Burt
Chernow Galleries
Housatonic Museum of Art
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, CT 06604
For information call
Robbin Zella, Director,
203-332-5052.
Dogwood, Yosemite National Park, California, 1938
To learn more about this photograph see the information below. To
see a larger view of this image as an Acrobat
Reader PDF file, click on the image...
This image is copyrighted by The Ansel Adams Publishing
Rights Trust and cannot be printed or reproduced in any way. The use
of the photograph is limited to viewing in the context of this web
site.
Dogwood, Yosemite National Park, California,
1938
Plate 12 in Ansel Adams - Classic Images
Sources: Ansel Adams- An Autobiography; and Ansel Adams - Classic Images, and Examples - The Making of 40 Photographs by Ansel Adams, p 113 (on close-ups in general). Please see Bibliography.
A. Why did Adams take close-ups of nature?
B. Does the poet Whitman share Adams' love of details?
C. Were his close-ups appreciated by others?
D. Is the subject dominant in photography?
E. What's the difference between taking close-ups in
the studio or in nature?
F. Related links in this site
A. Why did Adams take close-ups of nature?
Adams may be most well-known for his long-distance shots, but he
was also fascinated with turning his camera to the details in nature.
The creative photographers of the early twentieth century were known
for close-up shots and he followed suit. He wrote poetically in his
autobiography, "One can never assert the superiority ... of torrents
swollen by the floods of spring against the quiescent scintillations
of an autumn stream."
...back to top
B. Does the poet Whitman share Adams' love of details?
Adams quoted an American poet who shared his tendency to look for beauty
in small and unassuming places as well as in the grand and dramatic.
"These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distant and in its place."
From "Miracles," by Walt Whitman
...back to top
C. Were his close-ups appreciated by others?
While he himself found "subtle beauty in quiet, simple things,"
it was typical of "modern conceit to demand the maximum dimension."
He believed that people in Asia involved with aesthetics "would
never question the exquisite charm of those pale threads of water patterned
on shining stone," but that Americans' preference for the "theatrical"
limits their appreciation of the beauty in small details.
Adams was disturbed by this attitude even among some close acquaintances.
They could see a "grand vision in a photograph of a mountain",
for instance, but not in fragments or details of nature. Adams says
that to them, "A close-up composition of a pinecone" was "simply
not as important as a whole tree."
...back to top
D. Is the subject dominant in photography?
Adams conceded that for most people the subject matter is the dominant
consideration in any photograph. The successful transmission of more
sophisticated creative concepts "depends upon the sensitivity of
the viewer." A photograph begins to lose some of its illusion of
realism when taken in black and white because the reality around us
is in color. The more the photographer focuses on the beauty of the
light, texture, shape, value and other formal elements, the less the
image is tied to the reality of the subject.
...back to top
E. What's the difference between taking close-ups in the studio
or in nature?
Adams wrote in Examples that a composition that is arranged in
the studio is "contrived" and is "a synthetic
creation in that it involves putting together elements to make an argreeable
arrangement." On the other hand, a composition from the external
world, is "created by an analytic process in that we select
and manage the elements of the photograph in the existing surround."
...back to top
F. Related links in this site
- Lesson Plans
- Resources
- See Bibliography for more material by and about Ansel Adams.
- About Photography
- See Glossary for definitions of vocabulary words and photography terms.
Exhibit Home | Gallery | About Ansel Adams | About Photography | Lesson Plans & Activities | Student Projects | Resources | Programs & Tours | HMA Home
Housatonic Museum of Art
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Directions to the Museum
For information call Robbin Zella, Director, 203-332-5052
