seeing red ~ (embiggenable) • µ4/3
(embiggenable) • µ4/3
(embiggenable) • µ4/3
I WROTE RECENTLY THAT, AT TIMES, I CAN GET ANNOYED by items I encountered on the interweb, especally on photo sites. Items that I find to be specious, uninformed and/or out-right wrong-headed. A recent case in point:
"Ansel Adams sucked at color, in life as well as photography." ~ Micheal Johnston
Johnston dropped this comment in an entry wherein he was championing his never-ending case for a monochrome only digital camera. That is, one that-with a lens-does not cost as much as a decent used car. I have no horse in that race, however, I can not let his comment about Adams and color photography-do not have any idea what he meant by the idea that Adams, color wise, "sucked in life"-go by without a response....
....if all you know about Sir Ansel is his B&W oeuvre-both his prints and his Zone System-then you only know half the story. In fact, for over 40 years of Adams' picture making life he wrestled with the color medium-aesthetics and techniques. It is estimated that he made 3,500+ color pictures-transparencies-very few of which were ever printed. His commercial and editorial color work for corporations such as Kennecott Copper, Anaconda Mines, Eastman Kodak Co. (more than a dozen Coloramas) and the Polaroid Corp appeared in publications such as Life, Vogue, Horizons, Fortune and Arizona Highways.
Much of Adams' color work was underwritten / subsidized through his long-standing relationship with both Eastman Kodak and the Polaroid Corp. He took their films out in the field, pursued his color picture making fancies and submitted technical notes and evaluations to product development technicians in both companies. Nice work if you can get it.
While I could go on and on about Adams and his color photography, you would be better served by acquiring the book, Ansel Adams ~ In Color. The book has 55 beautifully reproduced color pictures-currated by the preeminent photographer Harry Callahan-and a very informative Introduction exploring a brief history of color photography and Adams' life of exploration of it.
Maybe Santa will leave a copy under Michael Johnston's Xmas tree. While he could read/view it sitting down, he should eventually be able to stand corrected.