Celebration of Genius

Ansel Adams: A Celebration of Genius From George Eastman House Collection

June 8 - September 5, 2006

On a summer day in 1916, at the age of fourteen, Ansel Adams saw the breathtaking Yosemite Valley, for the first time. With a Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie, he proceeded to make pictures. Perhaps he had an inkling then that this magical place would be forever entwined in his destiny.

Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984) is among the few photographers in all the history of photography whose name and work enjoy worldwide recognition. His stunning landscapes and intimate still lifes of nature continue to enthrall viewers. Adams's ability to convey the power and grandeur of nature in a black-and-white photograph is astounding. Adams is the master. This exhibition honors the man and celebrates his genius.

Many come to know Adams's work through widely published books, note cards, posters, and calendars. Relatively few have actually seen his lushly printed images in the original. This exhibition provides an opportunity to take a close look at a full range of his work. Favorites such as "Moonrise Hernandez, New Mexico" or "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome" can be scrutinized for their subtlety of tones and quiet beauty. But prepare to discover equally stupendous images such as "Mud Hills, Arizona" or "Water and Foam," or the wonderful abstract titled simply "Stained Wallpaper Near Alturas, Calif." Many will be surprised to see that Adams did not confine himself to landscapes, but made subjects as humble as fence posts into images nearly as monumental as his beloved mountain ranges.

Ansel Adams's life story is as varied as his work. His role as artist, ardent conservationist, writer, and educator all had their roots in Yosemite. This is where he came to create, seek solace in difficult times, and where he met his wife, Virginia Best, other artists, mountaineers, and Sierra Club activists. Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada were the subjects of his first portfolio "Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras" (sic) in 1927. The portfolio of eighteen prints is on view here for the first time in its entirety. (Note: Gelatin silver images were printed on Kodak Vitava Athena grade T, Parchment paper available from 1925 to 1928. This matte, translucent, cream-colored paper formed intense, velvety blacks. The word Parmelian is a constructed name by the publisher Jean Chambers Moore to increase sales appeal. At that time, the portfolio sold for $50.00. Sierra Club members could purchase a "Parchment" print for $2.50.)

A gifted musician with ambitions to be a concert pianist from age twelve, Adams struggled with which career to follow: music or photography. In 1930, he acceded to the lure of a life outdoors in pursuit of photography and gave up serious study of the piano. However, he credited music for teaching him the discipline, patience, and perseverance he needed in photography.

Adams realized he could not earn a living from art photography alone. From 1930 until the early 1970s like many of his contemporaries-including Edward Weston and Paul Strand-Adams accepted commercial assignments to support his family which included his wife and two children Michael (b. 1933) and Anne (b. 1935). His commercial work ranged from mundane department store catalogues, car advertisements, and marketing booklets to giant Coloramas for Eastman Kodak Company, murals for the Department of Interior, LIFE and FORTUNE magazine work, and testing film for his friend, Dr. Edwin Land of the Polaroid Corporation. Adams worked in color and in black and white, but he never considered his commercial work part of his art.

In the course of his long life, he would produce eight portfolios and have work in more than 500 exhibitions. A prolific writer, he published thirty-seven books and hundreds of articles on and about photography. A generous nature compelled him to share his photographic knowledge in detailed descriptions and workshops on how, why, when, and with what equipment and film he used to make many of his photographs. His book, Examples: The Making of Forty Photographs is a window into Adams's love for and sheer perseverance to his art. Among his technical achievements is his development of the revolutionary Zone System a "pre-exposure" system, he developed wherein values from black to pure white in eleven gradations are applied to a scene to predetermine the resulting print tones. The Zone System is still taught in photography classes today.

Adams cared deeply about the wilderness and was an ardent environmental conservationist. His first job in 1919 was as custodian of the Sierra Club Lodge in Yosemite Valley. This association led him to many friendships within the conservation movement. He would serve on the Sierra Club board of directors for thirty-seven years and was active in the Wilderness Society. His photographs were used in support of many environmental issues. He personally lobbied several presidents and Congress on behalf of wilderness preservation.

In 1932, Adams was instrumental in the founding of Group f/64, a short-lived, but influential group of California photographers who brought artistic legitimacy to "straight" photography. Later in life he organized the Friends of Photography, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study and promotion of art photography. Adams also helped establish the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson to house his archives. He received many national and international awards, honorary degrees, three Guggenheim Fellowships, and had a wilderness area and mountain named after him. He is also the only photographer to be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, which he received in 1980. Ansel Adams died in Carmel, California on April 22, 1984.

George Eastman House is fortunate to have had a friend in Ansel Adams through his longtime friendship with Beaumont Newhall, George Eastman House's first curator and second director. Nancy Newhall, Beaumont's wife, often collaborated on writing books and articles with Adams. Through gifts or purchases, the Museum holds more than 270 prints and numerous letters and artifacts in its collections, including the Kodak Box Brownie camera that Adams used on his first and ultimately life-changing visit to Yosemite in 1916.

Jeanne Verhulst, Associate Curator of Exhibitions
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York