 9-3/8-inches print size Mounted on 14 x 18-inch Strathmore Illustration Board Archivally matted and framed to 16 x 20 inches Excellent condition

Ansel Adams Oak Tree, Sunset City Negative 1962, Vintage gelatin-silver print made by the artist 1963 Signed in ink on lower right recto by artist 8 x 10-inches print Mounted on 14 x 18-inch Strathmore Illustration Board Archivally matted and framed 16 x 20 inches Excellent condition

Ansel Adams Cemetery Statue and Oil Derricks Negative 1939, gelatin silver print x20 inch print mounted to 23x29 inches matted and framed with archival materials to 24x30 inches Excellent Condition

Ansel Adams Moon & Half Dome Yosemite National Park, California negative 1960, print c x 10 inch gelatin-silver special edition print, signed by the artist on right recto of mount matted and framed to 16 x 20 inches with archival materials and museum grade ultraviolet filtering Plexiglas Excellent condition

Ansel AdamsPine Cone and Eucalyptus Leaves, San Francisco, California1932, ca. 1936, 1933

Ansel AdamsSumac, Owens Valley, Californiaca.1937 Ansel Adams Graduation Dress Yosemite Valley Negative 1948, 19-3/8 x 15-1/8 inch gelatin-silver print made by the artist, 1974 signed by the artist on right recto of mount, artist's hand stamp on verso of mount Excellent condition Ansel Adams Boards and Thistles San Franicisco, California Negative 1932, Gelatin- silver print made later by the artist Signed on lower right recto by artist 20 x 16-inches print size Archivally matted and framed to 30 x 24 inches Excellent condition

refrences "The History Place - Best of Ansel Adams." The History Place - Best of Ansel Adams. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr "Monument Valley, Monuments and Curved Rock | Center for Creative Photography." Monument Valley, Monuments and Curved Rock | Center for Creative Photography. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr