Famous+Photographer

1. Give some historical background on their life. /20 2. Describe their influences. /5 3. Describe their style and major genre (Documentary, Fashion etc.) /5 4. Upload a minumum of 5 Photos that represent their work. /25 What design elements are aparent? Why are they a good representation of this photographers work? Describe the use of light.

=Famous Photographer= Name:Ansel Adams Age: 82 aged - (birth year: 1922) (death year: 1984) Nationality: American Born: San Francisco, California

1. Give some historical background on their life.

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Ansel Easton Adams was a photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park. Later in life, Adams would condemn that very same industry for cutting down many of the great redwood forests.I think it probably because h is father's natural talents lay more with sciences than with business. He also taught himself piano at age twelve. For the next dozen years the piano was Adams's primary occupation. ======

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Although he ultimately gave up music for photography, the piano brought substance, discipline, and structure to his frustrating and erratic youth. Moreover, the careful training and exacting craft required of a musician profoundly informed his visual artistry, as well as his influential writings and teachings on photography. ======

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His first photographs were published in 1921 and Best's Studio began selling his Yosemite prints the following year. In 1927,Adams contracted for his first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras, in his new style, which included his famous image Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, taken with his Korona view camera using glass plates and a dark red filter (to heighten the tonal contrasts). ======

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In 1932, Adams had a group show at the M. H. de Young Museum with Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston and they soon formed Group f/64, which espoused "pure or straight photography" over pictorialism (//f// /64 being a very small aperture setting that gives great depth of field). ======

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In 1935, Adams created many new photos of the Sierra and one of his most famous photographs, Clearing Winter Storm, captured the entire valley just as a winter storm relented, leaving a fresh coat of snow. After courting Stieglitz for three years, Adams gathered his recent work and had a solo show at the Stieglitz gallery "An American Place" in New York in 1936. The exhibition proved successful with both the critics and the buying public, and earned Adams strong praise from the revered Stieglitz. After one decade, Adams was asked to form the first fine art photography department at the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA). In 1952 Adams was one of the founders of the magazine Aperture, which was intended as a serious journal of photography showcasing its best practitioners and newest innovations. He was also a contributor to Arizona Highways, a photo-rich travel magazine which continues today. ======

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By the 1950s, Adams came to believe that he was on the down side of his creative life. In the 1960s, a few mainstream art galleries (without a photographic emphasis) which originally would have considered photos unworthy of exhibit alongside fine paintings decided to show Adams's images—notably the Kenmore Gallery in Philadelphia. In 1974, Adams had a major retrospective exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ======

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Finally,in September 1983, Adams was confined to his bed for four weeks after leg surgery to remove a cancer.Adams died on April 22, 1984, in the ICU at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California at the age of 82 from a heart attack. ======

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Adams's black-and-white photographs of the West which became the foremost record of what many of the National Parks were like before tourism, and his persistent advocacy helped expand the National Park system. He skillfully used his works to promote many of the goals of the Sierra Club and of the nascent environmental movement, but always insisted that, as far as his photographs were concerned, "beauty comes first". His stirring images are still very popular in calendars, posters, and books. ======

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The style are nature and landscape for his photography. Also his black and white photos is well-known. He always choose the natural scenes which were full of wildness and had no traces of human presence that in Yosemite National Park, the Big Sur Coast, the Sierra Nevada as imagery. His photos never involved in history or society issues but just the pure nature. He often took photos of natural scenes that had depth, flow curve, and spaciousness. ======

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Adams developed the Zone System as a wayto determine proper exposure and adjust the contrast of the final print. The resulting clarity and depth characterized his photographs and the work of those to whom he taught the system. Adams primarily used large-format cameras despite their size, weight, setup time, and film cost, because their high resolution helped ensure sharpness in his images. ======

4. Upload a minumum of 5 Photos that represent their work. What design elements are aparent? Why are they a good representation of this photographers work? Describe the use of light . Design elements for this photo are: Dynamic 'S' Arrangement; Direction; Triangles.

This photo is called' Tetoms and the Snake River'. It has a good representation of Adams, because it is natural. His styles of photography is nature and landscape. In this photo, it has a great shot for nature, including mountain, river and green field etc.

The light is used in soft or not bright, it is probably because there are big controversial color. if you set the light in too bright, the photo will become quiet black.

Design elements for this photo are: direction; depth; diagonals; triangles; framing

This photo has big different style compare with his majority photos. But there are still including some natural material which is Adam's style. He maybe want to show the relationship between the society and nature by taking this picture. Anyway, this picture still has a good representation of the Adam

This light is used in normal state. As the sunshine has already offered enough light for taking a photo. Also, there were look foggy at the end of the bridge. Thus the light could not be too light or too bright. It will change the original idea.

Design element : depth; diagonals; triangles; simple; direction.

This photo is a good representation of the photographer as it did include the nature and landscape. Adam always chose the natural scenes which were full of wildness and had no traces of human presence.

The light been used is kind of similar with the last picture. It used normal state and the light is not too bright or too dark.

Design element: simple and single point; depth; planes and depth levels.

There is no personage in his imagery, besides, his imagery never got involved in history issues but the pure nature, such as this blooming flower. Adam often take photos of natural scenes that had depth flow curve, and spaciousness.

This picture did not use flash light, in which can keep its original color of the flower. It closes up to the image.

Design element: Triangle; direction; element relationship.

It is also a natural photo. Absolutely, it did show the common style of Adams's photo. No personage but nature. Adams was a naturalist and promoted to protect nature. He took photos of the wildness of nature to remind people of nature's beauty and profoundness.

This photo's light looks more dark. No extra light provide, I mean flash light, also the sunshine was not bright.