Do you know who ansel adams is?

Have you heard of Ansel adams

  • Yes

    Votes: 216 92.7%

  • No

    Votes: 17 7.3%
  • Total voters
    233
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joescrivens

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Following on from a discussion about famus photographers, how many of us pay any attention to famous photographers in the past or present.

I typically don't follow any photographer in the past, if someone mentions a name I might look them up and learn a little but really I'm not that fussed.

Present photographers I'd say I'm much more interested in, I collect photography from Cameron hansen and Paul Smith for example. But it's more just about browsing their work.

But there are a couple that I think it's just default that you have heard of them, ansel adams and david bailey being the two.
 
David Bailey.

That's about it for me. I don't really have much spare time these days to be taking photos for my own pleasure, let alone checking up on what anyone else is doing.
 
For what it's worth I think photography gets far less TV time than it should so for those who don't read photography books or magazines then I guess it's possible not to have heard of many photographers. I suspect the majority will have heard of the two you've mentioned though.

Ansel Adams should be well known to those who have an interest in Landscape photography. Wildlife Photographers (some have an interest in their subject and less so photography) may not have come accross him though.
 
they are both landscape photographers. Not well known ones, just ones I collect.

http://www.cameronhansen.net

http://www.paulsmithphoto.com

If you've ever been to thailand you'll have seen cameron hansens work, and if you've ever been to Banff in Canada then pretty much all the posters in the tourist shops are Paul Smith
 
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bass_junkie83 said:
David Bailey.

That's about it for me. I don't really have much spare time these days to be taking photos for my own pleasure, let alone checking up on what anyone else is doing.
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Pretty much the same for me too

Although wired how i'm the only "No" vote so far :LOL:
 
David Bailey and Ross Halfin are the only two names I'm familiar with (the former only through "who'd you think you are?" TV adverts)

Then again, this Ansel fella has cropped up in discussions on the forum quite often.
 
No idea who David Bailey is.

Ansel, well, read about him first in some mag in a doctor's waiting room, as you do ... about 7 or 8 years ago. Recognised many of his images when I then looked him up, must have seen prints of them here and there over the years. Love his stuff, and not just because he's so popular and everyone likes to name check him lately.
 
I've heard of a few top photographers but can't honestly say I've taken more than a passing glance at their work. I don't take inspiration or follow anybodys work although I do appreciate that some people do.

I doubt I would recognize any photos by famous photographers, such as Ansel Adams, but I really don't think it makes anyone less of a photographer if they don't know of these famous photographers.
 
joescrivens said:
they are both landscape photographers. Not well known ones, just ones I collect.

http://www.cameronhansen.net

http://www.paulsmithphoto.com
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Thanks.

The fact is there are lots of photographers who are unknown outside their particular sphere.

However, I would have thought that influential photographers of the past would have been known by more, and it surprises me how many people seem to be only interested in current photography - even more surprising in only their own photography.
 
For those who haven't heard of him but are interested, there are a few quality Ansel Adams interviews\documentaries from the 80's on youtube. He was a very interesting, extremely clever yet softly spoken and modest man whos work speaks for itself. Very humbling.

P.S. My favourite is Hitchiker's Guide. :laugh:
 
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Ed Sutton said:
However, I would have thought that influential photographers of the past would have been known by more, and it surprises me how many people seem to be only interested in current photography - even more surprising in only their own photography.
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Don't get me wrong, i am certainly interested in other Photographers work, and i follow quite a few Togs on Facebook/Flickr etc, but non of them are Famous Togs

And i certainly follow/view a lot of work on this very site too

But i have little to no interest reading up on old photogaphers
 
"Do you know who Ansel Adams is?" - No.
"Have you heard of Ansel Adams?" - Yes ... he was mentioned in another thread here recently.

I don't take a specific interest in any other photographer, though I might refer to the instructional material of the likes of David Noton, Michael Freeman & Scott Kelby, amongst others.
 
Ross Halfin I know from misspent youth reading Kerrang (y)

I don't really follow a lot of the contemporary photographers as they do street stuff which is extremely dull to me.
 
Yeah have heard of him but couldn't say I'd ever looked at his work.

For me it's about finding what appeals to you and looking at that. it's a bit like literature... my friend convinced me to read some Oscar Wilde and some Dostoevsky both of which I hated, yet to him there was a certain snobbery about understanding old writers in order to appreciate current authors. For me I'd rather skip the old books and read stuff by Brett Easton Ellis for example (American Physco being one of his).

I think photography is like this in many respects... someone might mock you for not knowing Ansel Adams' work, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't realy matter providing you do look for inspiration somewhere even if it's more modern photograhers.

Personally for me Anton Corbijn is my favourite photographer as he shoots portraits but I've yet to come across any other togs from before him that hold a great deal of appeal, nor do I worry that I may be seen as uneducated by more studious photographers out there
 
I know who Ansel Adams was, but just because he is cited as examples of this and that quite often. Can't say I've looked at much of his work though. :shrug:

I think the couple of decades after the War was the height of the 'star' photographers because of the magazines of the time and the lack of media options available.

I don't 'follow' any famous photographers, or have studied the work of any. I get attracted to images, not the people that take them in a fan stylee. ;)

That said, I do like watching TV programmes about photographers as I find it interesting what their thought processes and techniques were. :)
 
I quite like browsing photo-books and skimming through 'history of photography' books. I believe it can improve your photography, give ideas / inspiration.

Reading can improve writing, listening to music can improve composing, ergo...
 
rpsmith79 said:
Don't get me wrong, i am certainly interested in other Photographers work, and i follow quite a few Togs on Facebook/Flickr etc, but non of them are Famous Togs

And i certainly follow/view a lot of work on this very site too

But i have little to no interest reading up on old photogaphers
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Each to their own, I guess. But I still can't get my head round the (general) reluctance to look at 'old' photographs.
 
