Do you know who ansel adams is?

Have you heard of Ansel adams

  • Yes

    Votes: 216 92.7%

  • No

    Votes: 17 7.3%
  • Total voters
    233
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simon ess said:
Hey David

Flukeman's agreeing with you.

Chill eh? ;)
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I'm not saying he isn't.. I just didn't know what it was in response too! :P


oh.. and while I'm here...


jon ryan said:
Remind if you would, it seems to have slipped my mind. Who taught Adams his photography? Did he go to university and study it properly?
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I never said you had to go to college or university though... that slipped past me the first time around. I don't think I've once suggested in this thread that the only way to learn is going to Uni. I'm suggesting that those who are so fiercely arguing against looking at past masters, as well as the work of their peers are more likely to be less creative as a result. Whether Adams went to college is immaterial. If you knew anything about Adams at all though, you're realise that him and the others who set up the f64 group were doing so in response to pictorialism! What does that suggest to you? That he was working in his own little bubble, or that he was in fact VERY familiar with what came before. Adams has written expansively on who his influences were, who he admired, and drew inspiration from, and what he disliked and what he liked.

No.. he never went to Uni.. but he knew the value of being inspired by others... both in his photography, and in his music.


jon ryan said:
Hang on...what made Adams unique and important was that he had no formal education. But for anyone else to become creative, they must have a formal education in photography?
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No.. I've never suggested you need to go to uni to learn a single thing... not in this thread anyway. If you're referring to something I've said in another thread and sticking in here out of context to score some cheap points.. well.. that doesn't surprise me... but not in this thread I haven't.

jon ryan said:
Anyway, I'm bored now and have a long weekend ahead taking photographs.
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I look forward to seeing them.


jon ryan said:
I can understand why you identify with Keith Arnatt.
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....aaaand there it is. The insult. :)
 
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Pookeyhead said:
What, or who was that in response to? Use the quote facility!
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Pretty obviously it was in reply to the original thread of the thread.

I know you have been hounded on this thread (my opinion) but surely the best way to stop that is to put the hounders on ignore and get on with your posting of useful stuff. Stop getting yourself tied up in replying to them and let the thread get back on course.
 
I know of Ansell Adams, I appreciate the quality of his works. As Martin(Organixx) quite rightly mentions, he 'invented' used, with great skill and artistry' The Zone System. If anyone owns, and better still, uses a Gossen Profisix exposure meter, very expensive in its day, you can meter for the Zone System! Thanks for bringing his name to the fore.
 
Steep said:
Pretty obviously it was in reply to the original thread of the thread.
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Sorry.. not to me it wasn't... anyway.....

Steep said:
I know you have been hounded on this thread (my opinion) but surely the best way to stop that is to put the hounders on ignore and get on with your posting of useful stuff. Stop getting yourself tied up in replying to them and let the thread get back on course.
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I'm just giving them the opportunity to show their real worth and character in this forum.
 
jon ryan said:
Hang on...what made Adams unique and important was that he had no formal education. But for anyone else to become creative, they must have a formal education in photography?

Anyway, I'm bored now and have a long weekend ahead taking photographs.





I can understand why you identify with Keith Arnatt.
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Pookeyhead said:
I'm not saying he isn't.. I just didn't know what it was in response too! :P


oh.. and while I'm here...




I never said you had to go to college or university though... that slipped past me the first time around. I don't think I've once suggested in this thread that the only way to learn is going to Uni. I'm suggesting that those who are so fiercely arguing against looking at past masters, as well as the work of their peers are more likely to be less creative as a result. Whether Adams went to college is immaterial. If you knew anything about Adams at all though, you're realise that him and the others who set up the f64 group were doing so in response to pictorialism! What does that suggest to you? That he was working in his own little bubble, or that he was in fact VERY familiar with what came before. Adams has written expansively on who his influences were, who he admired, and drew inspiration from, and what he disliked and what he liked.

No.. he never went to Uni.. but he knew the value of being inspired by others... both in his photography, and in his music.





