{"id":563,"date":"2015-11-15T01:30:19","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T01:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=563"},"modified":"2018-10-08T20:17:12","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T20:17:12","slug":"adams-ansel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/adams-ansel\/","title":{"rendered":"ADAMS, Ansel"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cI always say, there\u2019s nothing worse than a clear, sharp image of a fuzzy concept.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

Interview with Ruth Teiser & Catherine Harroun (14 May 1972) Conversations with Ansel Adams: Oral History Transcript<\/em>, Interview III, Tape 3, Side 2, ed. Ansel Adams, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1978, p. 60; online via University of California, Internet Archive, www.archive.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” add_icon=”true” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1449531589281-1a7ccd5f-aa59094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Requote notes<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:<\/em><\/p>\n

In the same interview series, Adams repeated the same idea: \u201cBut as I say, there\u2019s nothing worse than a very sharp image of a very fuzzy concept<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d (Interview VI, 26 May 1972, Tape 9, Side 1, p. 220)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Interview]:<\/p>\n

Ruth Teiser<\/u>: \u201cIn discussing photography with people whose photogaphs you don\u2019t necessarily admire tremendously, do ideas come to you in an interchange of opinion?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ansel Adams<\/u>: \u201cOh sure. Ideas come. Sometimes I have occasions to be very critical because of unnecessary sloppiness. The thing that bothers me more than anything else is weakness. I don\u2019t mean what fascists would say was weak, but just no body<\/u>, namby-pamby. You know, many musicians just play, and so what? Well, many of the photographers you see are just so what? The way the photographers see, the way they print, the way they present the prints, the way they handle them. When I see a kid come up with a portfolio and he has a nice print protected by a slipsheet, the changes are that the work is good. It may not be; it may be a great shock; you might find some awful, tasteless things. I always say, there\u2019s nothing worse than a clear, sharp image of a fuzzy concept.<\/span> [Laughter] You get a terrible concept it might be physically sharp, but it\u2019s just empty or in bad taste.\u201d (pp. 58-59)
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Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Conversations with Ansel Adams: Oral History Transcript<\/em> (14 May 1972) online via Internet Archive: https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/convanseladams00adamrich#page\/58\/mode\/2up<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbcfc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cIt is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

In response to the question \u201cWhat is the most critical fight now?, \u201cAnsel Adams\u201d (March 1983) Interview with David Sheff, Playboy<\/em> magazine; reprint online via David Sheff, www.davidsheff.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e62fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Interview \u2013 Adams is referring to then-President Ronald Reagan and Interior Secretary James Watt]:<\/p>\n

“Here is an important point: Only two and a half percent of the land in this country is protected. Not only are we being fought in trying to extend that two and a half percent to include other important or fragile areas but we are having to fight to protect that small two and a half percent. It is horrifying that we have to fight our own Government to save our environment.<\/span> Our worst enemy is the person the President [Reagan] designated with the responsibility of managing the country\u2019s environment: James Watt. No wonder it is a monumental battle.”[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4cfc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cAnsel Adams\u201d (March 1983) online via David Sheff.com: http:\/\/davidsheff.com\/article\/ansel-adams\/<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1efc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe big enemy now is not the dam and highway builders. It\u2019s the damn unconcerned people. People want to take all their comforts, everything, into the wilderness. All they want is a different view out their trailer window.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

Commenting Sierra Club leadership, \u201cBrower Power Awaits the Verdict\u201d (14 April 1969) Harold Peterson, Sports Illustrated<\/em>, New York: Time, Inc., online via Sports Illustrated Vault, www.si.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bffc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Article about the Sierra Club’s environmental advocacy & then-Executive Director David Brower. Adams, a long-time Sierra Club member, had become a critic of the direction he perceived Brower was leading the non-profit.]:<\/p>\n

