Beginning Photography

Ansel Adams
Christa Giffen

Henry Xie
Photography 40
November 24, 2014

Ansel Adams was an environmentalist and photographer who was born on February 20th,
1902 in San Francisco just four years before the great earthquake of 1906. Unfortunately he was
affected by the earthquake where it broke his nose at such a young age it never set properly
leaving his nose permanently crooked. Through childhood Ansel Adams was quite fond of
nature. He would take long walks, and explore the then wilderness north of San Francisco. If
he wasnt exploring the far reaches of the Golden Gate, then you may find him wandering along
Lobos Creek.
Through childhood he had problems fitting in at school due to several factors which may
be what sparked his admiration for nature. This would also later influence his work as an
environmentalist. Ansel Adams taught himself to read music, and play the piano at the age of
twelve. This later resulted in taking lessons and becoming quite skillful at the art. By 1920 music
and the piano was his decided profession, and what he planned to pursue for the rest of his life.
Today we know Ansel Adams for his photography and not his music which means somewhere in
his life he decided the music was not for him. However having that discipline for the art he was
able to later focus his abilities on photograph. Ansel Adams was said to have been an energetic
and hyperactive character, and it seemed that the piano was what was able to tame him.
Though Ansel Adams had decided to pursue the piano as his profession after a trip to
Yosemite National Park in 1916 he began experimenting with photography. At the time he began
photography using a Kodak No.1 Box Brownie which his parents gave him. Since then he has
gone back and spent a substantial amount of time there each year up until his death. In 1919 he
joined the Sierra Club, where he worked as the club keeper for the first four years. The Sierra
Club is an organization dedicated to preserving wild life habitats in America. Though this was
not a photography organization it was vital to Ansel Adamss success. By being apart of the

Sierra Club he was able to explore different national parks, and wild life reserves, where most of
his art is based on. Eventually he became the clubs photographer which accelerated his career.
Nineteen twenty seven was the year that changed Ansel Adams life. That was the year he
shot the iconic photo Monolith, the Face of Half Dome and met Albert M. Bender. Bender was
an insurance magnate, but more importantly an art enthusiast. With Benders financial support
and network, Ansel Adamss career took off. The day after they met, Bender had already
prepared a publication of Adams work. Ansel Adams later help found Group f/64 and an
influence in political environmental issues.
Group f/64 was a small exclusive group created by Ansel Adams and his peers. The
intentions of the group was not to separate themselves as if they were the best photographers in
the world, but to identify themselves as photographers who take pictures with no processing
manipulation. Their style was to take photos that exploited every limitations of their cameras at
the time the photo was taken; called straight photography. Their photography is based on
creating sharp images by using small f-stops up to 64, using proper exposure as it looked at the
scene to not askew the image, and carefully framing their pictures. The group was also used to
distinguish themselves from the pictorialist style that was prominent during that time, and from
the purist style which they criticized as having no technique or composition.
Besides the Kodak camera Ansel Adams started out when he was young most of his
professional work were done with view cameras. A view camera is a large format camera with
an accordion box which was flexible to allow the front lens element to move. These cameras
enable their users to have great control using different techniques such as tilt and shift which are
not available on most modern lenses. Behind the camera is a piece of ground glass used to see
what the lens sees, this would look like a large screen comparable to todays LCD screens behind

digital cameras but larger. Its not much of a surprise that this would be Ansel Adams camera of
choice. A view camera would allow him to be able to see the most minute of details, and focus to
a very crisp shot.
As we see Ansel Adamss work today, we can tell he did not do a lot of color
photography. Almost all of his work is in black and white. Like most photographers who choose
to shoot in black and white, he thinks color is a distraction to the photo itself. We cant blame
him, his works The Tetons and the Snake River, Evening (McDonald Lake), and Monolith prove
to be more dramatic than if they were shot in color. If we looked at Evening with color we may
be concerned with the color of the water, or the tone of the sky and trees which would be
distracting to look at, and overall not as interesting.
Most of Ansel Adamss work was done in locations of natural habitats such as national
parks. We know since Ansel Adams was young he always enjoyed being in the wild, which lead
to him joining the Sierra Club where he began photography. He used his photography for his
love of nature and her secrets, but to also protect her. Ansel Adams was also an environmental
activist, his work had also been used to influence politicians to protect areas as national parks. In
1941 he was commissioned by the National Park Service to photograph U.S. national parks to
protect them.
I believe Ansel Adams photography of scenes in nature is for him to capture the beauty
and either keep them by his side, or to share them with the world. As a child young Ansel Adams
did not live an easy life, he did not fit in very well with other kids, and he had some family
problems. Nature was the place that seemed to accept him and keep him safe which may be
why he worked so hard to protect her.

I enjoy Ansel Adamss style of work. I love the nature aspect of his work, it reminds me a
lot of high school when I was in the WALC pathway. The program allowed me to go on 3
camping trips a year to different national parks. I enjoyed those trips, and later I purchased a
camera to take on those trips. I think I, and most people, like Ansel Adamss work because it
reminds them of a time when they were away from the city, and in a stress free environment.
Anyone can take a camera on a hike with them and snap a few quite picture of mountain
ranges, waterfalls, and rivers. However no one has the dedication that Ansel Adams has. View
cameras are large cameras that use large format film, and require a tripod to shoot with. I admire
Ansel Adams for his dedication to his work. The amount of work that goes into focusing a view
camera, and using such a small aperture is no small feat. Ansel Adams also has an eye for a
perfectly sharp image. He is able to visualize an entire landscape with everything in focus and
capture it in all its beauty where most of todays photographers use some depth of field to add a
focus or an area of interest to their photographs.
I also find Ansel Adams work interesting for the fact that he has his entire picture in
focus. I like how he is able to use that to his own signature advantage. Having a full range of
focus is hard to make interesting, or even have your picture stand out. Knowing that he uses a
view camera, I think that is his secret to creating such sharp images, and its due to the large rear
view finder, and the use of tilt and shift techniques. Given the chance I may want to experiment
with such techniques one day.

Bibilography

Richard B. Woodward. Ansel Adams in Color. Smithsonian Magazine.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/ansel-adams-in-color-145315674/

Hostetler, Lisa. "Group f/64". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/f64/hd_f64.htm
(October 2004)

Sierra Club. Ansel Adams. History. Siera Club Website.

http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/ansel-adams/

William Turnage. Ansel Adams Biography. American National Biography. Ansel

Adams Website. http://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-information/ansel-adams-biography/

Ansel Easton Adams." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://www.biography.com/people/ansel-adams-9175697#early-life