Ansel Easton Adams was a American Landscape Photographer and environmentalist who was well known for his black and white images of the American west. He also helped found a photography group called F/64 which was an association of photographers who were advocating for ‘pure’ photography (photos that attempted to depict a scene or a subject in sharp focus and detail).

Childhood

Ansel Adams was an only child growing up and was born when his mother was nearly in her forty’s, with his relatively elderly parents, his family history and other factors, it all combined to create an environment which was Victorian and both socially and emotionally traditional. Due to his natural shyness, certain intensity of intelligence combined with his broken nose (which was caused by his face being smashed against a wall during the san Francisco earthquake) this caused Adams to have difficulties when trying to fit in at school. Later in life he was then diagnosed as hyperactive with the possibility of having dyslexia alongside that. After going in and out of various schools and getting tutored by his family he did manage to get a legit diploma from the Mrs Kate M Wilkins private school. He learned piano in his youth but unfortunately could not pursue it professionally due to not being cut out for it but when he discovered photography he quickly found a passion for it and dedicated all his time towards it.

Inspiration for Photography

The Yosemite National Park was Adams inspiration for his photography career, using the camera lens and looking through the Yosemite’s rock, trees, and rivers. All he could see was art and it sparked more inspiration and love for his photography hobby and work.

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization whose mission is to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of earth. Ansel Adams in 1927 went out on the Sierra Clubs annual outing (known as the High Trip) which resulted into one of his most famous images named Monolith, The Face of Half Dome. This image would then make him well known and popular to the world of photographers. The year after he ended up becoming the Sierra Clubs official photographer. By 1930, Ansel Adams began to deploy his photography in the cause of wilderness preservation.

Ansel Adams in 1934 was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club was seeking to create a national park in the Kings Canyon region of the Sierra Nevada and this was because people wanted to use the water to generate electricity which could destroy the nature around it and possibly pollute the canyon, so by creating a national park it prevents anyone from being able to use that land for industrial purposes. Ansel Adams all the way in California had to find a way to convince congressmen back in Washington to turn the canyon into a national park and he achieved this by carrying and showing his portfolio to the heads of the national park service to show them why they should make the canyon a national park. however the first time they tried to request it to be a national park they were told it couldn’t be approved. After hearing this information he created an impressive and limited edition book called the Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail. The book contained some of his best photos taken at the sierra club and this book ultimately ended up attracting President officials which then ended up into them finally making the canyon an approved national park by 1940.

Presidential Medal

Ansel Adams was a conservationist and the photos he took of Yosemite helped secure the designation of those lands as national parks, his work helped expand the national park system and his work was then later recognised by presidential officials who ended up awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.

Ansel Adams Visualisation

The meaning of Visualisation is “the concept of interpreting a scene and deciding on the final shot before pressing the shutter”. Ansel Adams referred to this as Taking place within the minds eye, Adams with his photography made sure that he assessed his subject and chose the most important attributes to highlight and keep or show in the frame of the photo. To capture the detail and the effects he was looking for in his images he would often resort to using camera filters knowing that it would allow him to adjust the dark or lightness of the sky or cliffs that surrounded him. These filters helped Ansel Adams achieve the dramatic effect he was seeking in his images.

Ansel Adams Zone System

Ansel Adams used his own Zone system in order to represent the gradation of all the different tonal values you would see in black and white images. With Zone 0 being pure black, Zone 5 being middle grey and Zone 10 being pure white. The Zone system would help control the exposure of the image and how it was developed in order to achieve the best results of the photo you have taken.