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Sunday, November 9, 2014

ANSEL ADAMS; ONE OF THE ALLTIME GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS





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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4 comments:

  1. 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?

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  2. Yes, 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.

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    1. I am not familiar with the Zeiss Contarex. Is it equal to Leica equipment?

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    2. Yes, 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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