Ansel Adams at 111

[benjiboy]

I find the idea of celebrating dead peoples birthdays when they can't eat the cake or open the presents a little bizarre.

[silveror0]

I find the idea of celebrating dead peoples birthdays when they can't eat the cake or open the presents a little bizarre.

The humor is accepted, but homage to this man - to whom we owe so much - is not in the least bizarre.

[Terry Christian]

Perhaps, Benji, but I'd rather celebrate his birthdate than his death-date!

[benjiboy]

Perhaps, Benji, but I'd rather celebrate his birthdate than his death-date!

Hi Terry, it's just me, and the way I look at things, I believe that celebrating his life and achievements rather than his birthday in the conventional sense would be a little more appropriate.

[StoneNYC]

Today would have been Ansel Adams 111th birthday. I think he is even more relevant today than ever. He has managed to live a full life during which he focused on what mattered to him, while avoiding the entrapments of wealth, and staying away from poverty. There is much one can learn from his example, and I have just written a short blog post, http://rafal.net/?p=1463, as a way of saying a "thank you" to this amazing man.

Happy Birthday, Ansel!

Rafal, you must have been well off at some point in your life for you to view wealth as an entrapment, I agree Ansel was a great photographer and created amazing prints, but to say he avoided wealth is like saying man avoids food and sex, yes there are monks who abstain from such things for periods of time, but I just think in the real world, anyone who came up poor would never make a statement like this, I grew up poor and I'm still poor, I don't NEED to be wealthy beyond my dreams, but I certainly would like to be able to live comfortably, wealthy would be wonderful to me, I dream of wealth, because it's very hard to be inspired and to persevere when you have nothing...

[Robert Liebermann]

Great! I was trying to mention that birthday to someone, but couldn't find the place to slip it in. I noted the birthday on my 1985 Earth First! calendar (which matches 2013). Because AA is the one photographer most people can name, if they can name any, people seem afraid to mention how great he was - besides being an absolutely solid photographer who knew every step of the process fully, he was a great writer and teacher, a conservationist, an activist, and not afraid to say what he thought. It's getting harder to be able to find /any/ of these qualities anymore. Where are all the icoloclasts these days?

[StoneNYC]

Great! I was trying to mention that birthday to someone, but couldn't find the place to slip it in. I noted the birthday on my 1985 Earth First! calendar (which matches 2013). Because AA is the one photographer most people can name, if they can name any, people seem afraid to mention how great he was - besides being an absolutely solid photographer who knew every step of the process fully, he was a great writer and teacher, a conservationist, an activist, and not afraid to say what he thought. It's getting harder to be able to find /any/ of these qualities anymore. Where are all the icoloclasts these days?

What's an earth first calendar?


~Stone

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[Argenticien]

[...] besides being an absolutely solid photographer who knew every step of the process fully, he was a great writer and teacher, a conservationist, an activist, and not afraid to say what he thought. It's getting harder to be able to find /any/ of these qualities anymore. Where are all the icoloclasts these days?

And a talented pianist. Where are all the polymaths and Renaissance persons these days? In fact, a talented pianist first; his autobiography describes how that's what he was first trained for and got to near-professional proficiency. Being selfish for a moment on behalf of photographers, we are lucky he ended up changing careers and that we have his lifetime of pictures and writings left to posterity. Of course since Adams lived in the 20th Century, not the 17th, we would have a lifetime full of his performances preserved on tape for posterity to hear if he had gone on to be a musician of similar prominence to what he was as a photographer.

--Dave

[batwister]

And a talented pianist. Where are all the polymaths and Renaissance persons these days? In fact, a talented pianist first; his autobiography describes how that's what he was first trained for and got to near-professional proficiency. Being selfish for a moment on behalf of photographers, we are lucky he ended up changing careers and that we have his lifetime of pictures and writings left to posterity. Of course since Adams lived in the 20th Century, not the 17th, we would have a lifetime full of his performances preserved on tape for posterity to hear if he had gone on to be a musician of similar prominence to what he was as a photographer.

--Dave

He played accompaniment mostly though and didn't feel he had what it took to be a concert player. The average person doesn't understand what it means to be a great pianist, they are easily pleased - likewise with photography for most too - "that sunset picture is a MASTERPIECE! You're a GENIUS!" I very much doubt he would have got to the same level with music as he did photography. But I do wonder if we would have ended up with a 'tone system'? Please don't mention Twelve tone...

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I remember our photo class took a field trip to Carmel California during the early 80's. I was exploring the city and went to the Weston Gallery. I remember a Cadillac parked in front of the gallery with a California license plate "Zone V". Didn't think much of it. When I stepped inside, there was a bald burly man signing a book with big arthritic hands. It was Ansel. I told a classmate that I saw him. He said to me "You saw God Adams?"