March 11, 2011
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Fine Art Friday:Adams
Think of the negative as the score and the print as the performance.*
Captivated by the personality more than the style, I decided to highlight this self portrait over the thousands of more well-known images of the iconic 20th century photographer Ansel Easton Adams.
Yesterday DH, DD#3 and I visited the Booth Museum of Western Art in Cartersville, GA just 30 minutes driving distance from our home.
The Ansel Adams: A Legacy exhibit had been held over for three weeks, closing this Sunday.
Therefore, we rearranged our Thursday afternoon so not to miss the opportunity.
This *museum set* of over 75 photographs were personally selected by Adams in his later years, specifically ones by which he wanted to be remembered.
Does not the man’s shadow make you think of a conductor? And the white lightening-like bolts the cymbals clashing at his cue?
The self portrait was taken in 1958, when Adams was 56 years old, 43 years after he’d given up on traditional schooling and embarked on an educational experiment combining daily visits to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition with a regimen of musical instruction, specifically piano.
The following summer he took his first camera, A Kodak #1 Box Brownie, along on the family vacation to Yosemite.
Practice, discipline, and technique summarized the next five years as Adams found focus, applied himself, and prepared for achievement, even success.
*Often he used musical analogies to describe his work.
Half Dome was the subject of perhaps a dozen of the pictures in the exhibit, but I never tired of examining the compositions. Varied and engaging, the rock formation helped the photographer formulate an artistic breakthrough which he called visualization: the”ability to reason out before the exposure how the final print will look and to control the end result by taking action before the exposure is actually made.” (pg 12)
Fascinating!
Have you had the chance to view Ansel Adams work in person?
I’m not sure where the collection travels next, but you can keep track at the Ansel Adams Gallery website (link).
Oh, one last thing ~
Do you have one of his prints hanging in your home or office ?
Which one?
Comments (4)
I’ve looked through many books, and I’ve seen some prints hanging (I think my brother has one); there are, however, no AA prints in my house. I remember seeing a wonderful documentary of him several years ago. I should see if Netflix has it.
@magistramater - We have one hanging at the office (sand dunes-gift from BIL) and it is striking. But I’m hoping to replace it with this Knecht printhttp://hiddenart.xanga.com/529312710/fine-art-fridayknecht/ OR maybe I should say move it to a different spot, as this one with the quilty seems symbolic of comfort, something patients are looking for
So cool! Glad y’all enjoyed the exhibit! I do not have any AA prints hanging in our apartment, but perhaps it is time to invest in one.
@marjoriefair - we have it so easy taking and printing photographer now compared to what Adams had to go through.