Comments on: I Don’t Want to be Ansel Adams

By: Paul Grecian

Paul Grecian — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:34:37 +0000

Interesting post Guy, equally interesting responses. I’ve never been a big fan of Adams’ work although I recognize it’s importance and quality. Having seen some of it in person, I found I liked some of it very much, but mostly it doesn’t speak to me. However, I find the man and his approach fascinating, inspiring, and respect him highly. The more I learn about and from him, the more I appreciate him as an artist.

By: When It Is Said Better… « Sam’s Rant

When It Is Said Better… « Sam’s Rant — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:49:46 +0000

[...] did. A huge eye-roller, but instead of blogging about it, I’ll just point you over to Guy Tal’s thoughts on the subject. Sometimes I feel like I am beating my head against a brick wall when I try and get [...]

By: David Leland Hyde

David Leland Hyde — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 07:08:00 +0000

At the risk of making it worse, I will say that “Ansel Adams” is a good keyword for my dad and his work. My dad was not what you would call “close” to Ansel but they were friends, and had a great deal of mutual admiration. Ansel helped Dad’s career get started, besides another guy named David Brower. The disadvantage that I have is that I am coming on the scene after everyone, including Ansel’s own marketing people, have overused his name for 30-40 years. I am sharing real relationships and perhaps it rings hollow because everyone else has overworked the Ansel “angle.” For me it is not an “angle” just a part of dad’s life. I grew up hearing my mother call through the house to my dad, “Philip, Ansel is on the phone.” I suppose it will turn a few people off here and there but I feel sort of proprietary about being able to use Ansel’s name. Besides, Richard Wong said he didn’t think I overdo it at all, at least not until he reads this. By the way, the oil conglomerates and some of the other major industrial giants were early donors of the Sierra Club and other anti-growth, anti-development organizations like the National Audubon Society and many others. Maybe it was guilt money, often their executives were Sierra Club members. That kind of thing is still going on today, maybe more so. GE, Dupont even big tobacco companies support environmental organizations to make themselves look like they care about the environment. Dad never worked for big industrialists but my grandfather Leland Hyde, the painter, worked for Bechtel, the largest construction company in the West for years and builder of Glen Canyon Dam.

By: Links – April 9, 2010 « Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog: Floral Photography by Patty Hankins

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:06:39 +0000

[...] Guy Tal has I Don’t Want to be Ansel Adams [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:35:15 +0000

Seems I have seen a few of the very articles you refer to here, the approach sounds all too familiar. “Shoot like the pros”, “Shoot like the masters” blah blah blah. Seems you have some good starters for a fine article here Guy – perhaps you should pitch it to OP.

By: pam

pam — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:47:37 +0000

Great post. People also need to realize that the bulk of Ansel’s paid work (the work that financed his artwork) was earned from the oil conglomerates, as in EXXON, Shell, and others. So in light of that and the destruction an oil based world has caused earth his ‘environmentalism’ possibly should be viewed with caution. As for mentioning his name a lot, it is not hard to do. The advertising media has fueled that considerably, and many of his books talk about the other photographers that he work with or admired. But, the media has not found them as marketable as Ansel’s. Some of those old codgers are just a gold mine for some that came after them.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:39:08 +0000

Great post Guy. I too find it offensive when people use any excuse to name drop Ansel Adams. Without Ansel Adams, none of us would be doing what we do so for that reason alone it is impossible to “shoot like Ansel” or “be the next Ansel Adams”. It is this type of marketing that drives me nuts.

By: pj finn

pj finn — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 03:08:57 +0000

Interesting post, especially since I just re-read Adam’s ‘Letters 1916-1984′ for about the hundredth time. As much as I love and admire his photographs, I find the letters to be much more inspiring.

I find that to be true of many of the masters throughout the history of photography. Reading the thoughts and ideas and struggles and life behind the work is often far more revealing and inspirational than the actual work itself.

By: Jim Sabiston

Jim Sabiston — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:20:29 +0000

Very well said, Guy. Oddly enough, I never much cared for Ansel Adams work until I was well into developing my own photography style. Only fairly recently could I really begin to understand and start to appreciate his work. I simply wasn’t able to grasp it until I had aquired an understanding of the medium to some degree. The more I learn, the more I understand, the more I appreciate. Seeing others try to market his style is especially irksome. I may study his images (and others), but the idea is to look for ways to improve my own work, not copy.

By: David Leland Hyde

David Leland Hyde — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:24:19 +0000

Very well stated, Guy. Not only did Ansel Adams advocate for the environment, he advocated a great deal for photography and that is one reason all photographers stand on his shoulders, not merely artistically, which has been and will be debated. I am probably as guilty as Outdoor Photographer of mentioning Ansel’s name a lot. In a sense it is marketing, but it is also to provide the roots to the story of all landscape photography. In service to his own resume, my father rarely mentioned his having been a student, friend and teacher with Ansel, as I just did. However, dad also suffered from much more obscurity than he deserved. Nancy Newhall once said that Dad lived in Ansel’s shadow. It could be argued that if Dad had marketed himself more and found a wealthy patron of the arts to advocate his work, he might have been able to continue to stand on his own today and not have ever needed to talk about Ansel, except in private conversations of gratitude. However, it can also be shown that fine art landscape photography is a fraternity. To get into the big national museums and top galleries, it helps to be related to Ansel in some way. Heck, we all know that Ansel’s is the only name the general public knows. Also, major collectors like to be able to look up my blog and read about the connections Dad had to many of the brothers and sisters at the top of the landscape photography pantheon. In some ways it is unfortunate, but it is what it is. Perhaps people like you speaking out will help instigate change.