No.. I've never suggested you need to go to uni to learn a single thing... not in this thread anyway. If you're referring to something I've said in another thread and sticking in here out of context to score some cheap points.. well.. that doesn't surprise me... but not in this thread I haven't.



I look forward to seeing them.
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A nice lasndscape can be calming:
1.jpg
[/IMG]
 
jon ryan said:
A nice lasndscape can be calming:
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LOL.. you're right. Thank you. Now take a long look at it yourself and stop insulting me.


[edit]

Tonal range is a bit flat though ;)
 
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Im just catching up with Don McCullin interviewed by Parky, interesting to hear about the photographers that inspired him
 
jon ryan said:
A nice lasndscape can be calming:
1.jpg
[/IMG]
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Your image doesn't show that.... it's 'nice' enough.... but I don't exactly like it...so, I wouldn't call it calming.

I didn't know who Ansel Adams was until I joined this forum, and someone suggested that I look at his work... I'm glad I did.... I'm surprised at the amount of people who still haven't looked at his work, even after commenting on this thread....
 
David (Pookeyhead), can you recommend any good reference material regarding notable photographers and their work? (Perhaps material you recommend to your students?)

Thanks.
 
ZoneV said:
David (Pookeyhead), can you recommend any good reference material regarding notable photographers and their work? (Perhaps material you recommend to your students?)

Thanks.
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I know not aimed at me but this is a good website, take a bit of time navigating but worth spending some time on it. If you click the right clicks there is some bios and portfolios of many great artists on there:


http://photography-now.net/international_photography_index/
 
Pookeyhead said:
If you ask me, it's: Conceive idea, research/decide how you wish to interpret that idea, frame, expose, print. Without those first two steps, you're clearly just walking around with a camera until you see something that for some reason appeals to you... and then you record it. I think most people, even the hobbyists, do at some level preconceive their ideas.
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For me your two steps are inherent in framing and exposure. Perhaps I have a very simplistic view of what constitutes taking a photograph. But I take your point.
 
No single book no, but I tend to recommend looking at various people once I get an idea of what they like, but in all honesty, I think looking at work from genres you may not necessarily shoot yourself can be a good thing. I once had a student who shot fashion, and rather topically at the moment, used Adams as inspiration - the results were spectacular.

Anyhoo... generic books covering more than one artist?

Masters of Photography / Fotografie - Die Meister:
ISBN 8881176777
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9788881176779

Some wicked stuff in there.

50 Photographers You Should Know - Peter Stepan
ISBN-10: 3791340182
ISBN-13: 978-3791340180

Both great books.

Master Photographers - Roberto Koch
ISBN-10: 2080201336
ISBN-13: 978-2080201331

That's not cheap though... you may get it at an affordable price off ebay though.
 
jon ryan said:
A nice lasndscape can be calming:
1.jpg
[/IMG]
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Solo man said:
Your image doesn't show that.... it's 'nice' enough.... but I don't exactly like it...so, I wouldn't call it calming.

I didn't know who Ansel Adams was until I joined this forum, and someone suggested that I look at his work... I'm glad I did.... I'm surprised at the amount of people who still haven't looked at his work, even after commenting on this thread....
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Umm, not my image.

It's an Adams...
 
Pookeyhead said:
No single book no, but I tend to recommend looking at various people once I get an idea of what they like, but in all honesty, I think looking at work from genres you may not necessarily shoot yourself can be a good thing. I once had a student who shot fashion, and rather topically at the moment, used Adams as inspiration - the results were spectacular.

Anyhoo... generic books covering more than one artist?

Masters of Photography / Fotografie - Die Meister:
ISBN 8881176777
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9788881176779

Some wicked stuff in there.

50 Photographers You Should Know - Peter Stepan
ISBN-10: 3791340182
ISBN-13: 978-3791340180

Both great books.

Master Photographers - Roberto Koch
ISBN-10: 2080201336
ISBN-13: 978-2080201331

That's not cheap though... you may get it at an affordable price off ebay though.
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Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated. I'll see if the local public & Uni libraries have any of them.
 
