Ansel Adams was one of the best landscape photographers of the 20th century. He is known, above all, for his spectacular photographs of Yosemite , a place to which he dedicated his entire career and which he fought to protect throughout his life.
Ansel Adams was also a great pianist and a profound naturalist, a lover of nature in its purest form. Thanks to his wonderful images, he managed to make known the immense beauty and purity of the mountains that he photographed.
His work helped convert Kings Canyon in the southern Sierra Nevada National Park in 1940, a milestone in conserving one of the most impressive landscapes in the United States.
Adams is also famous for devising what is known as the zone system , a process of exposure and development that allowed him to produce truly impressively rich tonal photographs.
Do you want to know more about this impressive and charismatic photographer?
WHO IS ANSEL ADAMS?: BIOGRAPHY
Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in California, USA, into a wealthy American family. Only child, shy and very busy, he shows difficulties when it comes to adapting to classical schooling, so they decide that he continue his studies at home.
During his childhood he lives in an isolated house in the middle of the dunes and near the sea. A very important relationship between him and nature is established from a young age.
The financial panic of 1907 bankrupts the family economy, but his parents do not give up in their efforts to give him an education in keeping with his active and highly intelligent personality. At the age of 12 he learns to play the piano and read sheet music without any help.
He will receive piano classes, from which he will learn discipline and structure and to which he will dedicate himself body and soul, for more than 12 years, it seemed that this was going to be his main occupation. At the same time, they give him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie , and he begins to take photographs in the Sierra de Yosemite, a place to which he will return time and time again throughout his life and where he will obtain most of his photographs. .
There he will meet his wife Virginia Best, whom he will marry in 1928 and with whom he will have a son and a daughter.
In 1932 he created a group with other photographers such as Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham or Edward Weston, the f/64 group, which promoted Straight photography , a type of pure and direct photography of which Ansel Adams would be a great champion.
In 1933 he met Alfred Stieglitz, a great reference for him, who helped him create his first exhibition that was very successful. Three years later he exhibits at MoMAfrom New York.
The last years of his life are of a popularizing type, he is dedicated to giving talks, conferences, revealing jobs that he could not do due to overwork, etc.
He died on April 22, 1984, of a heart failure.
NOTABLE RECOGNITIONS
- Presidential Medal of Freedom in the hand of US President James E. Carter
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Guggenheim Fellowship (1946)
- Saw Club John Muir Award (1963)
- Hasselblad Foundation International Award (1981)
- california hall of fame
The complete biography (in English) on his own website.
WHAT IS THE ZONE SYSTEM?
The zone system is an exposure and development system devised by Ansel Adams in order to be able to work on the negative so that the final image is as similar as possible to the original scene.
The zone system is, therefore, an empirical system to establish a direct correlation between the visual world and the final photographic print.
For Ansel Adams, the lights are divided into 11 zones that go from pure black (0) to pure white (X). In the middle area (V) is the middle gray, (which is where the photometers are programmed to measure light).
Surely it sounds familiar to you about exposing for the shadows and revealing for the lights. Well, the zone system is based precisely on that: the exposure time affects the dark areas, and the development time affects the light areas.
Through correct exposure and development, copies with a great dynamic range can be achieved. in this entryYou have explained it more extensively.
ARTWORK BY ANSEL ADAMS
Ansel Adams' photographs are characterized by the absence of the human element and by a conception of landscape as artistic expression. To take them he used large format cameras (8 × 10 ″), a fact through which, together with the commented system of zones, and the mastery of exposure and development, he achieved photographs of impressive quality.
Here you can see a small gallery of some of his work:
NOTABLE PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANSEL ADAMS
Ansel Adams's work focuses primarily on black and white landscapes. Most of the photos of him are taken in Yosemite. Some of his most recognized works by Ansel Adams are:
- Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, 1927.
- Rose and driftwood, 1932.
- Clearing Winter Storm, 1937.
- Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941.
- Ice on Ellery Lake, Sierra Nevada, 1941.
- Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox at Canyon de Chelly 1945.
- Aspens, New Mexico, 1958.
There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
Ansel Adams
Here are more famous quotes from photographers .
BUY ANSEL ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHS
Today you can buy photographs of the author on his website. You have different prices depending on the circulation or the final size.
- original works(made and revealed by Ansel Adams himself)
- exclusive works(positives from original Ansel Adams negatives)
DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ANSEL ADAMS
Ansel Adams has an intense biography that is difficult to summarize in one article. In this documentary you will see how multifaceted this photographer is, as well as his character traits, or his evolution as a photographer and as a person.
A very interesting and complete documentary about this magnificent photographer, do not miss it because it is very worth it.
If you prefer to see it in the original version, click here.
BOOKS BY ANSEL ADAMS
His work is prolific and so are the books dedicated to him compared to other authors.
Ansel Adams, 400 Photographs: A compilation of his most outstanding photographs for 50 years. A photo per page, a good way to have a large part of his work on your shelves. You can get it for €26.75
Ansel Adams in Color: 160 pages of his work in color on Kodakhrome film. You can get it for N/A
Ansel Adams examples: A 192-page book where Adams himself explains how he took 40 of his photographs. You can buy it for €47.03
Ansel Adams The cameraman : First book in a series of 3 specific to the technique. This first one is focused on the camera. You can buy it for €28.55
Ansel Adams The negative : Second book in a series of 3 specific to the technique. This second is centered on the negative. You can get it for €27.85
Ansel Adams The print : Third book in a series of 3 specific to the technique. This third is focused on printing. You have it for €26.98
Ansel Adams in the national parks . 352 pages with its most iconic images and other lesser-known images never published before. You can buy it for N/A
Ansel Adam's Yosemite: Based on his photographs of Yosemite National Park. You can get it for €28.77
Ansel Adams in color: Color photographs of Ansel Adams. 144 pages. You can buy it for €59.26
Ansel Adams The national park service photographs . 20 pages with some of the images he made when he worked on commission portraying different natural parks. You can get it for €26.75
Ansel Adams was a photographer of an impressive technical and artistic level, as well as a defender of nature, thanks to which we preserve landscapes that would otherwise have been lost today.
The strength and beauty of her images were the best publicity to achieve an impact on society and on those who had the power to do something to protect it. We're not just talking about an exceptional photographer, we're talking about someone who proves that "small actions" can improve the world on a global scale.
As photographers that we are, we know the power of images, right?
I hope you liked diving into this magnificent 20th century photographer, that he inspires you and encourages you to want to be better.