\u201cAdams, a friendly hearty gnome with a stubborn chin nearly concealed by a gray bush of a beard and a strong forehead concealed by no hair whatsoever, lives in a house looking down the magnificent, monochromatic Big Sur, south of Carmel. The patriarch still says splendid things: \u201cWilderness is to the great megalopolis that the commons was to the little village of bygone days. But if the wilderness is overused, it can no longer be a democratic commons. Take Yosemite as example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or, \u201cThe big enemy now is not the dam and highway builders. It\u2019s the damn unconcerned people. People want to take all their comforts, everything, into the wilderness. All they want is a different view out their trailer window<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cBrower Power Awaits the Verdict (14 April 1969) online via the Sports Illustrated<\/em> Vault: http:\/\/www.si.com\/vault\/1969\/04\/14\/612203\/brower-power-awaits-the-verdict<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThere are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

\u201cAnsel Adams\u201d (March 1983) Interview with David Sheff, Playboy<\/em> magazine;\u00a0reprint online via David Sheff, www.davidsheff.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Interview]:<\/p>\n

David Sheff<\/u>:<\/em> \u201cDespite the fact that you\u2019ve taken a good number of portraits, there\u2019s an impression that you photograph only nature. In fact, photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, \u201cThe world is falling to pieces and Weston and Adams are doing pictures of rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams<\/u>:<\/em> \u201cIt\u2019s too bad we have to be swamped with dogma. But I would never apologize for photographing rocks. Rocks can be very beautiful. But, yes, people have asked why I don\u2019t put people into my pictures of the natural scene. I respond, \u201cThere are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the view.<\/span>\u201d That usually doesn\u2019t go over at all.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cAnsel Adams\u201d (March 1983) online via David Sheff.com:\u00a0https:\/\/www.davidsheff.com\/ansel-adams\/<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1efc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cTo photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

Introduction to \u201cPortfolio One\u201d (1948)\u00a0Portfolio One, Twelve Photographic Prints,<\/em>\u201d San Francisco, CA; reprint in The Portfolios of Ansel Adams<\/em>, Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1985 (7th printing), no page number.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bffc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Portfolio preface]:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.<\/span> Impression is not enough. Design, style, technique, – these, too, are not enough. Art must reach further than impression or self-revelation. Art, said Alfred Stieglitz, is the affirmation of life. And life, or its eternal evidence, is everywhere.\u201d (Introduction, Portfolio One, no page number)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Editor\u2019s copy \u2013 The Portfolios of Ansel Adams<\/em> (1977|1985 7th edition) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-8212-1122-6[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cWhen words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

From autobiography preface,\u00a0Ansel Adams: An\u00a0<\/em>Autobiography <\/em>(28 October 1985) with Mary Street Alinder, New York: Little, Brown & Co., fourth printing, 1986, p. ix<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Autobiography preface]:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not going to retrace my life from past to present on a one-lane highway. I intend to recall varieties of experience, stretching tentacles of memory to the earliest sources in such sequences as seem logical, but without restrictions of time or place. When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.<\/span>\u201d (p. ix)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf63fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Editor\u2019s copy \u2013 Ansel Adams: An Autobiography<\/em> (1985) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-8212-1596-5[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1efc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cYosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Ansel Adams<\/strong>, American photographer & environmental activist<\/p>\n

Introduction to \u201cPortfolio Three\u201d (1960)\u00a0Portfolio Three, Yosemite Valley, Sixteen Original Photographic Prints<\/em>, Sierra Club: San Francisco, CA; reprint in The Portfolios of Ansel Adams<\/em>, Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1985 (7th printing), no page number.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bffc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong>: \u201cYosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space. <\/span>I know of no sculpture, painting, or music that exceeds the compelling spiritual command of the soaring shape of the granite cliff and dome, of patina of light on rock and forest, and of the thunder and whispering of the falling, flowing waters. At first the colossal aspect may dominate; then we perceive and respond to the delicate and persuasive complex of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e0fc6a-22c6″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Editor\u2019s copy \u2013 The Portfolios of Ansel Adams<\/em> (1977|1985 7th edition) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-8212-1122-6<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]Learn more about Ansel Adams<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>| Here are a few good places to find out more –<\/p>\n