Ansel Adams was born on February 20th 1902 to "relatively elderly parents, even though they were only in their forties. Even though his family was very wealthy, the family fortune was lost in 1907 in the financial panic and Ansel's dad spent the remainder of his life trying, and failing, to restore the family's money. Growing up, Ansel was plagued by what appeared to be learning disabilities that inhibited his learning and his ability to fit in among his peers. Due to his learning disabilities, Ansel was sent to several schools and was still unsuccessful, forcing his family members to tutor him themselves. Eventually he managed to earn something he refers to as a "legitimizing diploma" that equals that of an eight grade education.
Before discovering his love of photography, Ansel intended to become a professional piano player. He taught himself how to read and play when he was 12 in hopes it could be the substitute to traditional school; it added that structure and discipline his childhood seemed to lack. Ansel ended up giving up music for photography. It was the best decision Adams could have made at that point in his life, because it decided how the rest of his life would play out. He would hike and climb at Yosemite National Park in pursuit of a photo opportunity, and that added to his self esteem and lead to him meeting his future wife.
That grand decision to pursue photography instead of music was smart decision on Ansel's part as he soon gained popularity among other established artists and art collectors. His photograph Monolith, the Face of Half Dome (taken was in 1927), was his first fully virtualized picture and caught the attention of Albert M. Bender who helped set Ansel's future on track by publishing his first portfolio.
I chose the Ansel Adams photograph above because of the feelings it captures. When I look at this picture, I notice the sparse and wispy clouds in the sky, the tree filled valley, and the snowy jagged cliffs (so basically the whole photo), but these 3 things
speak about the picture. The clouds are important because they show how desolate the land looks, its so bare the clouds don't even want to hang around. The trees really emphasize the emptiness of the valley. From the angle we see, it looks like there is nothing but trees down there, stretching as far as the eyes can see. The cliffs finish it off because they are sharp and snowy. They basically wrap up the feeling the photo captures, empty, painful, coldness. It's a really pretty landscape, but seriously, no one wants to get caught down there by themselves because that probably wouldn't end well. They would be lonely, cold, sad, and scared because their surroundings are so harsh.
