Ansel Adams

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  • An American photographer, who really began to focus solely on photography in the 1930s.
  • Born February 20th 1902 in San Francisco, California.
  • Formed a group of photographers, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham, called “f/64” who wanted to elevate photography into a high art instead of being used for documentational purposes.
  • Travelled throughout the country to take various pictures of different environmental nature sites.
  • Sadly, Ansel Adams died on April 22nd 1984.
How Ansel Adams used his creativity to harness the communicative power of photography | The Milwaukee Independent
Ansel Adams.

Examples of his work –

Horizontal Aspens, 1958
Horizontal Aspens, 1948.
Arches, North Court, Mission San Xavier del..., 1968
Arches, North Court, Mission San Xavier del…, 1968.
The White Church, Hornitos, California, From , 1946
The White Church, Hornitos, California, 1946.
Winter Evening, Owens Valley, 1962
Winter Evening, Owens Valley 1962.

Analysis –

The White Church, Hornitos, California, From , 1946
The White Church, Hornitos, California, 1946.

I really like this picture taken by Ansel Adams in 1946 because of the way he uses the darker and lighter tones which are contrasted well against each other and have been created due to the sunlight which creates this shadow on the floor which is wavy and looks very strange, like when water is reflected onto something which makes it create this calm yet bust atmosphere for the viewer. It really attracts your attention well as the lines in-between have been highlighted through the sunlight fighting through the gaps in the fence as if it wants to be seen. I also like how the church in the background stands out extremely well due to it being grey which contrasts heavily besides the white, and this shows how it is not lost within it and guiders you to focus your attention on it as it is a really bright white which is due to the black and white filter which Ansel Adams uses in his photographs as well.

In my work, I’m going to use a black and white filter, similar to Ansel Adams. This is because I want to create a deep contrast of black and white and make it looks strange yet looks like it works perfectly which he portrays well within his work and create shapes/lines which you wouldn’t normally see as well. I think that this would work with clouds, and their formations in the sky and horizon views where you cant see much besides a small part at the bottom of houses/trees.

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