The inspiration of Ansel Adams and his great landscapes

Ansel Adams is perhaps one of the most famous photographers to date. Born at the beginning of the 20th century, Adams is commonly associated with his landscape photographs of the great American west¹. Many photographers have drawn inspiration from the productions of Adams. Flickr, where I will be drawing my comparative images from, has an entire group consisting of just over 10,000 photos that have been inspired from the legendary Adams.

Adams was a man that always lugged large-format cameras. Through the benefits of large-format cameras and the development of his own zone exposure system he granted his photographs with precise depth and clarity¹. This is one of the biggest developments in photography that Adams is known for.

Adams, Ansel. Tetons and the Snake River. 1942. Photograph. The Ansel Adams Gallery, Yosemite National Park. http://www.anseladams.com. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.anseladams.com/Tetons_and_the_Snake_River_p/1701186102.htm

Many of the photographs in the Ansel Adams Flickr group follow a direct connection the style of Adams. They are almost all published in black and white, they retain a very sharp focus on their subject, they almost all are printed with a large-format landscape(shrunk to fit Flickr’s policies), and most of them maintain a very large if not maximum depth of field. They are of course not taken entirely in the same locations Adams photographed but they still manage to retain the overall feel of Adams’ style. These photographs were taken after Adams’ time so they do look a lot more clean in aspects such as noise. The four photographs I have chosen are below.

Bertagna, Luca. Lavaredo. 2010. Photograph. Flickr. Flickr. Oct.-Nov. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucabertagna/5128542341/in/pool-44005383@N00/.

Chenery, Mickey. Romancing the Stones. 2010. Photograph. Flickr. Flickr. Nov.-Dec. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40850611@N07/5156556859/in/pool-44005383@N00/.

Lange, Richard. Opera936. 2010. Photograph. Flickr. Flickr. Oct.-Nov. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/santaferich/5195410564/in/pool-44005383@N00/.

Williams, Steve. Orford Ness 2. 2010. Photograph. Flickr. Flickr. 16 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/polarunner/5133302514/in/pool-44005383@N00/.

The fifth photograph I have selected is not related to Adams’ landscape photographs because it is actually a macro photograph. Adams had snapped a photograph of a leaf surrounded by other vegetation in Glacier Bay. A very similar photograph to Adams’ leaf image can be found inside the group.

Adams, Ansel. Leaf, Glacier Bay National Monument. 1948. Photograph. The Ansel Adams Gallery, Yosemite National Park.www.anseladams.com. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

Simpson, Roger. Agave. 2010. Photograph. Flickr. Flickr. Nov.-Dec. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49914665@N00/5230743980/in/pool-44005383@N00/.

As you can almost instantly tell, the subject matter is nearly the same in both photographs. With Roger Simpson's photo, we're presented with a close-up photograph of an agave plant. Although being more rich in detail than Adams' original shot and containing less vegetation, it still manages to retain the feel of Adams' leaf. The detail is sharp in both photographs, the subject matter is closely related and closely pictured as well, and the value surrounding the object darkens while the subject remains the dominant brightness in the photograph. I feel as though Adams' image is only less detailed that Simpson's because of the technology available at the time.

There are many other photographs imitating Adams' style available to view on the Flickr group aside from the four I decided to specify. I believe Adams had a similar impact on all of these images. Rather than taking photographs of the extraordinary, often times Adams had photographed ordinary scenes in extraordinary ways. This has had an impact on the genre of landscape photography. Adams was keen on the protection of his land and so he found ways to make everyday landscapes stand out. In this way, he is able to show the beauty in the most subtle points of nature. His impact on landscape photography, coupled with his research and developement on photographic depth and sharpness, is probably Adams' most important points of a photographer. Through the use of his images, Adams was able to generate an amount of attention towards national parks in the U.S.

It is clear why Adams' is one of the world's most known photographers. He has made great strives in the category of landscape photography and was able to develop a zone exposure system for photography overall. Through his love of nature, he was able to contribute significant amounts of attention towards the U.S. national parks movement. Adams' is a photographer that will stay with us for years to come.

1. Ansel (Easton) Adams. (2010). Biography.com. Retrieved 09:57, Dec 4 2010 from http://www.biography.com/articles/Ansel-Easton-Adams-9175697