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Ansel Adams

b: San Francisco, California., Feb 20, 1902

d: Monterey, California, Apr 22, 1984

[Ansel Easton Adams] American. Photographer. Best known photographer in US, noted for landscape images of western US; helped establish photography as art form.

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A good photograph is knowing where to stand.

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.

A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.

Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph. Both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and the wonder surrounding him.

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term -- meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching -- there would be a vast improvement in total output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.

I know some photographs that are extraordinary in their power and conviction, but it is difficult in photography to overcome the superficial power or subject; the concept and statement must be quite convincing in themselves to win over a dramatic and compelling subject situation.

I tried to keep both arts alive, but the camera won. I found that while the camera does not express the soul, perhaps a photograph can!

In my mind's eye, I visualize how a particular... sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.

It is my intention to present - through the medium of photography - intuitive observations of the natural world which may have meaning to the spectators.

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.

Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.

Myths and creeds are heroic struggles to comprehend the truth in the world.

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.

Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.

Our time is so short and the future so terrifyingly long. Through the art of brush, pen, and lens ... we possess a swift and sure means of touching the conscience and clearing the vision.

Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.

Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.

Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print - my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey - from the subject before me?

Some photographers take reality...and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation.

Sometimes I get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.

The artist and the photographer seek the mysteries and the adventure of experience in nature.

The dismal half-baked images of the average "reportage" and "documentary" photography are self dammning... the slick manner, the slightly obscure significance, the esoteric fear of simple beauty for its ownecay. Gene Smith's work validates my most vigorous convictions that if the documentary photographs is to be truly effective it must contain elements of art, intensity, fine craft and spirituality. A sake ? I am deeply concerned with these manifestations of dll these his work contains and we may turn to his work with gratitude, appreciation and great respect.

The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.

The only things in my life that compatibly exist with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit.

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept.

There's nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept.

To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.

Twelve photographs that matter in a year is a good crop for any photographer.

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.

We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.

When I'm ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my minds eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.

You don't take a photograph, you make it.