What can be said about Ansel Adams’ greatness that has not been said before? Like Cartier-Bresson, Adams has inspired and launched the careers and aspirations of thousands who would seek to emulate his greatness. The great master of the grand landscape as well as much, much more! He also happened to be a great American. Adams was a terrific writer and technical expert. He was instrumental in helping to establish photography as a recognized art form and was a key player in the foundation of the Museum of Modern Art’s photography department, the Friends of Photography and the F64 Group. Adams was also a member of the Sierra Club board of directors and on and on.
Like many, I own his series of books on the craft of photography, The Print, The Negative, and The Camera. It was this trio that started me on my own quest to make high quality photographs. Then there are his many monographs, all of which are something to behold. But nothing can really prepare you to seeing the real thing. I have been fortunate to see many Adams exhibits, and as much as I favor small intimate photographs, the large Adams prints are unbelievable and almost mythic in nature.
Early in my career and much younger I would occasionally walk down to the Wilderness Society headquarters in downtown DC from my offices in the State Department and the New Executive Office Building, where open to the public were some of Adams greatest images (I believe they were the so called “museum set”) and just hang out. I would gaze upon the majestic landscapes and dream. They transported me to an America that no longer exists and maybe never really did. But all of his work is great and inspiring, from the quiet and sublime to the truly heroic.
For my 30th birthday my wife sent me on a workshop with with John Sexton, where I had the opportunity to visit Adams’ home. And yes, I became one with the holy temple and stood on the hallowed ground that was his darkroom. And no, I didn’t kneel down and kiss the floor, but it was most certainly a profound and mind-altering experience I have never forgotten!!!!
I don’t own an Adams print, but some of my most prized possessions are several autographed books and a large signed and framed special addition poster of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.
Ansel Adams, the man, the legend.
Stay well,
Michael