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Is Ansel Adams over-rated?

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This sort of question comes up every now and then on different forums. Elvis and the Beatles are always popular subjects, and the sports world has Eddie Merckx, Pelé, & Babe Ruth to discuss. Even Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet aren't above cross examination.

On one hand, these people simply can not be over rated. They were so far ahead of their time and accomplished so much more than their contemporaries that no amount of praise would be enough, let alone too much.

But they are only human after all. When we elevate them to the status of a god they become over rated. Time and technology move on and other people build on what the masters and originators had done, I don’t think that takes anything away from Ansel Adams or any of the other great ones, but they didn’t work miracles.

In a word, no! Ansel Adams is not over rated, but perhaps the OP has an inaccurate understanding of what the man accomplished, and therefore skewed expectations' of what his work should be. Even Mohamed Ali sat on his pants once in a while, but he was still The Greatest!

And for what it's worth, Monet's' "Impression, Sunrise" is one of those "see it to believe it" things. Like an Adams print. It's simply impossible to over rate his work or to underestimate how he turned the art world on it's head.

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Do you know anything about composition or want to learn?
--
Bob

'There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.' - Ansel Adams
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Jogger said:
I see his name popping up a lot, and checked out some of his work..
for the most part, i was "meh, i seen the same from point and
shoots". Most of the samples ive seen in this website are FAR more
impressive than his work.

Seriously though, please someone, explain why i should be impressed
with his work. People seem to hold him in such high regard, for what
reason? Out of respect.. because hes become so iconised that people
dont dare disrespect him. And, art is not a reason since that is
subjective... i dont care if someone else thinks its art.
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--
Bob

'There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.' - Ansel Adams
Canon 40D
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Not worshipping Saint Ansel is very un-american as George Bush would say.

Oh, you're a Canadian ? you're forgiven, IF you promise to mend your ways ....:-)

My understanding of the gentleman's work is that he was a fabulous craftsman who know exactly which tools to use to get the result he wanted !
Many people consider him equal to a very reputable painter.
Why not ?
 
IMHO

1. Ansel Adams did what few artists ever do. He combined technical mastery with the ability to express emotions. Lot's of people get one of those right -- few do both.

2. Ansel Adams perfected the black and white process from idea to print. He could look at a scene, decide how he wanted the finished print to look. And it did.

3. I would not call his equipment primitive any more than I would call a Steinway piano primitive.

4. Few people have ever seen an actual Ansel Adams print -- they've only seen reproductions. THERE'S NO COMPARISON. When you see his 4x5 FOOT prints made from 8x10 negatives you will know what I am talking about.

5. Ansel Adams owns his place in history because of his innovation and the ground he broke. Lots of sax players sound like Charlie Parker - but Charlie Parker wasn't imitating anybody. Is HE overrated too? Just browse the landscapes in Pbase and other hosting sites. Almost all of them owe something to Adams' vision (many are blatant copies).

6. Adams elevated photography to the realm of fine art. He was the first photographer to have an exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art in NY. At the time it was scandalous to have mere photographs displayed in that museum. We now take it for granted.

7. Ansel Adams wrote three seminal books on photography: The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. All three will enlighten the new photographer -- yes even The Negative is well worth the read in the digital age.

I guess in the right context, you could say the cave paintings of Lascaux are overrated too, but personally I tip my hat to those folks as well.

kerkula
 
It depends whose doing the rating.
Jules

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Why can't you blow bubbles with chewing gum?
 
Thank you. Thats the best response yet.
 
D Q E said:
He's good, but so are a lot of people.
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He was good, he died, I believe, in 1984.

Yes, there a lot of people who are good. There are many people who take snapshots, they are not so good. There are many people who take photographs, some of them are good. There a lot of people if you combine the two categories, snapshots and photographs, but there are relatively few that are very good.

I have been taking pictures for almost 70 years. I like to call myself an advanced amateur. The truth of the matter is that sometimes I get a good photograph, the majority of times I do not. Unless you get a good photograph with virtually every shot you may be good but you are not great.

