Ansel Adams Gallery controversy--re-used old calendar pages?

[Darin Boville]

You may have already seen this....

Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite selling matted calendar pages of Ansel images (without being all that clear to the customer that they are getting a page from an old calendar).

http://petapixel.com/2014/10/07/prin...adams-gallery/

--Darin

[Doremus Scudder]

Disappointing.

[Heroique]

"Recycled product" on the bar code label.

Pretty sneaky.

But good for the environment!

[DannL]

The buyer was not deceived. He failed on several fronts. He directed his questions to a store clerk. He did not inspect the product. He does not understand what the term "Reproduction" means. He bought the goods regardless. Then he blames others for his own ignorance and failings. Isn't that just like some people.

[rdenney]

The buyer was not deceived. He failed on several fronts. He directed his questions to a store clerk. He did not inspect the product. He does not understand what the term "Reproduction" means. He bought the goods regardless. Then he blames others for his own ignorance and failings. Isn't that just like some people.

Agreed. It said "Reproduction" on it. The people behind the counter are not experts, and the kid he talked to apparently suffered from Male Answer Syndrome, and guessed at an answer instead of asking the manager. Sure, the kid should have said, "These are reproductions. The $400 prints are Special Edition darkroom prints made by Alan Ross, Adams's former assistant, in a program started by Adams back in the day to make darkroom prints of some of his negatives more affordable. Prints made by Adams himself are the Signed Prints over there and they sell in the four and five figures." As I recall (though it's been a long time), this was printed on brochures near where the Special Edition prints were displayed, and it's described on the AA Gallery web page.

The guy is making this out to be some big scam, when it was really just a summer sales kid who didn't get the memo.

Lately, I've been scratching a long-standing itch to collect wristwatches, and with those, fakery abounds. There will always be a question, "Is this Rolex a fake?" applied to a never-worn watch they bought for $195 (the real ones sell in the upper four figures), and they want to know if it's a fake. Well, duh. Could anyone believe that a print that costs $22 is anything but a reproduction?

Any thinking person would be far more careful about the Special Edition prints than the reproductions. The Special Edition prints are the ones needing an explanation with prices too good to be true.

I have a bunch of old AA calendars. They are printed as carefully as the AA books and posters--all are printed in duotone and are first-class reproductions. I keep the old calendars because of that. None have faded or yellowed--they are as good as the posters and books, even if they do have a calendar printed on the back of them. If matted, the $22 price is not unreasonable. I wouldn't have chosen one with a bug on it, though.

Rick "who prefers to know more than store clerks" Denney

[Peter Collins]

What's that phrase? Maybe 2,000 years old?? Oh, yeah: Caveat emptor. Been there myself, I know how it feels.

[Vaughn]

Personally, I doubt the whole story. AFAIK, the AA Gallery has never sold calender pages, period.

Edit -- well, I guess this proves again that I can be wrong. I have been represented by the AA Gallery for about 20 years or so and I have never seen these in the gallery.

[Colin Graham]

Not sure if this was added after the dustup, but this is from the AA Gallery website, under matter reproductions:

This beautiful print is an authorized reproduction of the classic Ansel Adams photograph. The mounting, overmatting, and framing makes for a classic presentation.100% Made in America using the Ansel Adams Authorized Edition Wall Calendar.

Authorized reproduction
Offset printing on #80 cover stock paper
Mounted and double-matted with non-archival mat board
Image size approximately 10"x13”, finish size 16”x20”
Three framing options available; contrast gray or matte black recommended
Please allow 2-3 business days for framing.

That said, the print in the article was 6 dollars, matted. The shipping was almost twice as expensive as the matted print.

[BarryS]

He spent $6 on a matted reproduction and feels the need to broadcast his outrage to the world? He saw the business-end of the print before he bought it and it was six freakin' dollars. What is wrong with people?

[vinny]

Someone needs to stop that man from reproducing. More people like this wouldn't be a good thing.