Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I was truly impressed and inspired by the AA show, but I too feel his photos are somewhat clinical. I have always felt there was something unnatural there. Maybe if I someday go to Yosemite, I'll change my opinion. M.G. - -----Original Message----- From: B. D. Colen [mailto:bdcolen@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 12:51 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: RE: [Leica] Ansel Adams on PBS TV If you'd seen 6 ft under you might not have thought so, Ernie...;-) I find myself in the somewhat unusual category of having great admiration for AA as a photo technician and "inventor," and very little regard for him as a "photographer." His development of the Zone System and his abilities as a manipulator of light, in the field and in the darkroom, were great technical achievements. That said, however, I find his photography sterile incredibly predictable. I can't blame the Estate for the monsoon of posters, etc. - AA's photos ARE posters. They're "beautiful," and if they inspire people to want to protect the environment then they are truly valuable. But, IMO, they lack ambiguity and any sense of imagination. But I stress this is my opinion - nothing more, nothing less - and it is certainly a minority view. B. D. - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of enitka@twcny.rr.com Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 12:36 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] Ansel Adams on PBS TV I like many others found the show to be awe inspiring- as much for the photography as for the celebration of one person's efforts to save the environment. I have always been a fan of AA. What suprises me is the way he is sometimes disparaged in some photographic circles. The negative reaction that he generates is difficult to understand. I think much of it may be not so much his photography or him but the way his art has sometimes been foisted onto the general public as the "only real american photographer". Mind you this is not my opinion but the effect of 1] being very very talented and 2] having an agressive Trust organization to promote things after death. I believe this maybe what some object to. Much like Frank Lloyd Wright - except in this case FLW was not a very nice person ( my take of him) but his architecture is sooo wonderful. The show was worth missing 6 feet under - my wife was sent into the other room to record all the plot lines in 6FU. ernie nitka 4/22/02 8:46:00 AM, SthRosner@aol.com wrote: >In a message dated 4/22/02 1:45:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >red735i@earthlink.net writes: > >> If you did not see the show, you missed the most inspirational 1 1 /2 hours >> on phtotgraphy. Try to get a video from a friend. > >Yes, Frank, also a magnificent journey of the human spirit and an accurate >description of one aspect of the American national psyche that most people >miss. I spent four months during the summers of my 14th and 15th years >working in the Rocky Mountain West and the feeling for the western wilderness >has never left me. > >My wife missed it and as PBS sells the video for $19.95, I'm getting a copy >for her. > >Seth LaK 9 >-- >To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html