You learn something new every day. Or, if you start out knowing very little, like me, you can learn two new things a day.
Two things I learned today: The New York Graphic Society (NYGS)'s Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs
I also completely missed the fact that my personal favorite Ansel Adams book, The Portfolios of Ansel Adams
Now I know.
We've discussed in the past that different people work most comfortably in different forms; some people think in terms of books, some people think in terms of single images, others extended essays, or exhibits framed and hung in gallery spaces, or magazine features. (People will ask me what form I work in, and I'll be forced to say "great motley heaps of crap piled in odd and provisional corners of my house, such that I cannot find a single [expletive deleted] thing that I am looking for when I need it." That's the form I work in. Apparently.) Anyway I think Ansel worked most naturally in portfolios. He created and marketed portfolios all his life, and all his portfolios have a modulated quality, balancing variety and consistency. He seems (to my reading of his work anyway) to have been most comfortable with small sets of original works rendered elegantly and luxuriously. The Portfolios of... is not his most major book, but it's the one that gives us a window into his own thinking about his pictures through his personal editing of them, and it's his most interesting book in my view.
Mike
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Carsten Bockermann: "I bought The Portfolios of Ansel Adams on my first visit to the U.S. It was back in 1982, I was 16 at the time. The lady in a little bookstore in Carmel said 'oh, that's too bad, you just missed Mr. Adams. He left a few minutes ago and went to the barber shop.' Needless to say I found out where the barber shop was and got my copy signed right there, in the barber's chair."
Featured Comment by Geoff Wittig: "Portfolios is a wonderful book for a number of reasons. It shows the text for each portfolio, including colophons, and even reproduces the actual typefaces used. This is great for 'type dorks' and book collectors like myself; you can see the exact presentation Adams was aiming for. Fortunately for him, San Francisco was (and still is) home to America's largest concentration of fine art book printers. The early portfolios were printed by the esteemed Grabhorn brothers; most of the later examples were designed and typeset by Adrian Wilson, another widely admired book printer.
"The evolution of Ansel Adams' portfolios as displayed in the book to some extent paralleled his artistic development over time. As John Szarkowski pointed out, the early portfolios contained mostly new work, while subsequent portfolios included an ever greater proportion of older images. Either teaching and writing left insufficient time or his muse had fled, but Adams' output of artistically worthy negatives declined precipitously after about 1950."
Thanks for reminding me that A. Adams was one of my earliest influences when I was just a wee boy of 20 or so with a Pentax S1a. I still love his elegant land- and mountain-scapes and don't look at them often enough.
Posted by: David Paterson | Saturday, 03 April 2010 at 02:10 PM
Differing forms of display, to me, are one of the joys of photography. I love to see a photographer's work in different ways...prints, portfolios and books. No doubt Adams would have also embraced the web as another way to organize and show his work.
Paul Strand is one of my favorites, and I was fortunate to collect his work in different forms before it became cost prohibitive for me to do so. While I can see the same image in different forms, the viewing experience is totally different: in size; in texture and touch; and in meaning when shown in context with other images.
I recently saw some of Strand's large abstract prints at a local museum, displayed in the context of other photographs and paintings by various artists influenced by Cezanne. That lent another perspective to his work. (When I realized one of the prints was owned by the museum, I contacted the curator to see if I could get a private viewing of other works. She was delighted to do so. I highly recommend this approach to others as a means to view important works otherwise unobtainable, and not on public display.)
As for my own work, well, that's another story. While the print has always been my end product, I'm now struggling to consider other options regarding display, for fun and/or sale. So, Mike, your comments today are particularly timely and relevant on a personal level.
Posted by: Jeff | Saturday, 03 April 2010 at 02:40 PM
Still no Kindle version, I see. Harumph. Tsk.
(That's a joke, son. A Joke.)
Posted by: Allan Connery | Saturday, 03 April 2010 at 05:37 PM
The paperback (2008 second printing) is the only Adams monograph I own (not counting the technical books).
Yes, a very interesting book. I think "Examples" is more interesting in some ways, especially as a portrait of the artist at work, but when I was at the bookstore to buy myself a copy, I discovered "The Portfolios". Leafing through, I got the impression that these sets were personal labors of love and Adams' way of putting his best foot forward; this in a largish (9 x 10.5 inches), nicely printed format at a bargain price. Plus, I'd already read "Examples". So I bought "The Portfolios" instead.
OK, the cover is too thin and feels frail, but I don't see anything else to complain about. It makes a fine only Adams book (so far) in a library. I feel it's an excellent and particularly personal introduction to Adams' work. And for those who already appreciate Adams but have jaded on the iconic landscapes, there are many pleasant surprises.
Posted by: robert e | Saturday, 03 April 2010 at 11:26 PM
I bought this book a few years ago, I was totally disappointed with it and since then I´ve always thought he was totally overrated in my very modest uneducated opinion. So after reading the comments I´m going to give it another try tonight! Same thing with Edward Weston, always loved his most famous images, I own most of his books but just never felt anything special about his other images. I always prefered Brett Weston, then last year the local museum had a photography exposition on Frida Kahlo portraits made by quite a few iconic photographers. There must have been about 40 different images, but there was one which stood out above all the others and that was a 5x7 contact print by Edward Weston. It was the most utterly amazing print I´ve ever seen in my life. Everyday during the 2 months the show was on I would head down to the museum after lunch and after work in the evening before heading home. It was so haunting and expressive I would just stand transfixed by it, I´ve seen the image on the web a few times since and it is another great example of how one must see a real print to really grasp the power of photography and how when its done properly it has nothing to envy a painting. Paul
Posted by: Paul | Sunday, 04 April 2010 at 09:54 AM
Re: forms to work in, consider B.S., M.S., and PhD...otherwise known as bullsh*t, moresh*t, and piled higher and deeper. (Obviously intended to be humorous, not to cast aspersions on those with degrees, myself included, but I know where I stand in that pile).
Posted by: Craig Beyers | Monday, 05 April 2010 at 01:49 PM
I always remember the first time I saw his prints in person. The Philadelphia Museum of Art had an exhibit, which actually didn't have any of his iconic shots but the prints still took your breath away. Then a few years later I saw Moonrise in DC which was if anything even more inspiring. I like the books but I really think to appreciate Ansel Adams you need to see his prints.
Posted by: Kevin Mayo | Monday, 05 April 2010 at 10:45 PM