In this fascinating and inspirational book Ansel Adams explains in great detail his inspiration behind, the photographing and processing of 40 of his most famous images. The book begins with an interesting introduction by Adams himself. In the introduction he tells us that he cannot remember exactly when some of his photographs were taken and, in some cases only an approximate date is given. He made notes of exposure details but neglected to keep them after developing the negative. He does, however, recall in deep and fascinating detail the developing of the film and printing the negatives. Although he says in the introduction that he has forgotten equipment details, he does seem to give a great insight into this in each commentary. He compares himself to Edward Weston and Minor White, who kept meticulous diaries and record of their images, even down to the time of day.
In his early, and self-confessed more active years Ansell Adams often climbed precipitous mountain sides and cliff faces carrying a 61/2x81/2 Korona view camera, lenses, filters, a heavy wooden tripod and 12 plates. No mean feat considering how easy it is to be tempted today to leave the tripod in the car when going mountain walking, or even just to take a compact. He often remembers such fascinating details as how cold it was climbing a gulley with patches of snow and ice remaining. When writing about Monolith, The Face of Half Dome in Yosemite, he recalls that this image was the first time he consciously previsualized the effect that he wanted. Over the years he bacame increasingly aware of the importance of vizualisation. This is a fabulously rich black and white image with the blue sky rendered almost black through the use of filtration.
In the commentary of his portrait of Alfred Stieglitz, we are reminded of the danger of taking many images in the hope that one will be good - a much greater danger in the digital age. He says that in a sequence of exposures there is always one better than the others, but that doesn't mean it is a fine photograph.
The image of the Base of Upper Yosemite Fall taken c1950 is a close up photograph of the detail of falling water. Adams suggests that, although the wider, inclusive view may be striking, the more intimate, close-up views reveal more. The wider view, he says "-may not interpret the direct excitement and beauty of the mountain world as incisively as sections, fragments and close details." This fits perfectly with project 28 from the course: The Intimate Landscape and he does, in fact refer to Eliot Porter.
Although I have never been to America, the Golden Gate Bridge is iconic for all. It was fascinating then to see an image of The Golden Gate before the bridge. He relates that when taking this shot he waited and waited for the cloud composition to be just right. How often to we take the photograph and move on. I once read an article that suggested that the most underused part of a landscape photographer's anatomy is his backside.
In the commentary for Boards and Thistles, taken in San Francisco, California c1932, we hear of the formation of the f64 group with a group of fellow photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharp focus and carefully framed images as a foil to the Pictorialists. He says, "For anyone trained in music or visual arts, the shallow sentimentalism of the 'fuzzy-wuzzies' (as Weston called them) was anathema, especially when they boasted of their importance in 'Art'" He takes pride in Group F64's command of 'the craft' of photography in which they felt the Pictorialists were lacking. By 'craft' I assume he means technical skills. He says Pictorialists often printed in brown or sepia tones and Adams says that Group F64 sought purity of image - sharp optical qualities, in-depth focus and smooth papers. At the time he didn't realise that they shared the same values as Alfred Stiegliitz.
I love the image Moonrise taken in Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941. A beautiful photograph of the moon rising above a bank of gleaming white cloud topping a distant mountain range. He says that this is his single most popular image. I have been taking pictures of the moon for project 26; would that I had captured an image such as this. Apart from the beauty of the picture, the thing that stands out for me is the patience and effort that he puts into printing, including dodging and burning and even, years later, the partial reprocessing of the negative. Another moon image that would be perfect for Project 26 is Moon and Half Dome taken in Yosemite in 1960
El Capitan, Winter Sunrise, Yosemite, 1968 must rank as one of my favourite images of all time. I remember back to my college days (1967-70) attending a lecture by Mick Burke (later killed on Everest) about climbing on El Capitan and being captivated by the images. I have been inspired by Yosemite ever since. Galen Rowell's images engender similar emotions. Yet I have never been to America let alone Yosemite; still who knows! This is a stunning and mysterious image with the 3000ft cliff wreathed in early morning mist. How brilliantly Adams has controlled the dynamic range of the scene with techniques that today are reminiscent of alchemy.
