88 Keys

Ansel Adams

Ansel Refined: Credit

The saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and I can say that after viewing the documentary on Ansel Adams the saying is true.  From viewing his journey of being an artist, photographer, experimentalist, father, husband and political activist for nature, Ansel Adams is without a doubt lead a very interesting life.  What specifically spoke to me, as a future educator was his non-traditional education. Ansel’s father loved him very much and realized that his son had a gift.  So instead of giving his son a formal education he let him explore the world around him. His father allowed him to experience the World Fair at an early age of 12 years old.  This is where Ansel was able to be educated in another light, the light of art and culture.  Later on he would visit Yosemite National Park with his family where he fell in love with its beauty. From there he began to explore this vast “playground” where he learned through experiment what photography was. He captured beauty and made every shot count. He thought about how what he was looking at would be altered and he wanted his audience to see exactly what he was seeing.  In his dark room he spent countless hours and days making his film become real, exquisite and meaningful.  In his darkroom he adjusted films with dodging and burning methods, he would lighten and darken images in certain places so that image would have form and contrast.

            Ansel Adams was first and for most a musician, a pianist. Another place where I can relate. Growing up playing the piano I learned that each key plays a note but if you play a key in a different octave it is the say key but a different pitch or sound. Just like a piano, photography has dynamic range. In the same light the piano has black and white keys and the best way for him to play music was to play every key in the same manner his photography needed to have dynamic range and each tone of light and darkness needed to played and used.  I love that he was a musician and that he carried that passion to his photography. His photographs speak to me just like a song speaks to me. He had the ability to make a melodic composition in each piece of work. You can see each key of a piano being played when you look at the contrast between black and whites in each of his photographs.

            When thinking about Ansel Adams I have a deep sense of awe. He was a simple man with an amazing sense of knowledge. He wanted and helped keep beauty in America, he allowed Americans to be proud in their country and through his photographs he showed me what he saw and that made me feel patriotic and proud to be from this beautiful country.  I think that what he did politically was great. . He allowed our environment our most precious land to be saved, and through this we are able to enjoy Kings Canyon National Park. His photographs spoke to many and still do to this day. I am thankful that we were able to have such a great man in history that had such a gift, and he shared that gift with us.

Tetons and the Snake River  Image Date: 1945 Print Date: 1970