Back At It

A variety of distractions got us off track but we getting back on track with Ansel again.

Chapter 6 - History

Ansel and Virginia Adams were married January 2, 1928. What other things happened in the world on that day?

Can you find a newspaper frontpage online from that day?

Chapter 5 - John Muir

Today, April 21st - the day before Earth Day, is John Muir's birthday. He sounds like he was a very interesting character. (As a Wisonsinite, I appreciate the many things he did before moving to California.) He died in 1914 so he never met Ansel Adams.

Chapter 5 shows an evolution of the Sierra Club from the early years as an organization advocating exploration, to an organization focused on conservation.

In Chapter 5 we also saw a new side of Adams. What did we learn about his personality?

Chapter 4 - Quotes

I found two statements in Chapter 4 revealing.

The first was on page 29 where Adams said, "Photographers are, in a sense, composers, and the negatives are their scores." I like the quote because he is comparing his experience as an aspiring pianist to his other love of photography. I also like what it says about photography. It would be easy to think that the photography takes place at the moment that the shutter button is pressed. In today's digital age where the negative has been removed from the process (though some still shoot to film), it is interesting to think of Adams sitting at his computer processing a photo with Photoshop. I wonder where/if he would draw the line on that.

I also appreciated the statement on the next page, "He emphasized that he was not trying to duplicate reality, but to make a work of art." It must have been clear to him early in his experience as a photographer that there was nothing he could produce that would replace the impact of standing on the spot next to the camera. I wonder if the limitations of the medium was frustrating to him. This statement would indicate he understood and accepted those limitations.

In the early years of Adams career, photography was not considered art. What argument do you think Adams would have made to try to change people's minds?

Chapter 3 - Eye Opener

Ben and I were discussing the moment in Chapter 3 when Adams saw Yosemite for the first time. He had wanted to go there after reading about it in the book, "In the Heart of the Sierras" by J.M. Hutchings. It is not noted if the book contained any picture, but even if it did, they certainly could not have matched his first view of the valley. "He was overcome with awe".

Can you write about a moment when you were 'overcome with awe'?

Chapter 3 - Math Question

On page 19, in the discussion of the Adams' first bus ride into Yosemite, it says the bus rose "two thousand feet in ten miles". What was the percent grade of that road?

Chapter 3 - Camera Obscura

Adams is kept in a dark room as he recuperates from the measles. It must have been incredibly boring. He noticed a light from the top of his window produced a projection on the ceiling that showed the outside world. This is similar to a Camera Obscura. By allowing light through a small point into a darkened room, we can produce an image from the outside. The image is upside down. Ben tells me that is the same way our eyes work - with our helpful brain flipping the image over for us without even asking. With my understanding of how a Camera Obscura works, what Ben is telling me makes sense. So Ben, why is the image upside down in the first place?

This looks like a fun experiment so we are going to make a Camera Obscura in the best place to do so in our house - Ben's Bedroom.

Chapter 3 - Connections?

Read chapter three and make a list of people, places, or events discussed that might be interesting to explore further.What items are the most interesting to you? What items would better help understand the context of the story?

Photo Project - Week 2

Get a package of different colored clear report covers to use as filters to recreate Adams process for the Monolith picture. Place the camera on a tri-pod and take the same picture with at least four filters (red, yellow, blue, green). If possible take the picture on both a grey day and a sunny day.

- be sure to get a picture that includes sky.
- watch the camera settings. If using a 'auto' mode, does the filter change the settings?

Upload the pictures to Flickr:
- Original photo and Black & White copy.
- 4 filtered versions and the Black & White copy.

Create a 8 X 10 image in Fireworks. Arrange the color and b&w versions side-by-side. (Landscape page, 2 colors per page, four photos total per page.) Upload them to Walgreens and print a 8X10 copy of each.

Chapter 2 - Self Schooled

The last World’s Fair held in the United States was in 1984 in New Orleans. I thought that they no longer occurred and was surprised to learn that there is a major fair scheduled for 2010 in Taipai (Taiwan) with the theme of “Garden and Horticulture”. It would be fair to say that recent World’s Fairs do not carry the same significance that they did earlier in the Century, as the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco did. The fair then represented a unique opportunity to showcase information from states, countries, and companies. Today information can travel much more quickly and in many forms not available in the 1915. (The first Transamerica phone call was placed during the 1915 Exposition.)

First Ansel Adams experienced the destruction of the 1906 Earthquake, and then he had the opportunity to see all the best the world had to offer at the 1915 Exposition. Ben and I saw the irony of a father sending his 12 year old son off for a day of self-schooling in this incredible venue. Adams had the curiosity and determination to take advantage of that opportunity.