Definitely heard of him and looked at some of his work...rather more of interest is the information about the lengths that the early landscape pioneers went to in their pursuit of capturing nature, pretty incredible, it certainly makes the many posts about "my DSLR is too heavy/bulky" look a little bit ridiculous;) If effort and determination were a means of becoming famous Ansel and the early pioneers would still be known by everyone

Simon
 
Ed Sutton said:
Each to their own, I guess. But I still can't get my head round the (general) reluctance to look at 'old' photographs.
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I agree with you here.

If you were to look at some of Ansell Adams work, particularly his Yosemite images, they look as if they could have been taken today.

Andy
 
but would these people be as famous if not for being in the right place at the right time. Having Yosemetie on your doorstep will improve the odds no end of generating amazing landscapes compared to if you lived in Luton.

Same point with Bailey, if i had access to the model rosta of Vogue im pretty sure i could knock out some decent fashion shots. Someone would of come along at some point and stuck a model in front of a white wall if it wasnt him first.

Talent or environemnt? which served them the most?
 
Judging by the sheer number of mediocre photographers in photography's short history I'd say talent was a very important part of why the few become famous.

And for the record I count my self among the many not the few
 
essexash said:
but would these people be as famous if not for being in the right place at the right time. Having Yosemetie on your doorstep will improve the odds no end of generating amazing landscapes compared to if you lived in Luton.

Same point with Bailey, if i had access to the model rosta of Vogue im pretty sure i could knock out some decent fashion shots. Someone would of come along at some point and stuck a model in front of a white wall if it wasnt him first.

Talent or environemnt? which served them the most?
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Surely he had to work his way up to Vogue first? :thinking:
 
Ed Sutton said:
Each to their own, I guess. But I still can't get my head round the (general) reluctance to look at 'old' photographs.
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I think people should look but they don't have to like.

For example David Bailey was mentioned in this thread and a few times I've looked at his images and they do pretty much nothing for me. Yes they are nice and all that but I never once felt the urge to try and emulate them or take inspiration from them.

On the other hand it took me about 2 seconds of looking at my first ever Anton Coribjn pic and something went off in my head like a huge bell just going "THIS PIC IS AMAZING!".

It's about looking for inspiration and if you don't look at old pics at all you may miss out on that same magic moment, but at the same time you might just look at something new and get that instead.

Looking and liking are different things and most people will have at least looked at an Ansel Adams or David Bailey pic at some point but it didn't do anything for them so they looked elsewhere
 
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essexash said:
but would these people be as famous if not for being in the right place at the right time. Having Yosemetie on your doorstep will improve the odds no end of generating amazing landscapes compared to if you lived in Luton.

Same point with Bailey, if i had access to the model rosta of Vogue im pretty sure i could knock out some decent fashion shots. Someone would of come along at some point and stuck a model in front of a white wall if it wasnt him first.

Talent or environemnt? which served them the most?
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The amount of effort it required to break into that world for a working class kid was extraordinary. The world hadn't yet got The Beatles, many of the other photographers on the books at the top magazines were actual aristocracy, all the others mixed in those social circles. All the photography was plate film or medium format (medium format being for work which required 'portability'.

David Bailey was a working class kid with a 35mm slr - he was definitely swimming against the tide, his personality had far more to do with his success than his ability.
 
essexash said:
but would these people be as famous if not for being in the right place at the right time. Having Yosemetie on your doorstep will improve the odds no end of generating amazing landscapes compared to if you lived in Luton.

Same point with Bailey, if i had access to the model rosta of Vogue im pretty sure i could knock out some decent fashion shots. Someone would of come along at some point and stuck a model in front of a white wall if it wasnt him first.

Talent or environemnt? which served them the most?
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Being in the right place at the right time is important but so is knowing what do do when you are there.
 
I think a few people could do with watching the Bailey docudrama "We'll take Manhattan" which may help their ignorance and aid the discussion.

And whether people like Bailey or not I find it very surprising that people on a photography forum seriously don't know who he is but I suppose it all depends how old you are.
 
gm43uk said:
Being in the right place at the right time is important but so is knowing what do do when you are there.
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Also knowing where the right place is and knowing what the right time is. Adams didn't drag a large format camera around the US wilderness just in case he happened across a pleasing scene.
 
joescrivens said:
Following on from a discussion about famus photographers, how many of us pay any attention to famous photographers in the past or present.

I typically don't follow any photographer in the past, if someone mentions a name I might look them up and learn a little but really I'm not that fussed.

Present photographers I'd say I'm much more interested in, I collect photography from Cameron hansen and Paul Smith for example. But it's more just about browsing their work.

But there are a couple that I think it's just default that you have heard of them, ansel adams and david bailey being the two.
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An over rated early large format photographer lol
 
I think it is important to study the masters from the field you specialize in. If you only get your inspiration from average photographers how do you expect to be anything but average?
 
Keebsuk said:
I agree with you here.

If you were to look at some of Ansell Adams work, particularly his Yosemite images, they look as if they could have been taken today.

Andy
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Nah - his photos/images aren't full of contrails!

I've heard of AA and have seen some of his work. Can't say I could pick his out of a pile of similar but I might have a vague idea as to which were his. I wonder what he would make of today's techniques, HDR in particular? I have a feeling his may be among the overblown ones! The thing I find most admirable about AA's work is that he lugged that huge camera to wherever it needed to be to get the shots he wanted. Not like slipping a Leica into a pocket for a quick scramble up the slope!
 
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