My Love For...

Ansel Adams

I have always loved black and white photography.  I like simple things.  Ansel Adams photographed in a style called "straight photography".  In this style the emphasis is not on the development of the film in a lab but the clarity of the lens used.  This produced sharp, simple images that showed depth.  He is the creator of the "Zone System" which helped photographers to control exposure and development in order to bring to life the visual they wanted to achieve.  Below is an example of the Zone System. 

Ansel was also an active environmentalist.  He fought for parks around his hometown of San Francisco, including Yosemite National Park and the Big Sur coastline.  His images were used to promote conservationism and by the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society.

I fell in love with Ansel Adams when I was younger but only came to appreciate his work when I visited Boston last year.  My friend Kelly and I ran through the rain after getting off the subway to the Museum of Fine Arts.  We waited about an hour (behind a hot guy but still..) just to get into the museum.  It was well worth it considering it happened to be the weekend of an Ansel Adams exhibit. 

My favorite photograph is actually of him.  He is standing on top of a Woodie in Yosemite National Park. I apologize for the quality of this picture... ironic that I am talking about photography and yet the picture I took is awful.