Unless you have done darkroom work then you cannot appreciate the talents of those early photographers who did.
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Shoot lots of pictures, always fill the frame
 
Ansel Adams is a pioneer and deserves to be recognised as such. Was he one of the best photographers ever? Absolutely not by any conventional measure. There are thousands of contemporary photographers who produce 'better art' but who are unlikely to ever gain a place in history as founders of a medium as Adams has done.
 
Chipsthe1 said:
D Q E said:
He's good, but so are a lot of people.
Click to expand...
He was good, he died, I believe, in 1984.

Yes, there a lot of people who are good. There are many people who
take snapshots, they are not so good. There are many people who take
photographs, some of them are good. There a lot of people if you
combine the two categories, snapshots and photographs, but there are
relatively few that are very good.

I have been taking pictures for almost 70 years. I like to call
myself an advanced amateur. The truth of the matter is that sometimes
I get a good photograph, the majority of times I do not. Unless you
get a good photograph with virtually every shot you may be good but
you are not great.

Unless you have done darkroom work then you cannot appreciate the
talents of those early photographers who did.
Click to expand...
I've processed and printed THOUSANDS of photos by hand. I'm not as good in the darkroom as Adams, but others were and are and some were better.

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--
mumbo jumbo
 
Hi Bob & Shutterbug
Bob Blount said:
shutterbugbytes said:
I did a quick search for you and found this in the Pro Digital Forum:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1014&message=26755458
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Click to expand...
Perhaps needs adding to the 'watch' list?

Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
-----

The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...

http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php



Bird Control Officers on active service.
 
You "respect" his accomplishment but don't understand why? That's a leap of logic!

You really need to work with film, large format cameras, spend time in the darkroom and hike around Yosemite a few days just to get an idea. Even today, you'll often see large format photographers around Yosemite attempting to do what Adams did.

Not to nitpick but the Model-T was never a state-of-the-art machine when you compare it with cars made by European make of the day. It's the assembly line that made the car iconic... lower cost, faster mass production.
snow4ever said:
Jogger said:
I can respect his accomplishments.. but, it seems like hes the
defacto standard that people compare to. People like to "drop" his
name on issues such as whether equipment matters.

For instance, the Ford Model T was ground breaking for its day...
state of the art.. but, are people comparing today's cars with the
Model T? Standards have risen, people have accepted that in every
field.

So, ppl, stop comparing yourself to Ansel Adams.
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Click to expand...
 
Hi S200
s200 said:
Ansel Adams is a pioneer and deserves to be recognised as such. Was
he one of the best photographers ever? Absolutely not by any
conventional measure. There are thousands of contemporary
photographers who produce 'better art' but who are unlikely to ever
gain a place in history as founders of a medium as Adams has done.
Click to expand...
My sole disagreement is with your third sentence.

Ansel Adams may not be the greatest photographer ever- one could argue endlessly about who was ... ; but he has become a standard by which others are measured.

IMHO, he was great because of:

1) He was a master of his craft;

2) He had an excellent eye for an image, and went to the lengths necessary to get THAT image;

3) He had huge community involvement, at every level - from Presidents to the poor;

4) He was a master craftsman in the dark room as well;

5) He taught everything he knew to anyone who would listen! AND wrote excellent books trying to pass on ALL his knowledge to the world at large;

6) He contributed enormously to the technical development of photography, both the image-making side and the development of technical processes (Kodak, Polaroid etc).

7) His stunning images are a wonderful legacy for all of mankind.

8) He estimates that his platinum-toned prints will last for about 250 years ...

9) In doing all these things, Ansel Adams has made an excellent, enduring contribution to his art, and to mankind at large by his massive contribution to the development of the US National Park system.

I should be so fortunate as to leave behind the legacy that Adams has - I won't!

He seems to have been a very good man, all around. FAR too good for the likes of some here to cast aspersions about ...

Regards, john from Melbourne, Australia.
-----

The Camera doth not make the Man (or Woman) ...
Perhaps being kind to cats, dogs & children does ...

http://canopuscomputing.com.au/gallery2/main.php



Bird Control Officers on active service.
 
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