Ansel Easton Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West

Ansel Easton Addams was born February 20, 1902 in Western Addition, San Francisco, California, United States, he went on in his life to marry and have three children, he died April 22, 1984 (the same year as his wife) at age 82 years old at Bariatric Surgery Centre at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, California, United States.

Addams grew up in a wealthy family in the sand dunes of the golden gate, at 4 years old Addams was nocked over in the aftershock of the large earthquake and fire in 1906 and broke his nose, this created his very distinct appearance as he broke his nose so bad it formed differently.

A year after the earthquake the family lost their fortune in the global financial crisis in 1907, his farther then spent all his life fruitlessly attempting to rebuild what they had. As Ansel mum gave birth to Ansel in her forties and Ansel’s farther was over two decades older than his wife both parents were on the older side when Ansel was still a teenager, this lead too his mother becoming increasingly obsessive over what they would have to leave behind for their son once they both inevitably passed. After the financial crisis she feared she would have nothing to leave her son and had limited time to rebuild their once fortune. The Addams were typically a very conservative house-hold both socially and emotionally, with the combination of his much older farther, his mothers maiden sister and the affluent family history the house hold could be considered a typical Victorian environment. This all combined definitely effected Ansel in his later life. Ansel’s farther however was very supportive of him and all his endeavours and extremely patient with Ansel’s slower ability to learn and his failures in typical schooling.

Ansel’s childhood was unmistakeably different from kids his age and this allowed him to cultivate the deep love for nature he carried with him throughout his life, he was found outside more often than not during this period either going for hikes across the dunes or long walks in the wilderness near his home.

At twelve Ansel picked up the piano and leant how to read music, he became extremely accomplished at this and by 1920 it was his intended profession but eventually Ansel realised his true passion was I photography, despite giving up on piano the years of discipline and commitment helped thoroughly with developing Ansel’s creative vision and inspired him to write influential and educational literature later I life.

in 1927 Addams created his first visualised photograph, this set off a passion in him, the switch from pianist to photographer was rapid as Ansel discovered a passion for capturing what he envisioned in his ‘minds eye’.

this is when he became acquainted with Albert . M Bender , his influence was immediate and the next day after their first encounter Albert was in the process of helping Ansel with the publication of his portfolio.

Albert supported Ansel financially and physiologically as his passion grew and fundamentally changed Ansel’s life forever with his encouragement.

Addams travelled wide and far during not just his summers but throughout the year climbing mountains and going on week long hikes with all of his heavy camera equipment just in attempt to capture the perfect picture

The zone system

The Zone System assigns numbers from 0 through 10 to different brightness values, with 0 representing black, 5 middle gray, and 10 pure white; these values are known as zones. To make zones easily distinguishable from other quantities

visualisation

Visualization is a simple technique that you can use to create a strong mental image of a future event. With good use of visualization, you can practice in advance for the event, so that you can prepare properly for it. And by visualizing success, you can build the self-confidence you need to perform well.

Group f/64

Group f/64 or f.64 was a group founded by seven 20th-century San Francisco Bay Area photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharply focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western viewpoint

The name of this Group is derived from a diaphragm number of the photographic lens. It signifies to a large extent the qualities of clearness and definition of the photographic image which is an important element in the work of members of this Group.

group f/64 was a loose association of California photographers who promoted a style of sharply detailed, purist photography. The group, formed in 1932, constituted a revolt against Pictorialism, the soft-focused, academic photography that was then prevalent among West Coast artists.

His Influence On Others – His Legacy

Ansel Adams work is still universally admired throughout the work and has inspired many amazing photographers throughout the years a couple key mentions are:

Wyn Bullock – Wynn Bullock was an American photographer whose work is included in over 90 major museum collections around the world. He received substantial critical acclaim during his lifetime, published numerous books and is mentioned in all the standard histories of modern photography.

Edward Weston – Edward Weston (born March 24, 1886, Highland Park, Illinois, U.S.—died January 1, 1958, Carmel, California) major American photographer of the early to mid-20th century, best known for his carefully composed, sharply focused images of natural forms, landscapes, and nudes.

in both their photography you can see a clear use of Ansel Adams zone system and Ansel’s style of very exposed black and white photography.