There's currently an exhibition of Ansel Adams' and Alfred Eisenstaedt's B&W prints at the AGO. (The A-G-O stands for Art Gallery of Ontario for those not from around here).
Two master photographers who came into the burgeoning photographic medium in the late 1920s and made it into the professional fine artform it is today.
Ansel Adams, conservationist, member of the Sierra Club, co-founder of the Group f/64 (Straight Photography), teacher (Zone System Photography) and documentarian, is best known for his majestic vistas of Yellowstone National Park. Just imagining him wielding a cumbersome large format around, in pioneer conditions no less, loaded with glass plate negatives, black cloth, loupe, release cable, light meter and wooden tripod (not carbon fibre) - I wouldn't be able to do it, not without help anyway (Sherpa anyone?).
People recognized Ansel Adams for his pure landscapes (Moon And Half Dome pictured above) but few knew him for his other works, like his documentation of the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California (Manzanar From Guard's Tower, West View pictured left). During WWII, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the US government interned Japanese-Americans in these camps. He photographed and wrote a book called 'Born Free And Equal', which spoke out against their injustice and suffering, sadly to no avail; his message back in 1944, fell on deaf ears. His photographs are now part of a historic collection (American Memory Section) in the Library Of Congress.
Alfred Eisenstaedt was the pioneer of Candid Photography. V-J Day (pictured left) is his most reproduced piece. He recalls following the sailor though the streets in Times Square; the sailor was grabbing every girl in sight but none of the kissable candidates were the right one, until he suddenly saw a flash of something white being grabbed, Eisenstaedt whipped around and snapped the photo just as the sailor kissed the nurse. He could still recollect this photo down to its finest detail - Leitz 35mm rangefinder at 1/125 second exposure, aperture between 5.6 and 8 on Kodak Super Double X film. Yikes, and here I am, having trouble remembering what I did last night.
Also known as the Father Of Photojournalism, he freelanced for Pacific and Atlantic Photos, which would become the Associated Press in 1931, and soon afterward, was hired with three other photographers: Margaret Bourke-White, Thomas McAvoy and Peter Stackpole for a secret assignment known only as "Project X". After six months of testing, the mystery venture premiered as LIFE magazine in 1936. He covered everything from wars (Hiroshima in 1942 & Korea in 1950) to politicians (JFK) to Hollywood. Sophia Loren (pictured left) was filming 'Marriage Italian Style' in Roma in 1964; this photo of her wearing only a negligee became a cover shot that caused some LIFE readers to cancel their subscriptions. Haha.
Exhibition ends February 4th - go see it.
Two master photographers who came into the burgeoning photographic medium in the late 1920s and made it into the professional fine artform it is today.
Ansel Adams, conservationist, member of the Sierra Club, co-founder of the Group f/64 (Straight Photography), teacher (Zone System Photography) and documentarian, is best known for his majestic vistas of Yellowstone National Park. Just imagining him wielding a cumbersome large format around, in pioneer conditions no less, loaded with glass plate negatives, black cloth, loupe, release cable, light meter and wooden tripod (not carbon fibre) - I wouldn't be able to do it, not without help anyway (Sherpa anyone?). 
People recognized Ansel Adams for his pure landscapes (Moon And Half Dome pictured above) but few knew him for his other works, like his documentation of the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California (Manzanar From Guard's Tower, West View pictured left). During WWII, after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the US government interned Japanese-Americans in these camps. He photographed and wrote a book called 'Born Free And Equal', which spoke out against their injustice and suffering, sadly to no avail; his message back in 1944, fell on deaf ears. His photographs are now part of a historic collection (American Memory Section) in the Library Of Congress.
Alfred Eisenstaedt was the pioneer of Candid Photography. V-J Day (pictured left) is his most reproduced piece. He recalls following the sailor though the streets in Times Square; the sailor was grabbing every girl in sight but none of the kissable candidates were the right one, until he suddenly saw a flash of something white being grabbed, Eisenstaedt whipped around and snapped the photo just as the sailor kissed the nurse. He could still recollect this photo down to its finest detail - Leitz 35mm rangefinder at 1/125 second exposure, aperture between 5.6 and 8 on Kodak Super Double X film. Yikes, and here I am, having trouble remembering what I did last night. 
Also known as the Father Of Photojournalism, he freelanced for Pacific and Atlantic Photos, which would become the Associated Press in 1931, and soon afterward, was hired with three other photographers: Margaret Bourke-White, Thomas McAvoy and Peter Stackpole for a secret assignment known only as "Project X". After six months of testing, the mystery venture premiered as LIFE magazine in 1936. He covered everything from wars (Hiroshima in 1942 & Korea in 1950) to politicians (JFK) to Hollywood. Sophia Loren (pictured left) was filming 'Marriage Italian Style' in Roma in 1964; this photo of her wearing only a negligee became a cover shot that caused some LIFE readers to cancel their subscriptions. Haha.Exhibition ends February 4th - go see it.
Labels: Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ansel Adams, Photography
posted by Sylvia at 2:24 AM
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