I read once that he sat for 14 hours straight waiting to take that shot waiting for the sky to be exactly as he preconceived it.. Incidentally, those clouds should be black, as should the shadows on the mountains. A cheap scan doesn't really do that justice.
 
ZoneV said:
Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated. I'll see if the local public & Uni libraries have any of them.
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I recommended those because they're so beautifully printed as much as anything else.
 
jon ryan said:
Umm, not my image.

It's an Adams...
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I'll break it down for you shall I....seeing as you read it how you wanted to...
I didn't say it was 'your' image.... as in literally 'your' image.... I said I didn't like your image that you posted.....I just didn't like it....
I didn't know Ansel Adams before I joined, so, I went and had a look at his work.... there is a lot I didn't like about his work, but, there was a lot I did like..... if I hadn't at least made the effort to look, I wouldn't have known... I at least took some inspiration from some of it...
I would choose to look at, rather than ignore, the work of others...
 
Solo man said:
I'll break it down for you shall I....seeing as you read it how you wanted to...
I didn't say it was 'your' image.... as in literally 'your' image.... I said I didn't like your image that you posted.....I just didn't like it....
I didn't know Ansel Adams before I joined, so, I went and had a look at his work.... there is a lot I didn't like about his work, but, there was a lot I did like..... if I hadn't at least made the effort to look, I wouldn't have known... I at least took some inspiration from some of it...
I would choose to look at, rather than ignore, the work of others...
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Thanks for making that clear.

I don't like it either. I think it's quite...ordinary. Which is why I put it up. I think Ansel Adams was, overall, probably the best photographer ever, and he is certainly my favourite.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
So what if I did? Does it make this discussion any less relevant? Maybe I decided to come back because the majority aren't the same as you, and the other two, and that to stay away would effectively be giving you exactly what you want. I'm getting sick to death of this little clique of bigots trying to discredit everything I type in this forum. I get passionate about this subject because I think it's important, and I write expansively on it.. fine.. if you don't like that, then tough, but I've curbed my excesses in terms of my lack of ability to suffer fools lightly, and since my suspension have been very careful of other's sensibilities. You still however, seem to be on a mission to discredit me. I can only assume therefore you see me as a threat... which is quite flattering. It is however, annoying... I have reported you.
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I suggest you go back through the thread and read my posts. I'm not the one suggesting you are wrong and dismissing photography. In fact quite the opposite, I have also expressed my dismay at the "don't know, don't want to know opinion" I even reported posts that were attacking you which brought a mod in to stop it.

However, I won't make the same mistake again.
 
simon ess said:
Jon - it's beyond ordinary - it's really not very good.
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Hence my reference to it's tonal range. In all fairness though, there were two prints made of this for the 1st edition of "The Print". One straight, and one after he'd printed it as he conceived it. These prints were then entrusted to an archive in Maryland. In the late 70s there was a book published by someone I forget now, called "The American West and the Heroes of Photography" or some other such terrible title, and they got permission from the archive to drum scan the originals. The archive gave the wrong print - the straight print. The publisher then had to withdraw the book from print. The irony is, most versions you see are actually the wrong version. The proper one is held by the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y and it looks very different from that version.

[Michael Caine voice] Not a lot of people know that [/Michael Caine voice]
 
I didn't know that.

Hey David - you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off ;)
 
Sorry..... that microwave burrito I had earlier was a bit dodgy :)
 
ZoneV said:
Just noticed this quote. I'm not sure why it's included there - did you misuderstand my post?
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Nope. Long story, back when the thread was a bit more sensible. No need to go back through it
 
Mahone said:
Yes indeed, spend a few hours looking at their work and a few hours on Flickr groups and tell me which you found more inspiring? (I mean you in the general sense of people here).
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I've already spent time looking at their work thanks and I shan't be wading through Flickr for inspiration. But thanks for the suggestion.
 
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