Thursday, September 11, 2008

"The Tetons - Snake River" By Ansel Adams


1 comment:

Allie said...

Name: Ansel Easton Adams
Born: February 20th 1902
Death: April 22nd 1984
Residence: San Francisco, California (U.S.)
Origin: Mother, father, and family migrated from New England
Photography Type: Landscapes
Interesting Bio:
He developed the ‘zone system’ which calculated proper exposure to photographs. This was one way her was able to create depth and crystal clear images. He had a photographic memory which allowed him to excel in all aspects of the arts such from drawing to playing the piano. He became a very big environmentalist and worked in Yosemite National Park at the age of 17 which led to his beautiful photographs. ________________________________________________________________________

The content of the photo called “The Tetons- Snake River” displays various environmental items such as mountains, snow, clouds, rocks, shrubbery, trees, and water. The subject matter has a repeated theme of natural and ‘green’ objects that create organic shapes across the plane. The photo of the landscape has been taken by a direct approach. This allows the picture to be taken up front with no odd ending angles or subject matter. With all of the environmental subjects across the page, numerous objects from the linear lines of the trees to the rigid lines of the mountains create a large amount of repetition. All of these visual elements are clear within the framed boundaries Adams decided to capture.
“Snake River” represents expression in various ways within the photo. Some viewers may see the photo as relaxing, calm, and peaceful. Others may view this picture as mysterious or mystifying and last of all the photo may release emotions of darkness and secrets. Although the exact intentions of the photograph are unclear, I believe a photo like this was meant to capture the beauty of nature and majestic surroundings. Ansel Adams worked for years at Yosemite National Park which created opportunities to take pictures of magnificent sceneries and landscapes.
Within the photograph of “Snake River”, everything in the frame is clearly in focus, appearing clean and sharp. Amongst the focused items, lighting creates various contrasts and value. The range of light to dark is visible between the snow caps and the rocky mountains. Other items of contrast include the reflection of light amongst the river opposite of the dark lining trees. The bright sun against the eluding clouds depicts just one more item of value/contrast. The light from the sun comes from the top of the photo but is blocked by thickening clouds which creates a dimmed shadow amongst the entire paper. The spatial structure of the photo depicts depth through the winding river as it shrinks and curves into the trees amongst the distance. The semi-symmetrical balance of the photo is split between mountains on both sides, the sky, trees, and the river as it winds from side to side.
The vantage point from which the photograph was taken is from high up above almost every object except the mountains. Through the view point one is looking partially down upon most of the objects until the trees, rocks, and mountains build up in the distance. “Snake River” shows a geometric perspective through various vanishing points seen throughout the photography. The picture also shows the river and trees decreasing in size as they fall into the distance.