Moonrise @ Princeton Art Museum

[mikez]

Ansel Adams, Moonrise: Print the Legend
October 26, 2007 – January 13, 2008

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941) by Ansel Adams is one of the world's most widely recognized photographs. This exhibition, featuring four distinct prints (made in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s), explores its potent mythology and its many lives as object and image.

http://www.princetonartmuseum.org/m_exhib.cfm


I know this image is probably one of the most well known out there and some people have an Ansel obsession, others have an anti-Ansel obsession. I never got involved, but I've spent a decent amount of time reading senseless arguments on photo.net and other places. Regardless, I happen to love this print, it's one of the first prints that really captivated me and reading the story behind the exposure made me appreciate this so much more. Hey you don't have to love Ansel, but I think this small exhibit is worth checking out just to see how one negative can be printed in so many different ways.

[Brian Ellis]

That would be very interesting to see. It would have been even better if they had included a "straight" print from the negative. John Sexton shows the straight print in some of his workshops and it's just amazing how different - and frankly awful - the straight print is. I've always thought that it was a real testament to Adams that he was able to envision the print that could be made from that negative after seeing what a straight proof looked like. If it had been me I would have taken one look at the proof and tossed the negative in the trash.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Like Brian, I have seen the straight print version and it is indeed dull.

This exhibit would be a fun one to see, a great way to learn and appreciate the work of Ansel.

[mikez]

Agreed, I think everyone should appreciate his work. No not everyone will find his images to be interesting, but his impact on photography as an "accepted" art medium should be appreciated. His prints ain't half bad either ;) Ah yes it's true about the straight print, though I've never seen it myself, but I've read that Ansel refused to make any print from the negative for years until finally an assistant? (not sure could have been someone else) talked him into it.

To me this just goes to show that sometimes even the most precise technical gurus may not know what kind of magic they have in what they think is a sub-par neg. Granted a horrible negative will never print nicely, but Ansel went at great lengths to develop moonrise evenly and then used an intensifier. It's funny if you think about it. He went through all of that and then didn't make a print. Heck I'm excited to make contact prints of all of my negatives as soon as they're done drying, even if they don't look that great on the light table, but I guess that's because I'm still new to LF.

[David Karp]

Heck I'm excited to make contact prints of all of my negatives as soon as they're done drying, even if they don't look that great on the light table, but I guess that's because I'm still new to LF.

Don't get out of the habit if you can avoid it. If I remember correctly, Sexton recommends proofing every negative, and he has exposed and developed a few sheets of film in his career. Sometimes you get fooled. A negative looks great and you can't stand it printed. Other times it looks bad and you like what you see on the contact.

I have gotten behind on my proofing in the last few years and regret it.

[Brian Ellis]

. . . Ah yes it's true about the straight print, though I've never seen it myself, but I've read that Ansel refused to make any print from the negative for years until finally an assistant? (not sure could have been someone else) talked him into it.

To me this just goes to show that sometimes even the most precise technical gurus may not know what kind of magic they have in what they think is a sub-par neg. Granted a horrible negative will never print nicely, but Ansel went at great lengths to develop moonrise evenly and then used an intensifier. It's funny if you think about it. He went through all of that and then didn't make a print. Heck I'm excited to make contact prints of all of my negatives as soon as they're done drying, even if they don't look that great on the light table, but I guess that's because I'm still new to LF.

I don't know exactly when Adams made the first print but I doubt very much that that story is true. Adams was quite excited about the potential for the photograph from the time he made it. He talks about knowing that he had an exceptional photograph, his excitement, and the care he took in developing the negative in his book "Examples - The Making of 40 Photographs." So I'd be very surprised if after all that he waited years to make the first print and then only after someone convinced him to do so. Some years after making the photograph he did use selenium on the lower portion of the negative to increase the contrast but I'm virtually certain he had already made many prints from the negative.

[Terry Hull]

It is my favorite print, but I can't reconcile the elongated clouds due to slow shutter speed, with such a clear moon. I look forward to going to the Princeton Art Center this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

[Bill_1856]

Are you guys sure that it's not "Clearing Winter Storm" that Sexton shows, and that is so flat and dingy in the straight print?

[HBDesert]

I have been to a few Sexton talks and the two images of AA that I have seen him show as straight prints are Moonrise and Monolith. Sexton also shows a few of his own straight prints including a few of the space shuttle. At first glance they are unimpressive. It really shows the vision of these two individuals.

Take Care,

Doug

[MenacingTourist]

Not a huge fan of Adams but I am a huge fan of filling my head with good work. I'm totally going.

