Lexie Adams
COM 103 – 03
Final
“Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.” Ansel Adams may be a world famous photographer, but I respect him over others for more than his photographs. This is a man who had seen many years and knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing in life, doing what he loved successfully. (Ansel Adams Quotes)
Born on February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, Ansel Adams was, like most artists, naturally shy and profoundly smart. His uniqueness, however, came with a high social price. He was ostracized in school and eventually taken out to be tutored individually at home – away from the filth of public schooling, further sharpening his mind. A restless child, young Adams was nevertheless given ample opportunity for self-expression by his indulgent father. When he was 13 years old, Ansel’s father doted on him by giving him a year's pass to San Francisco's Panama Pacific International Exposition. The art exhibits at the fair here, Adams would later say, instilled his love for art. (Ansel Adams [1902-1984])
For many, he is only a photographer. The vision of Adams, with broad-brimmed hat and beard, fussing with his camera in some rocky Sierran landscape, is one of the classic images of photography. Though we may not initially recognize his facial features, we all know his pictures quite well.
Like all artists, he was the product of complex influences, inspirations and human contacts. Adams began his artistic career in music, learning how to play the piano – and masterfully at that. He qualified many judges, including the composer Henry Cowell. Adams would become renowned as a dedicated, even obsessive, technician. He attributed this to his early training as a pianist, where he learned to combine long hours of practicing rudimentary skills with intuitive creativity. He frequently used musical metaphors when describing the act of making photographs. The negative was the score which the...
