Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Historical Photographer Profile: Ansel Adams

               From my early motivations in photography of shooting action sports, it would not be typical that Ansel Adams would be a historical photographer that would be influencing my work. Shortly after getting my camera for Christmas in 2010, I went on an interim trip to Martinique and Guadeloupe where I was exposed to vast exotic landscapes that were very pleasing to photograph. Ansel Adams was also a patron of the process of "straight photography" which emphasizes the clarity of the lens making manipulation of photographs something that was not needed to create a pleasing image to the viewer. This approach to photography is also the same approach that Dr. Schmunk uses as he goes out photographing various things. "Straight Photography" is something I am moving toward in my work because it shows great skill and knowledge of one's equipment.
               Ansel Adams lived from 1902 to 1984 and is well known for portraying nature and its natural beauty through the medium of photography in a natural state of its own. Ansel Adams actually started out as a musician, but ended up giving that up in pursuit of photography early in his life. During his life film photography was the only thing available, so he didn't have the luxuries of Photoshop and other editing programs that we have today so the photos we see from Ansel are raw images of nature, just as the human eye would have seen it if they were to have been at the same place at the same time. Adams' love for nature came about in his home state of California, and he spent much of his time visiting the Yosemite area which is the subject of a lot of his photographs. Like my contemporary artist, Simon Cudby, Adams made most of his money in his early life doing commercial photography for large corporations and didn't become financially stable until late in his career. Ansel's love for nature and his photography supplementing this love made him a key player in environmental movements in his lifetime as well, with pupils like Rachel Carson among many others. Along with being a photographer, Ansel was a writer and lecturer and considered himself a "communicator". I haven't heard or read any of his writings, but Adams definitely communicates through his photography much like romantic landscape painters did during their time of painting depictions of nature in its purest state. Ansel Adams is considered to be the last of this group of artists including Thomas Cole and his famous Hudson River School.
               Going back to Ansel's technique of "straight photography" I believe it was much easier to accomplish back in his day because of the medium of film being hard to work with. With technology today, it's so easy to go in and correct little imperfections. With my photography I try to capture an image that is pleasing in its raw form and I don't try to idealize it at all. If I do any editing it is just simple contrast adjustments and things like that, but I am trying to get away from those methods as well. A person practicing "straight photography" shows a much more refined talent in photography and in the understanding of what their equipment is capable of and I think that this is admirable in a photographer. By viewing the works of Ansel Adams, the mind of the viewer can be blown through the stunning sharpness and clarity of the images he was able to capture with technology from thirty to sixty years ago, as well as the scenes of "pure nature" which are very hard to find today. This technique of "straight photography" and the love of nature and landscapes are the two greatest influences that the works of Ansel Adams have on my work today.




A work of mine that shows the influence of Ansel Adams on my work:


Contemporary Photographer Profile: Simon Cudby

               The main reason I initially got in to photography was to shoot action sports, especially my favorite, motocross. I had always read motocross magazines and they are always filled with tons of great photographs by many different photographers, but photos by one photographer really caught my eye, and that would be the work of Simon Cudby, one of, if not, the most famous motocross photographers today. Simon does shoots for factory race teams for their use on websites, autograph posters, etc. He also has become the senior photographer for Racer X Illustrated, my favorite, and arguably the best motocross magazine in print today.
               Simon Cudby was born in England and moved to America to pursue his dream of becoming a professional action sports photographer over twenty years ago. He studied photography in London, England, but has self proclaimed that he learned most of his skills from being out in the field and shooting numerous subjects over the years being an apprentice for local photographers. In a bio I found of him from 2001 it talks about how he got started loving motocross at a very young age when his father took him to a local race, which turned out to be muddy, and he got hooked. Throughout the years he has had numerous occupations in the field of photography. He began really making his money shooting for companies like Nissan, and GT Bicycles and using the images for their brochures that were to be distributed at dealers. During this time he was also doing a lot of shooting for mountain bike magazines because during the 90's and early 2000's bicycle racing was a much bigger industry than the motocross industry. Though he was shooting for cycling magazines, his true passion was still for motocross. During the current times, it is hard to pick up a motocross magazine without seeing some form of work by Cudby. He is most proud of his 1999 Cover of Racer X magazine, which was his first cover ever, and it was a photo of one of the most famous racers of all time, Jeremy Mcgrath. Since 2001 Cudby has written three books American Motocross Illustrated(Volumes one and two) and Motocross Exposure, which are all full of his favorite photographs from particular years in motocross racing.  Now that Simon Cudby is known as the greatest motocross photographer in the world, he has been able to leave much of the commercial photography behind and focus on his dream as senior photographer of Racer X Illustrated. Since the digital age, Simon's work can be seen daily on RacerXOnline.com, and he has picked up the art of video to compliment his expertise in still digital photography. Now the commercial photography he does relates to clothing companies, race teams, and other products that are a large part of the motocross industry. So it's safe to say that Simon Cudby is living his dream.
               Though I will probably never have the skill of a photographer like Simon Cudby, I have had the privilege of being exposed to the work of this amazing photographer from being an avid enthusiast of the sport of motocross. As you will be able to see from the samples below, his skills, are very refined, and it is obvious why he has been able to make a living shooting this sport that he loves so much. His use of lighting is something that really stands out for me. Since I use photography as a hobby, and he creates it for a living a huge difference can be seen in our work. But no doubt,if I had to choose a modern photographer that most influences my work, it would definitely be Simon Cudby, because we entered the field of photography for the same reason: The love of motocross.

"Bottom line is that I love this sport, and if being at the races shooting is as close as I’ll ever get to being out there on the pro circuit, that’s fine with me."-Simon Cudby





I was also able to find a picture that Simon took that is awfully similar to one I took from the race in Atlanta. He took his at the exact same race. Great minds think alike I guess?
My Image:
Simon's



Textures and lighting experiment