Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams 

Ansel Adams was an American Landscape photographer, born in 1902 in San Francisco. From Ansel's solitary childhood he found joy in nature, especially the Yosemite Sierra where some of his work was later taken. Adam's was part of The Sierra Club where some of his earlier success materialised, his first published work appeared in the 1922 bulletin and he had his first one-man exhibition in 1928 in the clubs San Francisco headquarters. Ansel Adams has been called a visionary for his efforts to preserve his country's wild and scenic areas, both on film and on earth. He is regarded by environmentalists as a monument and by other photographers as influential due to his extensive work of preserving the Earths beauty for future generations. 

Ansel Adams Zone System 

The diagram above refers to Ansel Adams Zone System that is apparent in all of his work. His work is predominantly black and white and concentrates on the tonal range within the photo to install mood and detail to the photograph. When doing images based on Adam's work I want to try achieve this tonal range in my photographs so there is detail and different depths. When looking at his work below it shows the tonal range perfectly, the light and dark areas showing the lighting, the detail nd texture of objects and the density of subjects. 

Image 1 

This image by Ansel Adams is titled 'El Capitan' taken in the Yosemite, California. 'El Capitan' translates to 'the chief' or 'the captain'. It is a vertical rock formation found on the north side of the Yosemite National Park, standing at 2,307m. The rock formation consumes the majority of the image, predominantly the right-hand side due to the way the photo was composed. By having the subject of the image off centre helps the viewer to see it blend into its surroundings, giving an idea of the setting not just 'El Capitan' itself. The height and predominance of the rock reflect its name of 'the captain', with its dominating nature and strong structure overshadowing the rest of the image. The comparison between the rock and the trees shows its sheer size, it leads the viewer to think about the difference it would be between them and the rock. One of my favourite things about this photograph is how the stream leads alongside 'El Capitan' into the background of the photograph, this breaks up the image and adds depth. I believe that I was drawn to this image due to the large size of the rock, how strong and dominant it is over its surroundings. 

Image 2 

This another image of Ansel Adam's from the Yosemite collection. This particular into is titled 'Oak Tree, Snowstorm', true to its name it shows a large, strong Oak Tree dusted in snow. This photograph stood out to be immediately due to its angelic appearance, the white snow delicately balanced on the branches is a very powerful contrast to the size of the Oak Tree. The composition of the photo with the tree being the very centre and the only subject of the photo makes it a classic, clean and aesthetically pleasing piece. I like the intricate detail of the photograph that is apparent the more you look at it, even the smallest of the branches can be seen due to the snow balancing on top of them. Even though the photograph wouldn't hold much colour anyway I like the black and white contrast of it, I feel that it adds to the delicacy of the setting. The image definitely reminds me of a 'Winter Wonderland' scene where everything is perfect and looks painted rather than photographed. 

Image 3 

This photograph is titled 'Rose and Driftwood'. The image is simply was its title implies a rose placed on a piece of driftwood. I feel that this image of Ansel Adams is different to the rest due to it not showing a landscape but focusing on one piece of nature, not even in its natural setting. Despite this it still links to his other work as it has the delicate and aesthetically pleasing appearance to it, nothing is out of place and the rose looks very much alive. I love the curves of the photograph created by the petals it gives the image a sensual and smooth feel. This links to the meaning of the rose, to give someone a rose implies love and romance, just as the photograph shows. The black and white effect of the image leaves the beauty to your imagination, it's down to the viewer as to how the flower appears. I would like to adopt a similar approach to this in my own work with landscape images but also a close focus on the smaller details of nature too.  

Image 4 

The photograph above is titled 'Aspens, Northern New Mexico'. From the title we can guess the location of the photograph which must have been taken in Northern New Mexico, the 'Aspens' part of the title refers to the type of tree that is displayed. This image is slightly different other pieces of Ansel Adams' work as it focuses on one part of the trees, not the whole scene like he usually does. The image is comprised of a foreground and background, the background showing the Aspen trees that look dull and slightly scary. The foreground displaying a beautiful tree with white (or light coloured) petals on it. This is a contrast between something that looks scary, dangerous and mysterious to something that holds beauty and stands out amongst the rest. I believe this represents people that stand out due to external beauty, shining out against the mundane. I like the tonal range of this photo, the foreground tends to be dominantly bright then moving further and further into the image it gets darker almost like its going through a gradient. The deeper into the photograph you go the darker it becomes and the less detail is evident. 

Image 5

Adams took this photograph “Tetons and Snake River,” in 1942, in northwest Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. I think the most powerful part of this photograph is the contrast between foreground and background he has used depth of field and the snaking river to draw our eyes right back to the snow-capped mountains at the back. This means that the river asks as a leading line, it reminds me of a long path that meanders and has no clear end, this could represent an unclear journey with twists and turns along the way. The photograph is extremely dark, the tonal range is mainly dark greys and black despite the bright river. This contrast and the brightness of the river draws me to it more which makes me think it is the main subject of the image. The clouds add to the uncertaintity feeling of this photograph, it really reminds me of going somewhere you dont know and feeling anxious and unsure about where you are going or what you are doing. However, I still enjoy the photogrpah because of its aesthetically pleasing appearance. 

Influence 

Above is an image that I took inspired by the work of Ansel Adams. I was influenced by Adams' landscape and nature work. When researching his photography I came across the image above of the tree against the plain sky, I thought this was really effective as the lack of detail and back lighting from the sun makes the details of the branches really stand out. This is what I intended to do in my own work. The way I took the image was so that the leaves and branches were in front of the sky, giving some areas a bold appearance. This ensured I picked up the detail that Ansel Adams managed to do. The only difference between the images was that I wanted to keep the bright green colour in mine so that it fits in with my other work. 

Summary 

Overall, Ansel Adams has inspired me a lot throughout my project. Firstly, I have taken influence from him conceptually, I have been photographing nature from different angles, looking at detail and the wider perspective. Secondly, I have learnt a lot about photographing landscape from researching his work. From looking at his camera technique I am now using the highest aperture that I can to ensure that my images are in sharp focus, the widest depth of field that I can use has really improved the appearance of my work. I learnt this due to the fact that Ansel Adams was part of the F64 club whereby the members shot at high apertures to ensure a sharp image. Lastly, I have been concentrating on the tonal range of my work form the 'zonal system' that Ansel Adams created, stating that every piece of work should include a wide range of tones. I feel that throughout my project, especially in the editing process, I have been trying to increase the tonal range of my images by using curves and increasing contrast.