Ansel Adams at 100

 

Ansel Adams at 100
Ansel Adams at 100
by Authors: John Szarkowski , Ansel Adams
Released: 02 August, 2001
ISBN: 0821225154
Hardcover

Sales Rank: 49211
List price: $150.00
Our price: $94.50 (You save: $55.5)
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Ansel Adams at 100 > Customer Review #1:
A masterful restrospective

If you can only afford to buy one photo book / coffee table book this year . . . this is the book to buy. Period. This oversized book is beautifully reproduced and lovingly bound to last for ages; a commemorative print, not available elsewhere, is reproduced as a separate plate -- suitable for framing, which is a nice touch: Who among us can afford an original Ansel Adams photograph? As beautiful as this is as an example of book-making, its real value lies in the selection of photos.
Of course, no two photographers will ever agree as to what photos should have been included in this massive retrospective -- outside of the obvious ones like "Moonrise Over Hernandez County" -- but every photographer who looks at this book should find inspiration in Ansels inimitable "eye" that saw, and captured on film, the ordinary and transformed it into the extraordinary; a photographer who saw the extraordinary and transformed it into the sublime.
As for the text: I think an academic perspective is certainly appropriate for such a retrospective, but I would dearly have loved to see a piece by, say, Joseph Holmes (NATURAL LIGHT--a gorgeous collection of photos) or another photographer to give it, so to speak, a "through the lens" perspective.
Although there are other coffee-table sized books published of Ansel Adamss work, this one sets a high watermark and, as such, should find a permanent place in the library of every serious photographer, aspiring photographer, or anyone with a sense of beauty who can appreciate the rare and wonderful talent that is Ansel Adams.

Ansel Adams at 100 > Customer Review #2:
Beautiful Photos with a Hidden Meaning

This is a superb book. I was first introduced to Ansel Adams at work. While waiting to give my bi-weekly status reports to the President I reported to, there were photographic prints of Adams work on the walls. The clean look to the photos calmed me before my meetings. In picking up "Ansel Adams at 100", I am reminded of a calm vision of beauty, in both words and pictures. Szarkowskis book is artistic and beautiful. First of all the book is well crafted with high quality pages that yield the most amazing pictures of the Adams collections. Secondly, the photos, especially of Yosemite, show an almost spiritual bent to them. I found myself looking carefully at both the sweeping measures of the photos, the granduer, and suprisingly, the sweet simplicity of a tree, a mountain, a leaf. It is Adams mastery of focusing on the simple yet at the same time utterly complicated subject that makes you appreciate his clarity. Thirdly, the excerpts of Adams vision and life lend to the book in giving the reader another overview of this work and life---especially how that led to his interests, his almost driven focus. All in all, its a beautiful book, richly photographed and written, and elegant in both presentation and subject. Well worth the price.

Ansel Adams at 100 > Customer Review #3:
Not the Greatest Works, but A Must for Ansel Adams Admirers

Ansel Adams at 100 is the catalog for the museum exhibition of the same name that has been traveling the United States and Europe from 2001-2003. Unfortunately, the exhibit did not come to a city near me, so I cannot comment on how well it is represented in the book. Since I did not see the museum exhibit from which the photographs were taken, I will be commenting on how this book fares as a stand-alone "coffee table"-type book of Ansel Adams photographs.

The book has 191 pages, is 14 1/4x12 3/4 inches in size, and is hardbound with an oatmeal-colored linen cover and slipcase. Also included with the book is a 13x11 inch reproduction print of Aspens, Dawn (1937), which is suitable for framing. The book begins with a 42-page essay on Ansel Adams life and career (dont worry, big print) by John Szarkowski, the books editor and the director emeritus of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art. The essay is followed by 114 tritone plates of Ansel Adams photographs, all black-and-white.

I think the most helpful point that I can make about this book is that it is not a book of Ansel Adams "greatest hits" or of his best photographs. I have yet to find a complete collection of either of those things. This is a very abridged version of the Ansel Adams at 100 museum exhibition which, as far as I can ascertain from the photographs in this book, sought to give the viewer a broad perspective of Ansel Adams relationship with photography and with nature over the course of his life. Some of the photographs are great and some quite mediocre. But you will find photographs in this book that you have never seen before (unless, of course, you saw the exhibition). This includes a few very early photographs from the 1920s which are not very good, but are significant when contemplating Ansel Adams whole career and the photographic history of that period. My favorite part of the book are some plates which have two versions: one that was printed in the 1940s or 1950s and a later print of the same image made in the 1970s. These plates are on facing pages so it is easy and interesting to see how Adams perspective changed over the course of his life. I was reminded of some of my own work from long ago which I recently looked at and thought how differently I would print it now. (Adams earlier prints are better, and so are mine. So much for improving with age.)

In conclusion, if you are looking for a comprehensive book of Ansel Adams best work, this is not it. If you are a fan of Ansel Adams and would like to learn more about how Adams work and nature photography as an art progressed and changed over the course of decades, this would be a great book to have. Ansel Adams at 100 is a must-have for hard-core Ansel Adams fans and those interested in the evolution of nature photography in the 20th century.



 
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