The museum at Princeton is a nice place but the only time I was there was with two young kids and ended up being a shorter trip than what I needed. My wife and I agreed the the next time one of us would go while the other hangs with the kids at home. Only we can't resolve who is staying home first :)

[paulr]

In this interview with Szarkowski about the Adams at 100 show, he talks about prints from the different eras. Interesting read ...

http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa576.htm

[mikez]

I don't know exactly when Adams made the first print but I doubt very much that that story is true. Adams was quite excited about the potential for the photograph from the time he made it. He talks about knowing that he had an exceptional photograph, his excitement, and the care he took in developing the negative in his book "Examples - The Making of 40 Photographs." So I'd be very surprised if after all that he waited years to make the first print and then only after someone convinced him to do so. Some years after making the photograph he did use selenium on the lower portion of the negative to increase the contrast but I'm virtually certain he had already made many prints from the negative.


You're probably right that when I said "years" it sounded like he waited a decade or something, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy. The whole excerpt is an excellent read.



From "Ansel Adams: Some Thoughts About Ansel And About Moonrise", by Mary Street Alinder (Copyright 1999 Alinder Gallery):


"Moonrise was made on a typical Ansel trip to the Southwest in the fall of 1941 combining two commercial assignments: one for the U.S. Department of the Interior at Carlsbad Caverns and the other for the U.S. Potash Company. Accompanying Ansel were his son, Michael, and his good friend, Cedric Wright. The trip was a grand, meandering one, tailored to show eight year old Michael the sights of the Southwest. After a few days exploring Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly, they decided to photograph about Santa Fe.

"Driving back to their hotel following an unsuccessful day of picture making in the Chama Valley, Ansel glanced to his left and saw a fantastic event. The sky was illuminated by brightly-lit clouds in the east and the white crosses in the cemetery of the old adobe church seemed to glow from within. He nearly crashed the car as he screeched to a halt in the roadside ditch, dashed out, yelling at Michael and Cedric to find the tripod, the camera, the meter, etc.

"Ansel rushed to assemble and mount the 23.5 inch component of his Cooke Series XV lens on his 8 x 10-inch view camera loaded with Ansco Isopan film and find the Wratten G filter. All was in place, but he could not find his Weston light meter. He remembered that the moon reflects 250 foot candles and he based his exposure upon that fact. He quickly computed a setting of 1/60 at f/8, but with the addition of the filter it became 1/20 at f/8. To achieve the same exposure with greater depth of field he stopped the lens to f/32 and released the shutter for one second. He prepared to make a second exposure for insurance. Dramatically, the light faded forever from the foreground.

"Moonrise, the negative, was far from perfect. It took me two years to convince Ansel to make a 'straight' print of Moonrise. He printed it without his customary darkroom manipulation as a teaching tool to show the basic information contained within the negative. Comparing this print with a fine print, one is struck by the immense work and creativity necessary for Ansel to produce what he believed to be the best interpretation of the negative. His final, expressive print is not how the scene looked in reality, but rather how it felt to him emotionally.

"Moonrise was Ansel's most difficult negative of all to print. Though he kept careful records of darkroom information on Moonrise, each time he set up the negative, he would again establish the procedure for this particular batch of prints because papers and chemicals were always variables not constants. After determining the general exposure for the print, he gave local exposure to specific areas. Using simple pieces of cardboard, Ansel would painstakingly burn in (darken with additional light from the enlarger) the sky, which was really quite pale with streaks of cloud throughout. He was careful to hold back a bit on the moon. The mid-ground was dodged (light withheld), though the crosses have been subtly burned in. This process took Ansel more than two minutes per print of intricate burning and dodging. Ansel created Moonrise with a night sky, a luminous moon and an extraordinary cloud bank that seems to reflect the moon's brilliance. Moonrise is sleight of hand. Moonrise is magic."


http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=001Wam

[Jon Shiu]

Hi mikez, somehow I think you are jumping to conclusions from the quoted text. It says it took her two years to convince him to make a "straight" print of Moonrise as a teaching tool. By the way I think Mary Street Alinder was his assistant (and biographer) in the 1980's (which is quite a bit after 1941).

Jon

[Brad Rippe]

It is my favorite print, but I can't reconcile the elongated clouds due to slow shutter speed, with such a clear moon. I look forward to going to the Princeton Art Center this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

Terry, I think the exposure was 1 sec. Those clouds are high wind clouds, also known as lenticular clouds. Mt. Shasta, and the Eastern Sierra commonly produce these amazing forms.
-Brad

[mikez]

Hi mikez, somehow I think you are jumping to conclusions from the quoted text. It says it took her two years to convince him to make a "straight" print of Moonrise as a teaching tool. By the way I think Mary Street Alinder was his assistant (and biographer) in the 1980's (which is quite a bit after 1941).

Jon

Now that I reread, what you're saying makes sense. Sorry about that. :o