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International Art Treasures Web Magazine February 2005 |
Ansel Adams's Vision
Barely a teenager Ansel Adams used a Kodak Brownie box camera and photographed Yosemite Valley, launching photography into an art genre. His original stills were reproduced in countless books, posters and postcards. The impressing originals are breathtaking in their intensity.
The California native grew up in a house that was in the shadow of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. He was not particularly academically studious, preferring hiking and walking while enjoying natural surroundings. Ansel Adams was a self-taught piano player who enjoyed his music to an extent that he would take lessons supplanting his formal education, with the expectation that this would be his career. It wasn't to be. His parents gifted him a Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie during a family vacation to Yosemite National Park, in 1915. Each year from then until his 1984 death Adams revisited Yosemite with camera in hand.
Sierra ClubInspired by the magnificent Sierra Nevada Mountains the organization was born to preserve nature and has become a preeminent conservation agency. Ansel Adams was the official photographer of the High Trip, the Sierra Club's annual wilderness outing. He was elected to the Club's Board of Directors in 1934 and remained on the board for 37 years. Ringling MuseumThe Genius of Ansel Adams is on display at the Ringling Museum of Art with a complimentary exhibit of works by Clyde Butcher.
Ringling Associate Curator Joanna Weber explained the connection, "These two artists share a passion for conserving the beautiful natural landscapes that they photograph and have been instrumental in furthering conservative causes. Although black and white photography is the medium they share, the scale of their images differs drastically. Ansel Adams's work is astonishingly small while Clyde Butcher's work is quite large."
The Genius of Ansel Adams, has a long schedule. After Florida it will continue to tour across the United States.
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