Ansel Adams was born February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, California. Adams was the only child of his mother, Olive Bray, and father, Charles Adams. Due to his shyness, Adams struggled to fit in at school; however, he ultimately found solace in nature. As a child, he spent almost every day adventuring around the San Francisco community, including such places as Lobos Creek and Baker Beach. At the age of 12, Adams began to take piano lessons, which inspired a passion similar to that of his love for the outdoors. Adams dedicated himself to the piano, and eventually chose it as his profession in the year 1920. His love for photography began to develop when he was young, as well. His parent presented him with his first camera, a Kodak Brown, on a family trip that they took to Yosemite in the year 1916. He continued to foster his connection with wildlife when he joined the Sierra Club in 1919. In the Sierra Club’s 1922 Bulletin, Adams published some of his writings and photographs. Adams ultimately realized that he could become a far more successful photographer than pianist and changed his profession accordingly (all facts from this paragraph are according to W. Turnage).
In 1927, Adams photographed arguably his most famous image Monolith at Yosemite. He traveled 3,500 ft. up to the Diving Board, carrying his camera along the way, in order to capture an image of Half Dome, a peek rising 5,000 ft. from the base of the park. He took multiple pictures here, but while his pictures were accurately capturing what he saw, he did not feel as though his pictures were capturing what he felt until he used a red filter in order to darken the sky and emphasize the whiteness of the snow (all facts from this paragraph are according to A. Cain).
Monolith was one of the first times in which he used the system that he would ultimately name the Zone System. The zone system divides value into 9-11 separate zones, with the higher zones corresponding to darker colors and the lower zones corresponding to lighter colors. Zones differ from adjacent zones by one stop, which is a factor of light. By acknowledging what parts of an artist’s images will fall into which zones, it helps the artist to get the correct exposure and evaluate the tone of the photograph, among other things (information on the Zone System was gathered from D. Eftaiha).
Adams returned to Yosemite throughout his life including a time in which he met Virginia Best, whom he married in 1928. The two had two children together. While successful as a photographer, Adams still struggled financially throughout his career. Adams eventually died on April 22, 1984 (all facts from this paragraph are according to W. Turnage).
Adams employed various elements of art and principles of design throughout his work. Unity is key in almost all of his pictures as he is known for capturing idealized nature. Additionally, he uses value using the Zone System in order to contrast dark blacks with bright whites. Furthermore, Adams used a lack of color in his photographs, which both emphasizes the contrast in values and allows the viewer to focus on the details of the picture without being overwhelmed.
Works Cited
Turnage, W. (n.d.). Ansel Adams, Photographer. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/
Cain, A. (2017, February 17). The Story Behind the Photograph That Made Ansel Adams Famous. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-photograph-made-ansel-adams-famous
Eftaiha, D. (2013, March 20). Understanding & Using Ansel Adam’s Zone System. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/understanding-using-ansel-adams-zone-system–photo-5607