Ansel Adams, Stream, Sea, Clouds, Rodeo Lagoon 1962
Monday was the anniversary of the birth of Ansel Adams. Many regard him to be the greatest landscape photographer of all time.
If he were still alive today he would have turned 110 years old! It made me wonder if he were born like myself into the digital age he would still be defined by his mesmerising photographic pieces.
I purchased a large A0 print of the image you see here. It has sat on a wall in my kitchen for the past 10 years and in my bedroom for 4 years before that. In that time this image constantly reminds me of the mastery of Ansel's work and unlike many of the images I have had on my walls over the years I never tire of looking at it.
Sure the technique is outstanding, the sharpness and richness of the blacks is beautiful. Everything an image could be is here. It is not however an image of an incredible place in Yosemite that I can romanticise about visiting. It is just a coastal scene that could have been taken at a beach in my local area.
What I find mesmerising about this image is what makes Ansel Adams the legend he has become. It is the intangible beauty of the work. It is something an artist places in his or her work when looking through the lens. It is why we love to look at art. An artist has the ability to embed (like metadata) themselves in a piece.
Are we emotively drawn to a work by the artists ability to embed themselves in the piece or by the scene they represent? I like to think it is the former and this piece certainly fits into that category.
