Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was an American photographer most known for his black and white
landscape photographs of the American West. A large number of his photographs
came from Yosemite National Park. Many of his photographs have been widely
reproduced on calendars, posters and books as well as online.

Adams was born to elderly parents in San Francisco, California, in 1902. He died
on the 22nd of April 1984 at the age of 82 in Monterey, California. He was an only
child. His father inspired him greatly as he was a deeply patient, encouraging
and supportive parent. Adams found school challenging as he was shy and
withdrawn. However he had strong passions n things like music and nature. He
taught himself how to play piano and loved to be surrounded by nature. In 1916,
Adams and his family took a trip to Yosemite National Park where he received his
first camera, a Kodak Box Brownie. Adams fell in love with Yosemite National
Park and would return almost every summer. This helped him gain more
experience and skill as a landscape photographer and also become an expert
mountaineer and conservationist.

Adams is thought to have suffered from dyslexia and hyperactivity despite being
a very intelligent man. After various schools failed Adams, his father decided to
home-school him. His father let Adams explore and learn outdoors, nurturing his
love for nature. He loved nature and took many long walks in the Golden Gate.
Nearly every day he would hike the dunes or walk along Lobos Creek, down to
Baker Beach or out to the edge of the American continent.

Ansel Adams could be considered a romanticist as he focused on the beauty of

nature as industry boomed around him. Romanticism emphasises Adams’
interest in nature and his individualistic expression of emotion and imagination
towards it. Adam always tried to inspire an emotional response from those who
viewed his work. Adams could also be called an environmentalist, which is a
photography style that describes and explains an environment, as he spent most
of his time in nature and fought for its preservation. Nature was also his main
subject of photography. Adams was always known as an environmentalist as he
felt connected to nature and tried to protect it. Throughout his life Adams fought
more than once fr environmental issues.

Adams’ exploration in commercialism and pictorialism was very important in his

development. Commercialism helped Adams finance his life while pictorialism
enforced his feelings about photography. He felt photographs were art and didn’t
need editing to be considered art.

Adams was insulted about his naturalistic views. He didn’t like documentary
photography as he believed it was propaganda, but still attempted it. He failed in
his attempts of using this style of photography and only solidified his views of
photography as a form of art. Even during the war Adams focused on nature and
the beauty of it. He felt his contribution was to assure people there was balance
to return to and that nature is everlastingly beautiful.