Ansel Adams - Leader in the Art of Conservation

One of the greatest photographers of all times, Ansel Adams (1902-1984) claimed he knew his destiny when he visited Yosemite at the age of fourteen. Up to that point in his life, his focus had been on music and even after his initial visit to Yosemite he still pursued his dream of being a concert pianist. But to do so would require an urban lifestyle and more and more he found himself drawn back to Yosemite and to the wild places. Over time his interest in photography began to direct his life more than his love of music.

Because Ansel's father Charles had given up his plans to be an astronomer in order to take over the family business, he did all he could to encourage his son to pursue his career dreams. Charles wanted Ansel to enjoy the type of life he himself had, out of family obligation, been forced to forego. His father's financial setbacks drove Ansel to excel financially and to balance his love of photography with his need to earn a living.

In addition to the beautiful prints of Yosemite by Ansel Adams that most of us are so familiar with "http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/...", Adams also did promotional work for the Curry Company and took photographs during his trips to nearly all the National Parks and many of the national monuments including those in Alaska and Hawaii. It is his work with the Sierra Club that helped so many realize the need to protect areas such as Yosemite from commercialism, and his photographs were instrumental in establishing protection for other wilderness areas such as Kings Canyon now known as Kings River National Park.

What is not as well known is his work taking photographs of the Japanese Americans who had been forced into concentration camps during World War II. Through his photographic scenes set against the stunning backdrop of the Sierras, he recorded the perseverance and accomplishments of the people interned at Manzanar Relocation Center in Owens Valley. Adams chronicled their hard work as he photographed them working together in neat orderly agricultural fields. His photographs from Manzanar were used in an exhibit for the Museum of Modern Art and eventually released in a book titled Born Free and Equal. The photographs he took of the Japanese people at Manzanar show their honestly and integrity and open friendliness. Through his work, Adams sought to defeat the racial prejudice of the day.

During Adams' lifetime, the issue of photography as an art form versus social documentation was hotly debated. Adams believed it to be an art form and participated in exhibits that put it forth as art. He greatly admired Alfred Steiglitz who was instrumental in defining photography as art and allowed Adams an exhibition in his gallery - An American Place. Over the years, Adams published several collections of his photographs. In the interest of art, he always insisted the highest quality reproduction techniques available be used for his photographs.

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