Product Description

Ansel Adams' legendary photographs inspire an appreciation for natural beauty and conservation that has communicated down the generations. His ambition was not simply to record the landscape, but to capture his emotional and spiritual response to the wild areas that he loved so deeply. The results are spectacular: an emotional charge and passion shine through the prints with an intensity that is as powerful today as it was over sixty years ago.In 1941, Ansel Adams was commissioned by the United States Interior Department to take photographs of the National Parks to be printed as murals for the walls of the new Interior Department building. This couldn't have been closer to his heart: it combined a commercial assignment with his personal, creative work he referred to as "within". The "within" was the work that encapsulated his emotional reaction to the landscape - when he, the camera and the landscape were at one. Unfortunately, the project was curtailed with the outbreak of World War II and the mural was never produced.The majority of pictures in this book are from the National Parks Mural Project, but also include work from other projects. The Kings Canyon photographs, taken in 1936, were successfully used to lobby for Kings Canyon to be designated a National Park. There is an exuberant photograph of an apple tree in snow taken at Yosemite, as well as the images taken for a documentary project during the war when Japanese Americans were interned at the Manzanar Relocation Centre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114888 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
This is a beautiful book - massive both in content and style; a lot of book for your money - Refresh magazine.

From the Inside Flap
Ansel Adams discovered his life-long love of photography and wild spaces on his first visit to Yosemite National Park at the age of 14 years. That summer was the start of Adams's relationship with photography and the great outdoors, and for the next 25 years or so he could be seen scrambling up rock faces, hiking in the National Parks lugging his large view camera, tripod, and a heavy back pack of equipment.
In 1941, Ansel Adams was commissioned by the United States Interior Department to take photographs of the National Parks to be printed as murals for the walls of the new Interior Department building. This couldn't' have been closer to his heart: it combined a commercial assignment with personal, creative work that he referred to as "within". The "within" was the work that encapsulated his emotional reaction to the landscape - when he, the camera and the landscape were at one. Unfortunately, the project was curtailed with the outbreak of the Second World War and the mural was never produced.
The majority of pictures in this book are from the National Parks Mural Project, but also include work from other projects. The Kings Canyon photographs, taken in 1936, were successfully used to lobby for Kings Canyon to be designated a National Park. There is an exuberant photograph of an apple tree in snow taken at Yosemite, as well as the images taken for a documentary project during the war when Japanese Americans were interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center.
Ansel Adams's photographs inspire an appreciation for natural beauty and conservation that has been communicated down the generations. His ambition was not simply to record the landscape, but to capture his emotional and spiritual response to the wild areas that he loved so deeply. The results are spectacular: an emotional charge and passion shine through the prints with an intensity that is as powerful today as it was over 60 years ago.

From the Back Cover
A stunning collection of 120 visionary photographs of the American West in its wild places.

Customer Reviews

So promising, yet you are left wanting
This is very much a large format coffee table book, which is the promising part. However when you flip the pages and see the placement of the image, the disruption to the image created but the fold/crease in the book detracts from the impact.

There is no doubt that Ansel magnificently captures images and this book brings together some lesser known works. However if he was to see some of the reproductions, I'm sure he wouldn't be best pleased with the lack of depth to the blacks and washed out skies that taint some of the images.

The book is split nicely into themes though, with brief text about each of the images.

very disappointed!
I agree with the previous reviewer- most of the prints in this book are spoilt by being split (unnecessarily, given the size of the book) across the spine, the print quality in general is poor, with low contrast in comparison with the original prints or better quality books, and many of the prints aren't sharp- again, direct comparison with another book of his prints (the excellent "Examples- The Making of 40 Photographs") shows what is possible in comparison.

The size does it justice
Well, I agree with the other reviewers that the print quality isn't so good, but the sheer size of the book more than makes up for it.

Ansel Adam's pictures of a big country need a big book to do do them justice and this one does the business.

For the price you can't beat it. If you are a student of photography or interested in having the best works of a master of the genre then you this is a must have.