In Praise of Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a famous photographer and conservationist best known for his black and white, representational (as opposed to pictorial) images of American landscapes. He helped found an association of contemporary photographers with the shared philosophy of capturing the purity of real life “as is”. The group called itself f/64, referring to the smallest available aperture at the time that provided the greatest depth of field and allowed a photograph to be in sharp focus.

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Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941 by Ansel Adams

“Sometimes I get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”

The story of this photograph, Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, is an interesting one because it recounts a fleeting scene that Ansel Adams came across almost accidentally and was able to capture by his good fortune and astute technical skills. Adams, himself, recounts how he came to it at dusk, after an otherwise fruitless day of shooting in neighbouring areas, and how he and his team had to scramble or the rare opportunity to capture it would have been lost. (Phaidon, 2014) The above quote seems to describe just how much he revered nature, as though its beauty reveals itself to him, almost by divine intervention. He is being humble and ignoring talent and skill by implying that the scene just opportunely presents itself and that all anyone has to do is “click the shutter” to reveal its majesty.

Ansel Adams’ famous photograph captures that hauntingly serene moment of dusk, over Hernandez, New Mexico, when the landscape quiets and prepares itself for night. There is much depth, clarity, and focus in this perfectly representational photograph of an American landscape. It is beautifully rendered, with the sun having just disappeared, but still stubborn enough to illuminate the clouds from below and the snow-capped mountains in the far distance. The dark-and-light contrast immediately draws the eye to the black expanse of the night sky and to the almost-centred white orb of the moon. The horizontal lines move the attention down to the foreground, where there is a stunning arrangement of alternating grey-toned buildings, trees, and bushes. In the forefront, next to a church, we notice a small cemetery by the tiny crosses and tombstones strewn about. Their emphasis comes from an unusual lighting effect that Ansel Adams was able to achieve, even without his light metre, making them bright white under the moonglow. The feeling that Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, evokes for me is one of reverence and peace, and this comes from the muted black-and-white photography, the unique lighting elements previously described, the time in the day that it was shot, the depth and expanse of the scene, and the solemnity of the cemetery in the foreground.

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Rose and Driftwood, San Francisco, California, 1932 by Ansel Adams

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

This photograph, also, has an interesting story behind it. Adams shares that he was given a pale pink rose by his mother, taken from her garden, and he wanted to find the best way to showcase it. In his search for an appropriate background against which to photograph it, he remembered a weathered piece of plywood that he had collected some time before. This helps to support what the above quote reveals about Ansel Adams’ photography. His belief that good photography didn’t just happen by chance, but that it had to be carefully planned, gives his work purpose and meaning. This shows us that his photographs were “made” with an objective and forethought, and that he paid close attention to the artistic elements of design and composition before he “took” the shot.

Rose and Driftwood, San Francisco, California is a famous photograph that uses contrasting elements to bring together two unrelated objects found in nature. The result is a surprisingly harmonious and balanced composition. Adams effectively contrasts the softness and frailty of the rose with the hard rigidity of the driftwood; he cleverly contrasts the freshness and newness of the young bloom with the weathered slab of old, found wood; and he beautifully contrasts the delicate, subtle veining of the rose petals with the deep swirly patterns of the wood grain. Even the expert use of shadows and natural outdoor lighting helps to differentiate forms and separate foreground subject from background. I believe that Ansel Adams sought to create tension through contrast, but he also showed that in nature there is balance and that it is possible for harmony and tension to work together in a composition. So I can plainly see how well contrasting elements coexist in nature to give it its beauty.