Ansel Adams (1902-1984) is one of my favorite photographers. His black-and-white photographs of National Parks, especially of Yosemite, and other subjects are so strikingly beautiful that makes them simply unforgettable. His photography book, The Print, was a great help while I was learning black-and-white printing. In that book, he shared with us his secrets of how to make a great print. I am forever thankful for that.
Ten days ago I went to the Museum of Fine Arts for the exhibition of his photographs from the Lane Collection. I have seen some of his prints at MFA before, and I have seen his portfolios in books. Still at this exhibition there were photos after photos that continued to surprise me. I was amazed at the quality of the prints (some of them are 70 to 80 years old). They still look like they were only processed yesterday, and they are extremely sharp and flawless. I had to get so close to some of the prints to see exactly how sharp he had made them. The prints seemed to have indefinite resolution. I have to say that reproductions in books or posters are not even close to the quality of his original prints. Looking at the originals truly gave me an idea of how good prints should look like.
Here are some of his iconic photographs:
Monolith, Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park
Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park
Moonrise, Hernandez, NM
Rose and Driftwood
Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, WY
I really like this one. It’s an old print, but how amazing that you could even feel the metallic texture of the cheese grater!
Still Life
He was a true master of photography.
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