Friday, October 22, 2010

Ansel Adams in the National Parks: Photographs from America's Wild Places


Ansel Adams is best known for his black and white photography.  He classed himself an amateur, but his work is one of the best I've ever seen.  This heavy, finely printed bound book is chock-ful of over 200 never before seen photographs that Ansel Adams took of national parks.

The photography is simply beautiful and breath-taking.  He found beauty in the most uncommon places; who really looks at a tree that close?  It's a heavy book, perfect for a coffee table, but I am not letting any beverages near mine! 

The book is edited by Andrea G. Stillman, she worked for Ansel back in the 1970's. She drew from his archive of letters and writings (published and unpublished) some of Ansel's anecdotes and comments to go with the photographs, which at times are humorous.  Ansel visited over forty national parks, which I find phenomenal.  I've never even  been to one - but his photographs convince me I must go and soon! They are enriched with his own style and vision and his pictures can truly speak for themselves.

This book would make a marvelous holiday gift!!


1 comment:

The old grey donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.

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