A black-and-white photograph of a rocky coastline. Washed-up driftwood lines the beach where it gives way to an embankment., Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 - April 22, 1984), was born in San Francisco, California. He was not successful in the various schools to which his parents sent him; thus, at the age of 12, Adams left formal schooling to be educated by private tutors. A significant result of Adams's solitary childhood was the joy that he found in nature. A commercial photographer for 30 years, he made visionary photos of western landscapes that were inspired by a boyhood trip to Yosemite. At age 17, Adams joined the Sierra Club, a group dedicated to preserving the natural world's wonders and resources. He remained a member throughout his lifetime and served as a director. Adams became an environmentalist, and his photographs are a record of what many of these national parks were like before human intervention and travel. His work promoted many of the goals of the Sierra Club and brought environmental issues to light. Adams began to photograph professionally in 1930, and in 1932 was a founding member, along with Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston, of the f/64 group-a group centered around a loyalty to straight photography, or unaltered prints, in contrast to pictorialism, (the idea that art photography needed to emulate painting and etching). It was in 1932, that he developed the zone system technique to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film. In 1940 he created the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, New York, along with Beaumont Newhall and David McAlpin. In 1941 Adams began to photograph landscapes. From 1942 to 1944 Adams acted as the photographic adviser to the United States Army. In 1952 Adams was one of the founders of the magazine Aperture. Adams won three Guggenheim grants to photograph the national parks (1944 - 58). In 1966 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1980 Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. The full archive of Ansel Adams' work is located at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the University of Arizona in Tucson., http://www.anseladams.com/, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Mid-Valley Arts. You may visit their website at: http://www.oregonlink.com/arts/index.html
