The "Ansel Adams" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished hanging up my Ansel Adams prints in the family room.  When Carol decorated for Christmas she removed the two Ansel Adams prints and replaced them with needlepoint work that she had done that reflected the holiday season, but now that Christmas has long passed and the decorations are once again stored safely in plastic tubs, the Adams prints are once again hanging for all to see.  Back in 2011 I wrote about Ansel Adams and how Carol had purchased two prints from a special reprint of Ansel Adams works.  

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico taken in 1941 by Ansel Adams.

Love both of them, but my favorite Adams print is one called Moonrise taken in Hernandez, New Mexico.  It is Adams most popular single image and a copy of it sold in 1981 for a record $71,500.  Guess you understand why I don't own one of those prints.  Over the years that I taught high school photography I grew to understand and appreciate Ansel Adams and what he did for the art of black and white photography.  He is perhaps my most favorite photographer.  For those who have never heard of Ansel Adams, or may have had a brief brush with the photographer, I have taken photos from my Pinterest page to share with you which will show his life through his portraitures.  You will see how others pictured him throughout his life.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A self portraiture taken in 1930 at the age of 28.  The crook in his nose is the result of the 1906
San Francisco earthquake.

1932 photo taken by Villiard Van Dyke.

The photographer of this photo taken in 1936 is unknown. It features Adams with his camera. 

If you thought "Selfies" are something new, here is one taken by Adams in 1936.

A 1947 photo taken by Nancy Newhall.  He is standing with his  tripod so my guess is Nancy is using his camera.

A 1950 photo show Adams with a much smaller camera.  The photographer is unknown.

1953 photo taken by Imogen Cunningham.

This 1958 self-portraiture of his shadow was taken in Monument Valley, Colorado. 

This Arnold Newman photograph of Ansel Adams was taken outside Adam's home in Carmel, California.  You can see he must have been working in his darkroom since he is wearing his apron.

A 1975 photograph taken by John Sexton.

A very interesting photograph taken of Ansel by Judy Dater in 1977.

My last photograph is of Ansel Adams at work with Georgia O'Keeffe in the background.   This photograph was taken in 1976.   I hope you noticed that all the photographs I have posted were in black and white.  Of the 500 or so photographs taken by or of Ansel Adams that I have posted on my Pinterest page, very few are in color.  Ansel Adams died in 1984, eight years after this photograph was taken.