Washington, DC
The Ansel Adams exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery here marks the third time in recent years that I have enjoyed the master's work in a museum setting. After early years shooting and printing in a romantic, soft-focus style, Adams found his trademark tonally rich, sharp-focus, glossy-paper approach under the influence of Paul Strand, Willard Van Dyke, Imogen Cunningham and the so-called "straight photography" movement. Of course, Adams was also substantially influenced by the great Alfred Stieglitz. I always got the biggest kick out of the fact that while Stieglitz rarely left New York City, his wife Georgia O'Keefe roamed New Mexico often in the company of Ansel Adams.
Adams achieve such formidable clarity in his trademark locations of Yosemite, Santa Fe, Taos, and Carmel. We all love Moonrise at Hernandez (1941) and Mt. Williamson from Manzanar (1944), but I had never before see the ghostly Cemetery, Statue, and Oil Derrick shot in Long Beach in 1939. The contrast among the three objects is striking and its potential for narrative is endless. Interestingly, Adams never even printed this image until the '70s.
Adams viewed each one of his images as movements in a larger symphony. That's why he shot and printed extended sequences of the same image, printed an image years after it was taken, or used very different printing methods for the same image. Each was a different work of art. His marvelous Surf Sequence (1940) shot on Highway One near Carmel makes the point.
I discover something joyously new every time I consider Ansel Adams. Indeed, I did not know until this show that he was a budding concert pianist early in his career.
Next up at the Corcoran, Annie Leibowitz. I was an avid Rolling Stone Magazine fan in the '70s and '80s. Leibowitz's photography was one reason why. See you in D.C. in November.
The Ansel Adams exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery here marks the third time in recent years that I have enjoyed the master's work in a museum setting. After early years shooting and printing in a romantic, soft-focus style, Adams found his trademark tonally rich, sharp-focus, glossy-paper approach under the influence of Paul Strand, Willard Van Dyke, Imogen Cunningham and the so-called "straight photography" movement. Of course, Adams was also substantially influenced by the great Alfred Stieglitz. I always got the biggest kick out of the fact that while Stieglitz rarely left New York City, his wife Georgia O'Keefe roamed New Mexico often in the company of Ansel Adams.
Adams achieve such formidable clarity in his trademark locations of Yosemite, Santa Fe, Taos, and Carmel. We all love Moonrise at Hernandez (1941) and Mt. Williamson from Manzanar (1944), but I had never before see the ghostly Cemetery, Statue, and Oil Derrick shot in Long Beach in 1939. The contrast among the three objects is striking and its potential for narrative is endless. Interestingly, Adams never even printed this image until the '70s.
Adams viewed each one of his images as movements in a larger symphony. That's why he shot and printed extended sequences of the same image, printed an image years after it was taken, or used very different printing methods for the same image. Each was a different work of art. His marvelous Surf Sequence (1940) shot on Highway One near Carmel makes the point.
I discover something joyously new every time I consider Ansel Adams. Indeed, I did not know until this show that he was a budding concert pianist early in his career.
Next up at the Corcoran, Annie Leibowitz. I was an avid Rolling Stone Magazine fan in the '70s and '80s. Leibowitz's photography was one reason why. See you in D.C. in November.