Lodgepole Pines, an early 1921 image is an unusual soft focus one. He says that one positive element was the impression of light suggested by the diffused image produced by a soft-focus lens.
In Early Morning Merced River Autumn I noted that again Adams has worked in quite close. A reminder to me to use more close-ups in my own work rather than wide angle shots all of the time. This is also an example of the value of working 'in the home patch'. He knew this view well and just had to wait for the right lighting conditions. Again a great deal of detail is given about the dark room process. Maybe we shouldn't be so worried about post processing to get it right. Again he refers to his 'Zone System' of exposure calculation.
In Sand Dunes Sunrise, 1948, we get the first intimation that Ansel Adams worked in colour as well as black and white. He produced two images of this: the B&W shown and a colour version. I would love to see the colour one. This has beautiful detail as usual and is sharp from the ripples in the sand in the foreground to the mountains on the horizon. Interestingly, as the sun is low in the sky, it (the sky) is unaffected by the yellow filter and so appears white. Mention is made of technical advances; he predicts the advent of the electronic image, hoping that the 'creative eye will continue to function, whatever technological innovations may develop.
In the two images of Aspens, 1958, Adams has again closed in and excluded the sky. In fact he has gone to great lengths to do so in order to avoid white patches from the very bright, and therefore ove-exposed sky. Again he discusses the possibility of a colour photograph and the need to use filtration to compensate for the cool blue light. Nowadays we would adjust the white balance, either in camera or in post-processing. Again I was intrigued by the complex dark room procedures and the selection of a film developer with known effects on the emulsion. This discussion of the deveolping and printing process is a recurrent theme in many of his examples and it makes me think that we are not demons in the digital age of post processing. Although, having just read an interview of Charlie Waite, we must be cautious of overdoing it.
Mount Williamson, 1944, is a fabulous image of a boulder field in front of an imposing mountain range. Again it is sharply focused from front to back. The photograph is taken against the light with beautiful sunbeams lancing through the mountains. Standing on the camera platform on the top of his car, he used an 8x10 view camera tilted slightly forward to capture the low foreground boulders but was able to tilt the camera back to hold both foreground rocks and mountains in sharp focus. Attention to detail.
Not only is Tenaya Creek, 1948 another detailed intimate landscape, it is also taken in the rain - a lesson to all and a reminder as well that if we work in colour we often get greater colour saturation in the wet. A good time to take intimate landscapes.
In Farm Family, c1953, Adams was working on a professional assignment. He describes the pressures of this: " Professional work depends on 'assignments from without'. Creative work stems from 'assignments from within' " He also says in the next featured image, Silverton, 1951: "I can only say that I photogrpah what appears aesthetically beautiful and what I can visualise as a photograph worth creating for myself and, I hope, for others'. These are my sentiments exactly and I, personally. don't like photographs that focus on the ugly and make it look ugly. This, perhaps, has a function in landscape photography when it is used as a social commentary but it is not what I appreciate. In John Fowles introductory essay to Fay Godwin's book Land, he states that he disagrees with landscape photographers that paint a sentimental view of the countryside and pretend that the ugly doesn't exist. Godwin manages to include the 'ugly' yet still make it appear beautiful.
Clearing Winter Storm taken in Yosemite in 1940 is another of my long time favourite images. Adams says of it that it is often used for environmental purposes but that he has never consciously taken an environmental image. I was fascinated by the care and attention that he took to position the camera and frame the image. He gives this sort of detail in other shots too such as Arches taken in Tuscon, Arizona in 1968.
All in all this is a wonderfully inspiring book that has given me much pleasure. I shall refer to it for inspiration again and again. I look forward to going to the Ansel Adams exhibition at the Greewich Maritime Museum: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea in a few weeks time on December 14th.
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