American art comes in so many forms. Oil on canvas, clay and hands, a tattoo gun for skin or cameras and landscapes — all of it feeds the soul. One of the best at shutter-based art, aka photography was Ansel Adams (b. February 1902- April 1984). Adams is to the camera what Picasso was to paint. In other words, they weren’t the first, but widely considered revolutionary.
Ansel Adams is a San Francisco born photographer whose best work was arguably done in America’s West Coast, namely Yosemite National Park. Adams is often considered the “Godfather of high resolution, black and white photography”. He along with fellow photographer Fred Archer developed the widely-used “Zone System” of shooting. Adams himself began shooting photographs in the 1920s. He did not have the benefit of modern equipment: There was no screen on the back of camera with a histogram, nor was there an SD card that you can dump. More importantly, there was no Photoshop! If you blew the shot, you cost yourself time processing film, and money in buying film. All of the above is an immense change from photography we have grown accustomed to — the type of art Ansel Adams paved the way for.
The Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages in Stony Brook is hosting an Ansel Adams Exhibit. Ansel Adams: Early Works shows from February 27th through August 2nd. This exhibit is different than the other works shown by Adams. Adams is most noted for his high gloss, high contrast shots but this show is about the earlier works. This is about capturing the intimate, middle notes of his work. This focuses on Adams’ work from 1920 into the 1950s.
The exhibition includes 41 photographic prints from the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg. The museum is located at 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook. The museum is Smithsonian affiliate. For more details call (631)751.0066 or visit LongIslandMuseum.org
