At the Pensacola Museum of Art there is an Ansel Adams exhibition "A Celebration of Genius" sponsored by the Eastman House. Closing date is January 17, 2004. If you are located in the Florida panhandle region it is worth a visit. Admission $5/adults. Images span from about 1920-1970 and number about 100.
My wife and I took the 8 hour trip to see this exhibition, returning two days ago. We combined it with a wedding anniversary celebration to Pensacola Beach so it would not seem so insane. I was in awe. Now I know there are those on this forum who wouldn't walk across the street to see an Ansel Adams exhibit, but I for one think the man was one of the greats. He was only human, however. As I scanned the prints closely, looking for detail that doesn't show up in reproduction in his books, I did find evidence of spotting and areas that were a little soft or even downright out of focus. It really made me feel much better, seeing these "defects" in his work. One print sticks in my memory. It is out of focus across the middle third of the print. It was Mount Williamson- Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, Calif, 1944. The boulders in the immediate foreground were sharp. The clouds and distant mountains were sharp. But there was this area of boulders from left to right that was out of focus, with, if I remember correctly, the left side of the print being worse than the right. Now, this print was about a 2x enlargement, the negative being 8x10.
My point is that Ansel knew it. The fact is, it's still a great photograph. I have had my artistic fire lit once again by visiting this exhibit. Of course, I will still strive to have everthing in focus and chase the ever-elusive dust monster, but I will not be so quick to throw a negative in file 13 if it has a defect or two. I have to remember that most people won't see these defects.
There are a few days left to see this exhibit. I highly recommend it.
Just my two cents' worth.
DG
When I was a small tadpole, growing up (partly) in June Lake, California, my hard working dirt collar dad would haul me off to museum photography shows whenever he could do so..Los Angeles, Frisco, Oakland. He had an old twin lens Rollei, he bought me a used Argus 35. The first time I viewed an Ansel Adams exhibit, in an Oakland museum exhibit, I was stunned..at about age 8. I had seen many other photographers attempts in B&W by that time, and with Ansels exhibited photographs staring me in the face, even at that young age I knew I was looking at a "master" printer, a photographer with skills standing a few heads higher then anything else I'd seen.
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