Re: [Leica] Ansel Adams at 100

[Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com>]

on 12/22/01 1:02 AM, Arie at ariek@pacbell.net thoughtfully wrote:

> Adam, I was moved more by his earlier work, rather than his later reprints.
> The earlier work is much more subtle and intimate, as opposed to his later
> grandiose dramatic style.  Which is what most people are familiar and
> comfortable with.
> Each time I've seen the exhibit the crowds have driven me crazy.  I work for
> another museum here in SF and I guess I've gotten spoiled in being able to
> view work in relative privacy.  Were you lucky enough to catch it on a slow
> day?

We were into the MOMA right at 11:00 AM when it opened and went straight for
the exhibit. At first it was quiet but very soon the stream of people began
to push us through. We resisted the current as best we could, taking time to
enjoy the prints - but after a half-hour the current became too strong and
we drifted with the flow, for the most part, but stopping to follow the
audio commentary.

After a break we went back, it was now about 12:30 I think, and the huge
rush had cleared so we could browse at our leisure. This was the most
rewarding time for us - we took a half hour or so to look at the images
which had intrigued us the first time through.

As we left another wave was beginning.

This is the downside of major exhibitions like this one, but the opportunity
to see so much of his work in one place is wonderful.

One of the real advantages of photograph is the ability of an artist to
revisit a portion of his work (the negative) and re-express it based on his
current understanding both of his craft but of his vision. Painters and
sculptors cannot do this: they make a painting and there is no going back,
there's no intermediate stage.

I'm not sure if my reaction is one of "comfort" or of my own reaction to
Adam's exploration of what was possible in the printing of his negatives. It
would be fascinating to know what was driving him as he revisited his
earlier work with more modern tools and with an additional 20 to 30 years of
life. I know the world I see and understand today is not the world I could
have experienced when I was 20.

Thank you for sharing your own perspective which I value. Which gallery do
you inhabit?

Thank you!

Adam Bridge

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