Visual Artist

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California. Adams grew up with relatively elderly parents who were in their forties. This caused Adams to grow up in a Victorian environment and to be socially and emotionally conservative. Adams nose was scared during an earthquake while he was four years old. Because of these things he didn’t fit in at school. This caused him to live a solitary childhood in which he came to appreciate nature. Adams learned to play the piano and this brought structure into his erratic youth and came to be influential in his photography. Adams became transfixed Yosemite and spent much time there. He joined the Sierra Club and became the photographer for it. It was then that he realized he could make a living from photography and an even better living than as a concert pianist. Adams came to be known as the artist of the Sierra Nevada and the defender of Yosemite. He is very famous for his black and white nature photography and is widely considered the father of American photography.

The Grand Tetons and the Snake River is a classic Ansel Adams. This is a perfect example of what his photographs are like. It is a black and white of an amazing nature scene. In this particular photograph Adams implements principles of art such as the rule of thirds by placing the horizon on the upper third of the photograph. He also uses leading lines in an “S” curve, which is especially effective, using the Snake River. It also is obvious that it is one of Adam’s works because of the photographs great detail which is one thing that he is known for. Another thing that reveals that it is an Adam’s is that is shows the beauty and grandeur of nature.

I chose this artist because I am a photographer and he has inspired some of my work. He is probably the most famous photographer and I wanted to learn more about him so I thought that this assignment would be the perfect time to do so. Ansel Adam’s work helped to expand the National Parks system because it helped congress to see the natural beauty and to expand the parks. I think that Ansel Adams was the most influential photographer there ever has been. If you are to ask anyone name a famous photographer I would bet that 95% of the time the person would say Ansel Adams. He truly has made a huge impact on the world of photography and will continue to do so.

Works Cited

History Place. (1999). Retrieved October 4, 2011, from http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/adams/G01.jpg

Wikipedia. (2011, September 26). Retrieved October 4, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams

Turnage, W. A. (2011). Ansel Adams. Retrieved October 4, 2011, from http://www.anseladams.com/anseladams_biography_s/51.htm