Some readers might wonder why
Ansel Adams is the topic on the LEICA Barnack Berek Blog. After all, as far as we know, among the large
number of cameras he has worked with, a Leica was never one of them.
As Leica enthusiasts, we
sometimes have a tendency to get too wrapped up in our equipment. The fact that Ansel Adams apparently never
did any work with Leica equipment in no way diminishes his
accomplishments. To the contrary, all
photographers, including Leica owners, can learn a lot from him. His approach to photography with the Zone
system, which he created, is still as much up to date today as it was when he
worked his magic with black and white photography. This is part of what makes him of great
interest to the Leica community, because Leica these days has probably a much
wider number of followers still using analog photography than any other camera
out there. This is further emphasized by
the fact that Leica not only has continues to make analog cameras, the just
introduced an updated version which will be produced in addition to the other
models in their lineup. No other camera
manufacturer can make that claim. By
applying Ansel Adams’ techniques, I have certainly been able to produce better
black and white photographs than I would otherwise have been able to.
Ansel Adams at work
This is not going to be an
article about Ansel Adams’ camera and darkroom techniques. For that he is doing a much better job in his
books than I ever could. Instead this is
a remembrance of one of the giants of photography, an individual that will
forever be remembered as one the absolute masters of his craft.
The L-Camera Forum published
a two part video of Ansel Adams from 1958.
In this 20-minute presentation you get an insight into his working
methods, his own interests and attitude toward art, and his gigantic amount of
camera equipment.
You will accompany the
photographer through the entire process of analog photography, from the precise
light reading of the object, the correct exposure settings of the camera and
onto the right development of the photos in the darkroom.
But you will also see
another, much lesser known side of Ansel Adams, that of an accomplished
pianist. As a matter of fact, he
initially planned to become a concert pianist, but the onset of arthritis kept
him from doing so. It wasn't until then
that he began his career as a photographer.
The piano music accompanying
the video was all played by Adams.
Listening to it is a captivating opportunity to see the other artistic
side of this great artist.
I am showing only one example
of his work. It is almost impossible to
make a reasonable selection from his many published photographs. This one stands out because it was taken without
the possibility of an exposure reading.
He came upon this scene while driving home from an assignment. The light was changing quite rapidly and
Adams had barely time to set up his camera and tripod. It is much to his credit to be able to
accurately determine the exposure simply based on experience.
Moonrise over Hernandez
For the video go to:
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Ansel Adams was without a doubt one of the greatest. did he use any 35mm equipment at all, and medium format for that matter? Or did he work strictly with large format stuff?
ReplyDeleteYes, Ansel Adams used a variety of film formats, including 35mm and medium format. For 35mm he used a Zeiss Contarex with various lenses and for medium format his choice was Hasselblad.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with the Zeiss Contarex. Is it equal to Leica equipment?
DeleteYes, it was in any respect. As a matter of fact, the Contarex was the only camera besides the Swiss Alpa, that was made with the same extremely tight tolerances as the Leica cameras. Unfortunately the camera line didn't survive, it was discontinued in the early 70s. an interesting fact is that the Contarex was the first camera that was used in outer space, not on a space flight, but actually out in space. That was during the first American space walk when Ed White used it to take photographs outside the space capsule. The camera was mounted on top of an experimental maneuvering device which had a hand grip from which a tube extended to both sides, with nozzles at the end. Below was a tank with a propellant which was supposed to give the astronaut some means of maneuverability, bit it proved toe be worthless. But the camera worked quite well.
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