Ansel Adams 1902 1984 Biography Ansel Adams is

Ansel Adams 1902 -1984

Biography • Ansel Adams is one of the most celebrated photographers of all time • Born in San Francisco, CA, Adams studied music with the hope of becoming a concert pianist. • Began taking photographs at the age of 14 when he and his family visited the Sierra Nevada and the Yosemite National Park. • Adams joined the sierra club in 1919 and returned to Yosemite every summer to hone his photographic skills

Biography • Best known for taken black and white pictures of the American Wilderness. • He was a commercial photographer for 30 years • a pioneer in the movement to preserve the wilderness and one of the first to promote photography as an art form. • Through his photographs of landscape, he has helped bring conservation issues to public attention.

Photography Vocabulary • Background: in a picture, those things that appear farthest away from the viewer • Focus: a function on the camera lens that makes a subject appear sharp (in focus) or soft (out of focus). • Foreground: the part of a scene that is nearest to the viewer. • Framing: arranging objects inside the picture frame. • Vantage point: the point from which the artist seems to be looking when he/she creates the scene.

Best of Ansel Adams • The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming • has the distinction of being one of the 116 images recorded on the Voyager Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft. These images were selected to convey information about humans, plants and animals, and geological features of the Earth to a possible alien civilization

Best of Ansel Adams • Mc. Donald Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana

Best of Ansel Adams • Moon over half dome, Yosemite, CA

Best of Ansel Adams • Trees with snow on branches, Yosemite, California

Best of Ansel Adams • Old Faithful" geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Best of Ansel Adams • Close-up of leaves, Glacier National Park, Montana

Best of Ansel Adams • Sand Dunes, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Best of Ansel Adams • View with rock formation in foreground, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Interesting Final Notes • Ansel Adams died on April 22, 1984 He left behind his wife, two children and five grandchildren. • The Minarets Wilderness in the Inyo National Forest was renamed the Ansel Adams Wilderness in 1985 in his honor. • Mount Ansel Adams, an 11, 760 ft (3, 580 m) peak in the Sierra Nevada, was named for him in 1985. • The full archive of Ansel Adams' work is located at the University of Arizona in Tucson.