Ansel Adams-Artist Research

Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist who was known for his monochromatic photographs of the American west and his work of the country`s leftover pieces. Ansel Adams was born February 20th, 1902 in San Francisco, California. During Adams early childhood at 4 years old He was watching the smoke from the fires caused by an earthquake but then Ansel Adams went face first into a wall which broke and scarred his nose, The doctors recommended for it to be fixed when he matured but he never fixed it because he says he never matured. Ansel Adams did not fit in at school because he was shy and his disfigured nose did not help. His house surrounded by sand dunes and a forest which he would take walks through. Adams is also known for developing the famous “zone system” which is a tool to help in visualizing a photograph before the exposure was made.

Yosemite National Park

Growing up Ansel Adams became interested in playing the piano, he taught himself how to play and read music at the age of 12. However, Adams stopped playing the piano and focused on photography. His first camera was an Eastman Kodak Brownie Box Camera which he would take to the Yosemite National Park and take photographs there, especially The Sierra Nevada. In 1927 Ansel Adams became the tour guide and photographer of the Sierra Club. However, he was not just a tour guide and photographer Ansel Adams also was an environmentalist at the park.

Kings Canyon National Park

Ansel Adams was highly associated with Kings Canyon National Park. He was known Because of his photography which was photographs of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range which includes Kings Canyon and its surrounding nature. In the 1920s/1930s Ansel Adams explored the Sierra Nevada, he photographed its natural areas, high mountains and rocky settings. As well as his photography work at the national park, Adams would also protect the environment there and was a part of the board of directors for the Sierra Club which is a popular environmental organisation. He used his photography work to influence others to protect and admire the natural world around them.

Ansel Adams invented the Zone System in the early twentieth century. The zone system is  a technique for picking the best exposure and controlling the tones in monochrome photos. The technique breaks down a photos tone into 10 zones, starting with pure black (Zone 0) and ending with pure white (Zone X) with shades of grey in between, which is shown in the image above. Photographers use the Zone System to guess how different shades in a place will appear in the final photo.

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