Miss America and Ansel Adams – January
12, 2008
There’s a post
that’s been picked at like a boil over on APUG.
In fact I think it’s up to something like seventeen pages now.
The conversation has taken a bunch of twists and turns, but the basic
premise has to do with Ansel Adams
and why he is so special. Or perhaps to put it a better way, why is he
so popular with the public at large?
First of all, I think Ansel Adams deserves a lot of the admiration he
receives in the photographic community (and probably some of the derision
as well). But regardless of whether you like his work or not, he did a
lot to promote photography and bring it to the forefront as a legitimate
form of art. And on top of that, he spent a lot of time teaching, writing,
and generally sharing his vast knowledge of photography with others. After
all there is a technical side to photography, and while it may not be
as important as the creative side, it is vital nonetheless.
I don’t think that many people would argue against the fact that
Ansel Adams mastered the technical side of photography and was more than
willing to share that knowledge with anyone who cared to listen. In my
mind, that alone should be applauded, whether you’re a Zone
System aficionado or not.
But all that is beside the point. The real question is why is Ansel
Adams so popular with the general public? In my mind that’s simple.
Ansel Adams is easy. There is nothing to dislike about his work. It’s
undeniably beautiful. Only Rush
Limbaugh could hate a glowing picture of the pristine and grand western
landscape as presented by Adams. Who can’t admire the spectacle
that is Yosemite or the Sierra
Nevada or Denali or a hundred
other places Adams has photographed? His photography is gorgeous, and
everyone from my 3 year-old son to my dead grandmother can see that. Of
course it’s popular. Why wouldn’t it be? After all what’s
not to like?
But in a way, his photography is like Miss
America. Who can say honestly say that Miss America is not beautiful?
You can’t. Just like an Ansel Adams photograph is the standard that
defines the beauty that is the American West, Miss America practically
defines female physical beauty. Like Moonrise
Over Hernandez or Clearing
Winter Storm, every Miss America is seemingly perfect. There’s
nothing to argue with or object to.
But that’s also the problem. Just like with Miss America, there
is nothing about an Ansel Adams photograph that presents any kind of challenge.
Each are undeniably beautiful, and that is the standard they both set.
But to me both are ultimately boring. That’s not to say I don’t
like or appreciate them for what they are. It’s just that I want
more. I want to be challenged. It’s like the old saying, nothing
really worth doing is ever easy. So give me Angelina
Jolie or Keira Knightly
over Miss America any day of the week and twice each on Friday night.
Obviously both have issues and neither one could ever be Miss America.
And while both have legions of dedicated worshippers, neither is universally
popular. And that’s because they’re different and offer something
beyond the standard definition of female beauty.
And similarly, while Edward
Weston is revered and appreciated in photographic circles, a contact
print of the pipes under his sink could never be an Ansel Adams print.
Nor could it be as universally popular.
But unlike Adams, Weston offers a challenge. He goes way beyond the standard
definition of beauty and dares you to see more. He sticks it in your face
and hits you in the mouth and either you like it or you don’t. But
either way he challenges your expectations and offers up a different way
of seeing the world, which to me is so much more affirming than simply
photographing universal beauty. It’s also what inspires the loyalty
of rabid fans, it just doesn’t inspire everyone.
But most people, for whatever reason don’t want to be challenged.
They want what is simple. They want to see universal beauty, because it’s
easy to see. Show my Mom a photograph of a Pepper
and she’ll wonder why anybody would bother, but show her a print
of Half
Dome and she’ll immediately understand.
Of course Ansel Adams is popular. It’s just too bad that nothing
hard ever is.
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