This is the 4th post in our Artist of the Week series.
Ansel Adams lived from 1902 until 1984 in California. He was a brilliant photographer and an avid environmentalist. Ansel Adams found it difficult to succeed in school but when he was 12 he taught himself to play piano and read music. For years the piano became his career until his love of Yosemite caused him to join the Sierra club and begin taking pictures.
His first photographs were published in the Sierra Club bulletin in 1922 and a mere six years later he had his own solo exhibition. Through the 1920s and 30s Ansel began to realize that he could make more money as a photographer than a concert pianist. He had his first New York show in 1933 at the Delphic gallery. By 1935 he had published his first photograph book entitled Making a Photograph.
Ansel Adams is today a legend to photographers everywhere because he reveled in the theory and method of the craft. He pioneered numerous methods for taking photographs and published ten technical manuals on photography. These books are still considered to be among the best guides for photography.
Throughout his life he continued working on photographing beautiful landscapes and spearheading environmental efforts. Though he became a widely respected and admired photographer, he struggled with making enough money to survive. By the end of his life he had 8 photographic portfolios and nearly four dozen books to his name. Despite the fact that he loved to entertain and was always the life of any party, there is still no comprehensive biography of his life.
To learn more about Ansel Adams visit the Ansel Adams website.