Do you think the Earthquake or the Exposition had a more important impact on the man that Adams would become?

I am sure Ben’s flute playing would improve if he had a $70,000 flute, but I do not think I would encourage him to go out and buy one. Ansel’s father seems like a very interesting man. I am sorry the book does not explore him in more detail. (Quote liked: Ansel disliked practice but 'soon discovered play improved greatly when he worked hard'.)

Do you think the location that Ansel displayed his diploma said something about his work ethic?

Chapter 1 - Environment

In Chapter ,1 we read about Ansel Adam's early life and formative experiences. The most significant event of his young life was the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, when he was 4 years old. Probably more significant though was simply the place in which he lived. His home was on the north western edge of the city near what is now Baker's Beach. "He did not know what would have become of him if he had not been borne near the ocean."pg5. This location allowed him to engange his natural inquisitiveness and curiosity.

With that time 100 years removed from now, it is difficult for us to appreciate what his life was like then. Historical accounts of the earthquake give us a glimpse at that time, though he was only 4 years old 1906. He certainly remembered the quake but you wonder how those memories changed over time.

Ben and I were talking about a similar type of experience in his life. September 11th, 2001 occured when Ben was 5 years old. When someone writes a biography about Ben's life, will it be important for them to include that event? Why or Why Not.

How does learning about the earthquake help us to better understand Adam's life?

Photo Project - Week 1

It will take us 6 weeks to read the book. Each week you will be assigned a different photo project. This week's project (due no later then 4pm, Saturday, 4/11) :

1. Create an account for yourself at http://www.flickr.com/
2. Pick a favorite / interesting object to photograph.
3. Take at least 10 different pictures of that object. By 'different' I mean any or all of the following: location, lighting, distance, setting, camera, etc.
4. Review the photos and choose the one that you feels best captures the object.
5. Upload at least 5 of the photos to your flicker account. Add comments to each photo that indicates what you like and do not like about it. Your favorite should be the last in the collection.
6. Return here and reply with a link to the flicker slideshow of your pictures.

About the Author

In getting ready to read the book “Ansel Adam’s – America’s Photographer”, I started by looking for some information about the author. I could not find a personal website or much biographical information about her. I find that ironic because her career as an author has been primarily writing Biographies of others for a young reader audience.

In addition to Ansel Adams, she has written about people with varied backgrounds: Norman Rockwell (artist), Robert Louis Stevension (author), Jimmy Carter (US President), E.B.White (author), Sandra Day O’Connor (Supreme Court Justice), Agnes DeMille (dancer), and Georgia O’Keefe (artist).

What did they share? “They all had in common a gift for making a difference in the world around them.”
(http://www.arnenixoncenter.org/finding_aids/anc0004.htm)

About her work, and Ansel Adams specifically, she said,

I'm curious about people's lives. Some call me a terrible snoop because I love reading diaries and letters to discover the secrets within. I think that's why I write biographies.

In his eighty-two years, Ansel Adams wrote thousands of letters to his friends-- about his travels and what he was trying to accomplish in his photographs. His letters convinced me that he was a warm human being and a critical artist, always attempting to improve his work.

He worked hard, traveling the United States to record the natural world. He climbed the highest peaks in Yosemite and other national parks, photographing breathtaking sights. He returned to his darkroom, to carefully develop his negatives and artistically shape the scenes. His work has preserved these scenes and convinced presidents and environmentalists to protect our precious wilderness.

I am grateful that he also preserved his long, detailed letters so that I could learn from his words how he made his art.”
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/Beverly_Gherman_(1010598)_Article(1).htm)

Applewhites Archive

Essential Questions

1. How can first impressions be deceiving?
2. How do emotions like fear or anger help us or hurt us in dealing with challenges?
3. Why is it essential to be allowed to develop as an individual?

Quotes:
"Publicity is Publicity....The important thing is to fill the seats."(Ch 26, p186)

"They might moan and groan and grouch and complain about how much there was to do, but they put everything else aside and did it."(Ch 24, p173)

"Passion is necessary in life. All of life. Meditating, working, cooking, eating. Especially Eating!"(Ch 20, p141)

"What gives you joy?....Once you know that, you will know what you want from an education...."(Ch 18, p123)

"I didn't do anything! I just feed him a little and pet him once in a while. Nobody else seems to take any notice of him at all." (Ch 16, p111)

Now that he thought about it, acting was what he had been doing all his life.(Ch 14, p98)

The Jake he knew, the Jake he had always been, was disappearing. And there was nothing - nobody - to put in his place.(Ch 12, p87)

Every last one of them lived to be the center of attention.(Ch 8, p70)

Bad Kid. Living up the that Label was what Jack did best.(Ch 6, p43)