He helped pioneer photography and environmentalism. The new show at de Young includes work before, during, and after his career. You see not only his work, but his influences and his impact on others. In the end, it's all about the image. But once you realize the challenges in equipment and transportation just to get to where he could click the shutter, it adds another level of respect for the accomplishment. Some outtakes below.
"Ansel Adams, Self-portrait, Monument Valley, Utah 1958"
ENTER through the gift shop. I noticed a new development at de Young. Now the exhibit's gift shop offerings are presented on your way in, not on your way out.
A short introductory video includes a technical overview.
Abelardo Morell's "Tent-Camera Image on Ground: Mount Moran/Snake River, Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, 1948." (I believe Adams also used this technique.) You reflect an image from outside your closed tent onto the ground within it. That turns the ground into the artist's canvas, and you photograph the reflected image that appears on it.
Big subject matter demands a big presentation.
"How the West Is One" by Will Wilson, 2014.
Ansel Adams "Anchors, San Francisco 1931."
"Ansel Adams, Sutro Gardens, San Francisco, 1933" Adams grew up in the same part of SF where I live today. It's interesting to see his views of these familiar landmarks.
"Ansel Adams, Laurel Hill Cemetery, San Francisco 1936." A touching photo, with rainwater reflecting from the recesses of these headstones. This was part of the mass relocation of bodies from San Francisco's cemeteries down to Colma. The dead forced to make way for the living.
"Ansel Adams, Political Circus, San Francisco, 1932."Ansel Adams also knew irony when he saw it. Here election broadsides pasted on corrugated metal are shown beside ones promoting the circus coming to town.
"Ansel Adams, Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, 1927"
"Ansel Adams, Monolith-- the face of Half-Dome, Yosemite National Park, 1927"
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