Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was an American photographer, one of the most famous and influential landscape photographers in history. His career and work had a significant impact on the development of photography, especially in the genre of nature and landscape.
Born: February 20, 1902 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died: April 22, 1984 (aged 82) Monterey, California, U.S.
Black and White Photography: Adams was known for his masterful use of black and white photography. His works in this style captured the beauty and grandeur of American national parks and nature.
Zone System: Adams developed and popularized the “Zone System,” which allowed him to achieve high contrast and detail in his black and white photographs. This method became fundamental in the art of black and white photography.
Landscape and Nature: Adams’ primary focus was on natural landscapes, particularly the national parks of the American West, such as Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and others. He became an advocate for nature and used his photographs to raise awareness about the need for conservation.
Zone System is a systematic method for achieving precise exposure and controlling the contrast in black and white photography, particularly with large format cameras. The Zone System divides the full range of tones in a photograph into ten distinct zones, labeled from 0 to 9.
The Tetons and the Snake River (1942)
The picture was taken from an elevated point of view and depicts the Snake River in a mountainous valley. A dramatically lit black-and-white photograph depicts a large river, which snakes from the bottom right to the center left of the picture. Dark evergreen trees cover the steep left bank of the river, and lighter deciduous trees cover the right. In the top half of the frame, there is a tall mountain range, dark but clearly covered in snow. The sky is overcast in parts, but only partly cloudy in others, and the sun shines through to illuminate the scene and reflect off the river in these places.
The picture was taken at the Glacier National Park in Montana and depicts a view of the Lake McDonald, looking across to the distant mountains and to the clouds. The photograph shows a large, still lake extending horizontally off the frame and halfway up vertically, reflecting the rest of the scene. In the distance, a mountain range can be seen, with a gap in the center and one faint smaller mountain in between. The sky is cloudy and large dark clouds rest at the very top of the frame.
Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park (1942)