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:
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