Ansel Adams, Vallejo Street Wall, San Francisco, 1964
Ansel Adams, Detail, Gravestone Carving, Susanville, California, 1963
Ansel Adams, Gerry Sharpe, San Francisco, 1960
This discussion about what doesn’t seem relevant about an old master, what rings false, leads to one conclusion: you are looking at the wrong examples of Ansel Adams. This mistake can be made with other art forms, but especially photography, where it’s impossible to see all of the work by prolific photographers (Adams took nearly 40,000 photographs). There are very few catalogue raisonné-like publications (more on this). Unfortunately, print publishers have cemented clichés about Adams, every book is Yosemite-heavy.
Ignore Ansel Adam’s entire output of work that involves natural landscape, and you’d still have a large body of work, with many great photographs. A No-Nature-Ansel Tumblr blog would be a must-follow.
Ansel Adams, Miss Kay Fukuda, U.S.C.N., Manzanar War Relocation Center, California, 1943
One thing to keep in mind regarding today’s “Ansel Adams Negatives” story is the difference between an Adams negative and an Adams print. If you click to the Library of Congress page for this photograph you will see the difference between the digital scan of the negative and a print that Adam (or assistant) made. Making decisions at the printing stage was a key part of his artistic process.
Ansel Adams, Vice President Walter Mondale & President James E. Carter, Washington, D.C., 1979
Ansel Adams, Coyote, New Mexico, 1937
