AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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Just in case someone's interested 
Ansel Adams - Celebration of Genius
at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 9th February - 19th April 2008.
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AlanW
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 38302
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Thanks for the warning - I'll stay clear for a while!
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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Supersonic
enthusiast
Reged: 11/07/2006
Posts: 265
Loc: Surrey
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I've had trouble sleeping lately - might be worth a trip
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Regards,
Pete
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john_g
Pooh-bah Hoo-ha
Reged: 09/05/2007
Posts: 2540
Loc: Surrey
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Is Ansel Adams becoming the James Blunt of the photographic world? I'd go to see the real prints rather than just some calendar copies.
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John
Who could suppose that angels move the stars, or be so superstitious as to suppose that because one cannot see one's soul at the end of a microscope, it does not exist?
R.D.Laing The Politics Of Experience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_gass
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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I can honestly say that in the 30 years I've been living in Edinburgh this is the first photo exhibition that the proverbial wild horses couldn't drag me in to see . . . . . . . even if it was free 
Here's an interesting take on Adams, The Ansel Adams Mystique, for you to savour 
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AlanW
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2154
Loc: Edinburgh
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I will be going. I'd love to see the real prints. Some of his pictures can be dull, but his best work is outstanding.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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John_K
addict
Reged: 03/09/2006
Posts: 580
Loc: North Yorks
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Quote:
Thanks for the warning - I'll stay clear for a while!
If a tiny fraction of the so-called experts in photography who contribute to this forum were as talented as Ansel Adams, the photographic world would be a far better place. He was a real artist and craftsman who didn't rely on multi exposures to get it right. He did it 1st time!
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NorthernNikon
Bulls Hitter
Reged: 16/12/2005
Posts: 6374
Loc: Harrogate, North Yorks
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Quote:
He was a real artist
I would argue that that was the last thing he was. He was a technician and while his prints my be technically brilliant they lack a certain je ne sais quoi which only comes from the truly artistic.
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www.BarneyAllen.com the new home of ComicShots.
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 38302
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Indeed. If you've never seen one of his prints in the flesh, you certainly should - he certainly was an expert craftsman, although as regards prints he certainly didn't get it right first time - there's a lot of evidence that points to his earlier prints being rather poor, and certainly many of his shots were reprinted to a higher standard later. But as an artist? Well, he's not to my personal taste, and I love landscapes.
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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Mojo_66
Rain Kat
Reged: 25/05/2006
Posts: 3416
Loc: Lancs
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Quote:
Is Ansel Adams becoming the James Blunt of the photographic world? I'd go to see the real prints rather than just some calendar copies.
"'Celebration of Genius' is an exhibition featuring 150 photographs by Ansel Adams selected from the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in New York, the world's pre-eminent museum of photography.
This will be the first exhibition of Ansel Adams original photographs to been seen in Scotland, and the largest ever in the UK."
So you'll be going along too then?
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojo_black/
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2154
Loc: Edinburgh
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I haven't been yet, but I still intend to go.
Apparently the exhibition suffers from 'reflectyglass syndrome' but not to the point of disaster.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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RonM
Reged: 26/04/2001
Posts: 3753
Loc: Scotland
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Well I'm just back from the exhibition and though have never been a great fan of his 'Artistry' I now having seen his work in the RAW so to speak, can only praise the absolute technical excellence of his prints, Nick is correct about some of his older work c. 1920's where the detail is not as evident as his work from the 40's and 50's.
What surprised me is that normally at an exhibition I will study an image at a proper viewing distance which I did with Adams images and could see the detail and tones, however for many, I went in really close and found that there was more detail and 'information' you were sort of drawn further into the photograph, I've never had that before.
I then went on to view the exhibition of Lindsay Robertson which sits side by side with the Adams exhibition. Let me give you a tip, don't bother! 
You can purchase prints (don't ask the price but a joke, which another couple viewing commented upon, especially, when being shown beside Adams images the technical term 'crap' was uttered) but when many have been enlarged far to large and also that many/most at the edges of the prints are soft and I do mean soft, plus many are 'reworks' of some of Ansel Adams images e.g. Monolith, the face of Half Dome. Plus 2 very, very average images of Buachaille Etive Mor I didn't even bother to finish just went to Beyond Words 
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Ron NRIPN
Everyone has a photographic memory, some don't have Film or Digital Memory.
Life is a Learning Opportunity
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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Quote:
just went to Beyond Words
Hi Ron,
Small world, I was in there around 2, didn't buy anything this time around, I'd already picked up what I wanted from the remaindered table in the last couple of weeks.
Oh, and so far I've managed to resist Ansel Adams!
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AlanW
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RonM
Reged: 26/04/2001
Posts: 3753
Loc: Scotland
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Must have just missed you, I was in at around 1:30/1:45 and managed to pick up a few from the remaindered list that I wanted, the only one I couldn't get was 20th Century Photography by Reuel Golden.
I'm glad I went to the Adams exhibition, just to see what can be accomplished by a master craftsman, although most of his images are not to my taste (and like Nick I'm into Landscapes) there were a few that I did/do like and am more than happy that I have seen the actual images rather than ones in a book or website
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Ron NRIPN
Everyone has a photographic memory, some don't have Film or Digital Memory.
Life is a Learning Opportunity
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2154
Loc: Edinburgh
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If I frequented Beyond Words I'd be in financial ruin. I go about once a month at most, and then usually just browse with my wallet safely under lock and key...
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Zou's Flickr Page
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2154
Loc: Edinburgh
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Finally went to see the exhibition. Adams once said (and I paraphrase) "Sometimes I get to a scene just as God is ready for me to click the shutter." I have to agree. Some of his scenes are quite honestly breathtaking. (Some are average to the point of boredom, but that's another story...) What struck me was the scale of humanity on the 'wilderness' - his work for the National Parks is surely his greatest legacy.
I reckon the 40s were his best period, most of my faves are from then.
The one image that sticks with me is of a ruined habitation in an Arizona canyon. The scale defies belief, and close inspection reveals not only a fence running along the front of the scene, but also a swastika someone had sprayed on the rock. Whilst Adams was a darkroom magician, it's revealing that he never tried to remove such elements, but left them in to (and I'm guessing now) show the impact of humanity on the landscape.
Robertson's work was, as previously stated, far too enlarged, and far too expensive. I wouldn't call it crap, but I also wouldn't call it brilliant.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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