BLACK AND WHITE

Learning to Study Photography and

Videography through
the Work of AnselAdams
 AnselAdams: A Biography


 Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer, most

known for his black and white photographs of California's
Yosemite Valley. A commercial photographer for 30 years, he
made visionary photos of western landscapes that were
inspired by a boyhood trip to Yosemite. He won three
Guggenheim grants to photograph national parks (1944-58).
Adams’ perfection for the craft inspired a trilogy of technical
instruction manuals.


 Adams was an environmentalist, and his photographs are a

record of what many of these national parks were like before
human intervention and travel.


 His work has promoted many of the goals of the Sierra Club and
brought environmental issues to light. In 1966, he was
elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. In 1980, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
 Elements of art
 Principles of Design
The organization of works of art. They
involve the ways in which the elements of
art (line, scale, shape, texture, patterns,
etc.) are arranged (balance, contrast,
dominance, emphasis, movement,
repetition, rhythm, subordination,
variation, unity).
 Composition
Arrangement of the elements within the
frame-the main subject, the foreground
and background, and supporting subjects.

Ca n p h ot og r a p h y in flu e n ce on e ’ s socia l
or e n vir on m e n t a l con sciou sn e ss? H ow ?
 How has Adams made use of the
compositional elements of art and
principles of design to emphasize the
changing nature of the landscape?

How does this photograph accentuate

the process of land development and
either commercial or non-commercial
building while reinforcing the concept
of preservation?
 W r it e r ’ s W or k sh op
Today, you’ll describe and interpret a series of


black and white photographs. As you do so,

you’ll become more aware of the ways that
photographers use the elements of art and
the principles of design to create meaning.


And you’ll also increase the depth and



description of your writing!

The White Church,
Hornitos, CA
The White Church, Hornitos,
CA
 How does this photograph accentuate the
process of land development and either
commercial or non-commercial building
while reinforcing the concept of
preservation?

How do you feel about the public’s general

interest in preservation and respect for
the environment? Do you think Ansel
Adams has made a dramatic contribution
to the future thinkers of society, in terms
of a social-consciousness?
The White Church, Hornitos,
CA
 In The White Church, Hornitos, CA, Adams
depicts a church in the background of a
landscape, which is overwrought and
surrounded with wood and metal fences
that seem to zigzag around the terrain.
Adams uses strong compositional force
while framing the church in the
background of a jagged surrounding
landscape.

 Ansel Easton Adams
American, 1902-1984
The White Church, Hornitos, CA
Silver Gelatin Print, ca. 1946
Collection Museum of Photographic Arts
Gift of Joseph Isaacson
Mount McKinley, Alaska
 Mount McKinley, Alaska
 In Mount McKinley, Alaska, Adams captures the glory of an unhampered, serene,
pure landscape. Adams’ hope was that he could influence with awareness, a
more connected relationship to the wilderness and natural landscape, in
hopes of restoring the realm of human thought and consciousness. Adams
said, “I am convinced, after only two visits to “The Great Land,” that Alaska
is one of the most impressive reservoirs of beauty and wildness-an
inexhaustible resource for creative interpretation.”

Can you imagine what this scene might look like if you were to see it today?
Do you think it would look the same or different? Why?

Does the image make you feel any notions of serenity and stillness, as the
photographer intended? If not, what does it make you feel?

In what ways do you think Ansel Adams’ contributions to the Sierra Club and
to the environment might have helped to preserve a place like Mt. McKinley?
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada
from Lone Pine, CA
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada
from Lone Pine, CA
 Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada fromLone Pine, CA, was an image taken 14,444
feet above sea level and about 11,000 feet above a little town called Lone
Pine. At the time of making this image, Ansel Adams noted that Lone Pine
was in its final days and that much of the remaining homes and rural
properties had been bought up by investors from Los Angeles.

 Lone Pine is also about fifteen miles south of Manzanar, the site
of one of World War II’s relocation camps. Ansel Adams once
said, “In the early 1900’s the expanding urbanith of Los
Angeles sought water and reached more than three hundred
miles north to possess it,” and the “glistening bounty of
streams flowing from the Sierra was channeled into
aqueducts and tunnels to the thirsty southland, and the
Owens Valley died a parched and dismal death.


 Now practically all the water of the area flows to the homes and
swimming pools of the City of Angels, and an American
tragedy is here for all who care to see.”
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada
from Lone Pine, CA
 How does this image prove to capture the
purity of a non-urbanized, unpolluted
landscape?
After reading Adams’ quote about this
image, what do you think about his
actions as an artist and an activist?
Do you regard this image as more than
just a “landscape,” knowing what history
lies around it? If not, what do you regard it
as?
Do you think Adams was successful in
conveying to the world what might be lost,
or is lost already? Why or why not?    
Refugio Beach
 Refugio Beach
 Refugio Beach was taken in California in 1946. The image depicts a clean,
unhampered beach scene of boulders, sand, water, and mountains in the
background. The beach has a still and serene quality to it, almost as if you
can hear the water washing up on the shore.
What do you think this beach looks like today?
Are the beaches you have seen as clean and undeveloped as Refugio Beach
looked to Ansel Adams in 1946? What is the main source of pollution on the
beaches in your area? What efforts could be made to change the public’s
viewpoint and general attitude of the world’s beaches and the cleanliness that
they deserve?
How does the composition of this image contribute to a general feeling of
appreciation and gratitude for the natural environmental landscape and the
preservation of it in truest form?    
 You as social critic
 What does it mean to be socially-conscious?
How socially-conscious do you think you are?


 What are some issues you would address if you
were assigned to use images to capture the
essence of your issue of interest? What
series of images would you design to
increase social-consciousness and
awareness?



 You as socially conscious
black and white photographer
 Narrow the list of topics that are of
interest to you. Choose one or two.
 How might you capture one or more of
these topics thematically through a
black and white photograph?
 What considerations will you have to
make as a black and white
photographer?
 What subjects/ time of day/ locations
make for the best social commentaries?
 Adapted from materials
available at…
 Collaborative Arts Resources for
Education Center,
wwwcarearts.org/lessons/ansel_adams_
american_artist.html


 Thanks for sharing!