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View Full Version : Ansel Adams at 100 - NYTimes article



Erik Eks
30-Jul-2001, 12:30
An sel Admas at 100 ("http://members.home.net/larry.sabo/irgallery/Technical%20Details.htm)

Comments?

Erik Eks
30-Jul-2001, 12:35
I'm sorry. I messed up the HTML. Here it is again:

Ansel Adams at 100 (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/29/arts/design/29DECA.html)

Comments?

Tom Raymondson
30-Jul-2001, 12:54
If you've only seen the posters and the books you should take this or any opportunity to see his prints. Amazing.

Mark Minard
30-Jul-2001, 13:01
Hi,

I happened to see the book at Borders last week... The prints look green to me. My wife agreed, and she's not nearly as picky as I am. Even Monnrise has a greenish hue to it. It's a real shame, because it is a beautiful book, and I wanted to buy it. Now I'm not sure. Anyone else here see the book??

Mark Minard
30-Jul-2001, 13:02
sorry - Moonrise not "Monrise"

scott jones
30-Jul-2001, 14:27
Thanks for the hot tip. Not only did I learn about New York Times on line and read the interesting article, but also found that the show runs from August to January in San Francisco, just a hop, skip, and jump from where I live in Portland, Or. My family will travel to SF to get a chance to see AA's more unusual and less iconic photographs. Thanks for posting this information!

Kevin Crisp
30-Jul-2001, 18:19
I'm not defending the printing of a book I haven't seen, but just so you know sometimes Adams real prints do look a big greenish. I was at the gallery in Yosemite about 9 years ago and a big print of Mt. Williamson (boulders in foreground) was on display and it had what could only be described as an olive tone to it. If you looked at just that print it wasn't obvious, but if you looked at others with neutral tones it was hard to miss by comparison.

Mark Minard
30-Jul-2001, 23:34
Hi Kevin,

I agree... I've mostly seen it in his older work, though. Just last week I saw the AA show at the Eastman House in Rochester, and most of his better known work - Mt. Williamson, Moonrise, Clearing Winter Storm, ETC. represented in this particular collection were printed about 1960, and they all were neutral in tone and absolutely beautiful. I need to take another look at the book, I think. Let me know what you think after you see it.

Ellis Vener
2-Aug-2001, 11:40
It is interesting that they are getting away from Ansel'smarketing guru's "greatest hits collection".

Erik Eks
2-Aug-2001, 12:32
What I find intriguing in the article is the comparison of Adam's prints done thrity apart. It is interesting to note that early Adam's prints were a lot lighter in tone and not as contrasty. Later, as John Swarzkorski (sp?) posits, his prints were more Sturm und Drang, to appeal to the buying public.

For those of us who have held the familiar and widely seen later Adam's prints ('overwrought' as the writer puts it) as the gold-standard of print excellence, will this insight cause you to revise your printing methods and rethink your printing process?

Erik Eks
2-Aug-2001, 12:34
I'm sorry. That should have read "...done thirty years apart".

M.
2-Aug-2001, 12:41
I don't think that AA's later prints were made that way to appeal to the buying public. I think that it was because AA liked them better that way himself. As do I.

Ellis Vener
2-Aug-2001, 18:27
Read Mary Street Alinder's biography of Ansel Adams for more info on how and why Adams changed his printing style over the years.

Eric Williams
8-Aug-2001, 17:17
Mark,

I have seen the new book and I have to tell you I was surprised at the look of the photographs in this book. To my eye many of the photographs look green and many are not as sharp as the same prints found in other Adams books. Compared to other Adams books, California for exapmle, the paperis not as glossy and to me seemed thinner, I have seen better paper in some high quality magazines. For the $150 price tag I think that they could, and should have done a lot better. As an Adams fan who owns several of his books, I am dissapointed not only in the quality of this book but the steep price tag. However, I am looking forward to seeing the Adams at 100 show.