Ansel Adams’ The Grand Canyon and the Southwest: A great addition to any photographers’ collection
posted Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 9:30 AM EDT
In all of landscape photography and perhaps photography as a whole, there are few names more famous than that of Ansel Adams. His landscape images of the American west transcended the medium and elevated photography, perhaps for the first time, into the realm of art.
I recently had the opportunity to read the latest book covering the work of Ansel Adams, Ansel Adams' The Grand Canyon and the Southwest from publishers Little, Brown and Company. The special edition paperback book features many of Adams' images from the Grand Canyon -- which is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a National Park in 2019-- and the American Southwest, spanning Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.
Adams' black and white images are presented nicely and the paper has a strong dynamic range, which is particularly important when showcasing the work of Adams, given his precise use of wide tonal ranges. The blacks are rich, and the whites are bright. What helps set this book apart from being a simple showcase of images, which would certainly have been enough, are the various personal letters and notes written by Adams to family and friends, which do an excellent job of illustrating how meaningful photography, landscapes, nature and the southwest in particular were to Adams during his life and career. The editor for this book is Andrew G. Stillman, a leading expert on Adams' career. The book also features an introduction by William A. Turnage, who passed away in 2017 and worked closely with Adams for many years, including during his time serving as executive director of the Wilderness Society from 1978-1985.
As a longtime fan of the work of Ansel Adams, I own a lot of books featuring his work and this latest release is a nice one. It is available now and has a suggested retail price of $21.99. You can learn more and purchase the book by clicking here.