A quote from Ansel Adams

[jamesnjohnson]

Greetings,

I'm in the process of reading Ansel Adams books (The Camera, The

Negative and The Print). I find the following quote interesting.

 

"I eagerly await new concepts and processes. I believe that the

electronic image will be the next major advance. Such systems will

have their own inherent and inescapable structural characteristics,

and the artist and functional practioner will again strive to

comprehend and control them" (Ansel Adams, March 1981, "The Negative")

Introduction, page xiii.

 

The next two lines that follow I believe to be even more powerfull.

[working camera]

It is worth remembering, that while Adams made a lot of colour images, he was frustrated by the lack of control the available processes afforded him.

 

Digital imagery worked through a computer programme such as PS effectively provides a process which embodies the equivalence of a VC colour printing paper, and by extrapolation gives the control measures Adams sort.

 

C.

[ellis_vener_photography]

useing digital tools (cameras, scanners,

Photoshop, & printers also gives black and white photographers much finer control over

the output than traditional methods do. The printing of lack and white with digital printers

still has a way to go and I don't think it will ever feel to the fingers and the eye exactly the

way a toned print made on double weight paper will.

[e_b7]

You lose two f-stops of contrast with electronic imaging. While I think someone like Ansel Adams would still embrace digital, I don't think they'd appreciate that.

[dickhilker]

Though Adams is viewed by many as some mystical guru, he was in fact a very practical man who was primarily interested in using his art to make money and promote the conservation of the places he loved. If digital were to have been available and served his needs, I'm sure he would have embraced it and no doubt found ways to optimize its advantages.

 

In its present state, I feel he would love the control it affords, but be a bit frustrated by some of its qualitative limitations. As with all other technological advances, the quality of digital images will improve to the point where even Adams would probably forsake his darkroom. Not yet, though.

[mark_l3]

"interested in using his art to make money and promote the conservation of the places he loved"

 

 

Dick, I agree with you on the Ansel/digital responses you have made, however Adams stated that he never made a photograph with the need to use it to promote conservation, his art was too important to him for that. Also, I think to say he was interested in using his art to make money is a bit harsh; it took him a long time to make any real money with his artistic work- he did commercial work into the 60's and 70's if I remember correctly.

[ellis_vener_photography]

<I>You lose two f-stops of contrast with electronic imaging.</I><P>Prove it. Not a

hostile question, I just want to see some empirical data behind that claim. Also when you

say you lose two stops of contrast range what exactly are you comparing to what?

[daniel_ob]

I think Ansel had a cristal ball and some sort of time machine,made by Weston, so he could think about digital imaging. It is now in the house of Kirk Douglas.

[dickhilker]

"Adams stated that he never made a photograph with the need to use it to promote conservation, his art was too important to him for that."

 

Though I don't recall reading that, Mark, I agree that conservation and money were secondary issues to Adams. For him, his art was truly of paramount concern. His deep involvement in conservation issues and work with the Sierra Club suggest that he wasn't above using his work to glorify the beauty of the region in which he was so emotionally involved. As for the money, I didn't mean to suggest that he was grinding out landscapes just for the paychecks, but that he was, after all, a commercial photographer who accepted assignments and as a young man even took pictures of tourists at the Grand Canyon to earn a few bucks.

 

It's unfortunate that he had to work so long and so hard to gain the recognition he deserved, but unlike so many great artists before him, he at least lived to reap the rewards.

 

Thanks for the clarification!

[shadetree407]

you all ought to read his biography, by mary alinder. tho he was a great photographic artist, his family sure did suffer. i guess there is a peice for everything - choosing to sacrifice his families emotional well being for his personal ambitions. he was not the complete hero we photographers make him out to be when one looks at a larger picture of how his family (especially his son) suffered from his neglect.

[jeff voorhees]

This link may not work: http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1402800

 

This is for the PBS American Experience program on Ansel Adams. It speaks about his struggles with photography, family and money. Worth a look in my opinion.

[yours truly]

Ansel Adams was a very complex fellow. He was also extremely ambitious, pragmatic, hard working, egotistical and human. He stated flat out to Brett Weston back in the '30s that "I will someday be the most famous photographer in the world." He chose to make dramatic and accessible images to accomplish that goal and in doing so made it easier for everyoneto accept photography as an art form. He helped found the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art. He could hammer down the Martinis, the hell with the bleeding ulcers, and fooled around a bit too. He wasn't always around for his family, as it has been pointed out, and though he could be critical of the Weston's intuitive approach, he knew they were the greater artists by far. He understood photomechanical reproduction so fine photographs could be printed without dumping the highs and lows completely. There isn't anyone around now that comes close to filling his shoes, and that is too bad.

 

He always told students there was nothing wrong with commercial photography if eating and having a roof over your head was important. He often made that statement about the electronic future of imaging. Everyone has known the "Electronic Camera" was inevitable but it has taken nearly fifty years for the technology to be worthy of challenging photochemical imaging. Adams also said he wished he could be around to see what students would be able to get out of his negatives using the new technology. Interesting thought and generous too. If he were still working, he would be using anything and everything to make the finest print. His input would have really smoothed the transition into the Digital Age by making the two technologies merge and evolve without reinventing the lexicon of photography the way it has been done. Not just the terminology but the nuance of tonal reproduction. Amazing as the software is, almost all of it works like it was designed by people who never picked up a camera or made a print. We should all be using Zone System Version 7.9 by now. Just imagine...

[benb]

The exhibit that is at the Boston MFA right now has an actual audio quote on the audio guide of Ansel Adams himself saying he never intended his photographs as part of the conservation movement, other people just naturally thought of them that way due to the power of the images. There is considereable emphasis on his early days with the Sierra club. (They have a whole room of those images and some of the guide books & catalogs that were made by Sierra club with his images.) My impression from that exhibit was that his work with the Sierra club was motivated by him loving Yosemite, wanting to spend time there, needing to work with a group to travel/live in the area safely, and needing to make money just like any beginning photographer or artist.

 

There was another note in the exhibit that was amazing, almost every natural place Ansel Adams loved & photographed has been preserved due to the response to his work, an amazing record.

[sprouty]

"<I>tho he was a great photographic artist, his family sure did suffer. i guess there is a peice for everything - choosing to sacrifice his families emotional well being for his personal ambitions.</I>

<P>

Anyone who takes their art (or work) seriously, walks that tightrope. It doesn't diminish him in my mind, and in fact may elevate him in some (limited) respects.