Would Ansel Adams go digital?

[skooter]

I am primarily just providing the link here: this article was referred to on /. and I

thought that many in this forum would be interested.

 

Briefly, Peter Lewis talks to Richard LoPinto about whether he thought Ansel would

have made the switch: LoPinto thinks, "Yeah"

 

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ontech/0,15704,560361,00.html

 

My 2 cents, offered gently and not as flame bait:

- I think Ansel would certain have used digital equipment, as most of us do in some

content (I still stubbornly shoot slides, to the shock of most of my friends; they just

don't get it!)

 

- I don't think digital can yet match the majesty of the large format film & plate based

equipment Ansel loved, so I think it would have been a partial switch at best; it's not

just about resolution (which is why I so love shooting with my Bronica S whenever I

can.)

 

With that, I leave to go and visit the exhibit of Ansel's photos that is literally AT THE

END OF MY STREET IN NORTH VANCOUVER! How freaky is that!

[bobatkins]

I'm sure he would have used any tool that helped him achieve his photographic vision, be it digital or film, hardware or software.

[larry_tudor1]

He probably would have (since he was also at the end,using color on which he didn't have much control)but I would guess he wouldn't have yet,since there's nothing yet to achieve 8X10 quality,unless a 3 passes back.

[patrick_drennon]

Ansel Adams was a consumate manipulator in the darkroom. From what I can tell,

almost none of his prints were unmanipulated reproductions of the 'reality'. He

seemed to have an image in his head when he viewed a scene. The negative was just

one of his tools to achieve that vision in print and he was a master innovator in how

to best produce that tool. Based on that (and I know how pretentious it sounds to

speak for a man like him) I think he would have LOVED the ability to manipulate

images in the computer.

[todd frederick]

The exact same question was asked on the Leica Photography Forum. This is the answer I gave there:

 

"In a serious comment:

 

Ansel Adams was a strong advocate of advancing technology. He donated his negatives to the University of Arizona Center for Photography is Tucson with the proviso that serious students could use his negatives for reprinting and experimentation.

 

 

There is a wonderful video about Ansel Adams titled (I think) "Ansel Adams: Photographer," which, in the very last segment, shows many ways future photographers could interpret his negatives. the video is available from the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite or Monterey, CA.

 

 

Many think Ansel was a rigid old fart...far from it! He was always on the cutting edge of advanced photographic technology and imaging techniques, and was open to any and all methods of serious photographic imaging.

 

 

Answer to your question: Yes, he would use digital, but would probably do everything in "M" mode and "Raw" capture, and would run endless zone tests! ;o)"

 

 

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[beauh44]

I don't think Ansel always shot in large format. He was a spokesman for Hasselblad - even helped them design some things - and he took quite a few of his famous shots with those cameras. Today's MF 22MP digital backs might just satisfy him - but who knows? I can't remember who said it, but someone said Ansel "used Photoshop before it was invented". My guess is he'd dive right in. Best wishes . . .

[andrew robertson]

Adams shot with a pinhole camera, many 35mm cameras, many MF cameras, and

many large format cameras.

 

It's safe to say that he probably would have explored digital extensively. However,

he's dead, and a part of art history now. I love his work, but that's like asking if

Napoleon would have conquered the world if he had M16s. Pointless.

[patrick_drennon]

Yeah, but sometimes these 'pointless' discussions are the most fun and thought

provoking (I mean I'd never thought about it before I read the question).

[melvin_bramley]

Ansel Adams used every format availble.As has been said he used technology to his advantage.In his later years he was enlarging with a Minolta 45a light source.He also used LF Polaroid to photograph U.S presidents.But would he use digital;a big "maybe".His passion was B&W LF and he processed his prints for permenance. As digital progresses it "may" come up with something that would have tempted him.

[steve_hovland]

I have seen a number of Adams prints where areas were burned down to the point of muddiness.

 

I think he would have been thrilled with the kind of image quality and control we have in the digital darkroom.

 

If you are careful to preserve your originals, you can revisit any image and make a new "performance" as your skills improve.

[maureen_m]

The Ansel Adams screensaver I use was created and marketed "under direct supervision of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust", (in case that lends any credibility to the statements on the box), and the box states <i>"Among the most technically accomplished photographers in the history of the medium, late in life, Adams became fascinated by the potential offered be electronic imaging</i>".<p>Take it for what it's worth...

[tom_s.]

This happens to be covered in the current issue of Photo Techniques as well.

 

My opinion? Yes! He would spend a significant amount of time working with digital, learning how to get the best possible quality, identifying its limitations, and figuring how to best overcome its limitations. Just as he did when developing the Zone System.

 

In the end, digital would become another tool at his disposal. If he felt he could best achieve his photographic vision with digital at any stage of the photographic process, he would use it.

[chuck___3]

After smoking undefined substance and not inhaling, I channelled Ansel Adames and his ghost told me that he would only use digital with CCD instead of CMOS.

 

:-)

[mikegreen]

Actually, I read that Adams *did* use a very very early digital camera (well still video / electric analogue) experimentally. Wish I could find a reference to it now : this seems to be little known about. But I guess an intelligent man like Adams might well have wondered where the future of photography lay.