Photo Auction Features the Works of Ansel Adams, Steve McCurry, and More
A stunning collection of photographs from some of the world's most renowned photographers will go to auction next week where some are expected to fetch up to $18,000.
FBI Arrests Gallery Owner for Forging Ansel Adams Photos
The FBI raided the home of a gallery owner who is accused of cheating clients out of more than 100 rare fine art photographs, including prints by famed landscape photographer Ansel Adams, worth an estimated $1.6 million.
Photographer Showcases the Entrancing Beauty of ‘Sacred’ Sites
For years photographer Chris Rainier has been captivated with the process of exploring the meaning of ‘sacredness’ in a world filled with numerous religions, identities, and increasing consumerism.
Ansel Adams’s Interview with Playboy
When I think of Ansel Adams, I think about beautiful landscapes, the zone system, and preserving the environment. I would have to say that Ansel Adams and Playboy Magazine are not words I would put into the same sentence, yet here we are.
How to Use the Zone System in Photography
Even though the Zone System is over 80 years old, it is still relevant today whether shooting modern films or digital capture. This article is for photographers wanting to learn more about the Zone System for their particular workflow.
‘No Such Thing as a Straight Photograph’: Computational Photography Pioneer
Computational photography pioneer Marc Levoy argues "straight photography," an idea popularized by Ansel Adams, is a myth.
Remembering Ansel Adams Through the Life of One Student
Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. An exceptional photographer and environmentalist, he is best known for his iconic black and white images of the American West.
Photography is Easy. Art is Hard.
You have a great camera and you practice precise photographic techniques. You explore desirable locations and shoot beautiful subjects but still your photographs leave you less than excited. What next?
Great Reads in Photography: February 21, 2021
Every Sunday, we bring together a collection of easy-reading articles from analytical to how-to to photo-features in no particular order that did not make our regular daily coverage. Enjoy!
My Visits with Ansel Adams
In the 1970s, I was seriously pursuing my hobby of black and white landscape photography with a 4x5 view camera. My prints were being sold by the Image Gallery in Palo Alto and the Focus Gallery in San Francisco and by me at occasional street fairs. Selling prints never generated much money, but I appreciated the acknowledgment of my work.
Iconic Ansel Adams Photo Sells for Record-Setting $988,000
Sotheby's has set a new auction record for an Ansel Adams print at $988,000, with the total value of the entire collection of Adam's images – A Grand Vision: The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterworks – reaching $6.4 million.
Great Reads in Photography: November 1, 2020
Every Sunday, we bring together a collection of easy reading articles from analytical to how-to to photo-features in no particular order that did not make our regular daily coverage. Enjoy!
Sotheby’s to Auction Off Massive Ansel Adams Collection, Including $1M Print
Sotheby's has announced plans to auction off one of the most impressive collections of Ansel Adams' work in existence. On December 14th, over 100 of the legendary photographer's most iconic photos will be sold, headlined by an early print of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico that is expected to fetch between $700,000 and $1,000,000 by itself.
How Ansel Adams Revolutionized Landscape Photography
Billions of photos are being snapped and shared on the Internet every day. There are more cameras than people in the world nowadays. Photography is something we take for granted; something we can easily do whenever we want. But it wasn’t always like this.
Realism vs Pictorialism: A Civil War in Photography History
A largely forgotten bit of photographic history might be of interest: the civil war between realism and pictorialism.
The Story Behind Ansel Adams’ Iconic ‘Moonrise, Hernandez’
The Ansel Adams Gallery made this 4-minute video about Ansel Adams' Moonrise, Hernandez, a photo the gallery calls Adams' "most famous and iconic image." Sales director Brittany Moorefield shares the story behind the photo while presenting an ultra-rare mural-sized print from the early 1970s.
Here’s a Great Documentary About the Life and Work of Ansel Adams
Want to be inspired by the great American photographer Ansel Adams? Here's a fantastic 80-minute documentary film that PBS aired back in 2002. Titled Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film, it's an in-depth study of Adams' life and work.
Even Ansel Adams Had to Advertise His Photo Business
Every legendary photographer had to start somewhere. Before Ansel Adams became a household name in the photo industry, he was working hard at improving his skills and growing his business like any photographer early in their career.
Jarob Ortiz, the Next ‘Ansel Adams’ of the National Park Service
In December 2015, the Internet was abuzz with a National Park Service (NPS) job listing that was considered the search for "the next Ansel Adams": a position for a black-and-white large format photographer with a salary up to $100,000 per year.
Here’s the Golden Ratio in Ansel Adams’ Photos
Artists have long used the golden ratio as a guide for creating aesthetically pleasing art, as it's believed that the human brain is hardwired to find the proportions inherently beautiful. Take a look at the work of legendary photographer Ansel Adams, and you may find the golden ratio tracing out many of their notable features.
Ansel Adams’ Work Schedule, Advice for Young Photographers, and More
Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography just released another insightful conversations with Ansel Adams' son Michael Adams. This time around, they tackle Ansel's famous book The Range of Light, his work schedule, education, childhood, and much more.
An Ansel Adams View Camera is Being Auctioned Off for the First Time Ever
At the end of October, for the first time in history, you'll have the chance to own one of Ansel Adams' 4x5 view cameras for yourself. Heritage Auctions has gotten their hands on an Arca-Swiss 4x5 inch view camera used by Ansel in the 60s, and on October 27th it goes up on the auction block.
How Ansel Adams Wrote Pictorialism Out of Photography History
We all have a blind spot, both literally and metaphorically. Ansel Adams had one so big and powerful that he, Beaumont Newhall, and a few others “disappeared” some very important and wonderful photographers from the history of photography. And in doing so they also helped “disappear” an important movement in photography, one called Pictorialism.
A Look at Ansel Adams’ Cameras and Commercial Work
In another fascinating peek into the life and work of the great Ansel Adams, Marc Silber takes us into the legend's home where we get to see some of his old cameras, hear about his week-long Yosemite workshops, and find out about the commercial work he did to "pay the bills" in the early years.
Untold Stories About Ansel Adams’ Portraits and Workshops
Jeanne Adams is the daughter-in-law of the late and great landscape photographer Ansel Adams, and she served as the head of the Ansel Adams Gallery for 25 years. In the 10-minute interview above, Jeanne talks to Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography about Ansel's workshops, teaching styles, and lesser-known portraits.
A Tour of Ansel Adams’ Custom-Built Darkroom
"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships." That quote by the great Ansel Adams might contain a hint of joke, but it's no joke that Adams sometimes spent entire days locked up in his darkroom creating his prints. And now we get to see the space for ourselves.
Ansel Adams Shares the Story Behind One of His Most Famous Photographs
The great Ansel Adams would often say that his negatives were "the score" and the print was "the performance." And one of his most famous "performances" of all time is Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico, the photograph you get to hear Adams himself talk about in this video.
How Ansel Adams Grew From a Casual Photographer Into a Legendary One
Here's a fascinating 6-minute video that explores how Ansel Adams went from being a rather mediocre amateur photographer and into the legend we now know and revere.
Adams, Lange, and Miyatake: 3 Photographers and 3 Views on Japanese Internment
NPR's All Things Considered aired this interesting 5-minute segment that discusses Japanese internment camp photos of photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Toyo Miyatake.
NPR Interviews the National Park Service on Its ‘Next Ansel Adams’ Search
We reported last December that the National Park Service photography program had posted a new job listing for a full-time photographer to document the country's natural landscapes -- the same position once held by legendary photographer Ansel Adams.
With the application window now closed, Rich O'Connor of the Park Service was just interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered about the position. You can listen to the 4.5-minute interview above.