Review: Ansel Adams in Color

Ansel Adams in Color by Ansel Adams (Photographer), Andrea G. Stillman, and John P. Schaefer (Editor)
Publisher: Little Brown
Pub. Date: October 21st, 2009
Pages: 168

Synopsis
Adams began to photograph in colour in the mid-1930s. He did significant personal or 'creative' photography in colour and his distinctive visualisation of a scene and technical mastery is immediately evident in these photographs. Overall, he made nearly 3,500 colour images, but only a small fraction have ever been published. Adams thought seriously about publishing his colour images but the task was not accomplished during his lifetime. The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust - with advice and counsel from John Szarkowski, former Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art; David Travis, Curator of Photographs at the Art Institute of Chicago and James Enyeart, former Director of the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House--asked the distinguished master photographer Harry Callahan to select the best of Adams' colour work for publication in this book.

Review
To start with, I realize this book is not of the YA category. However, I feel that there are probably still some of you that may be interested in this book. Also, this is my first time reviewing a book of this kind so my review may not be quite up to par.

As an aspiring photographer, I have been a fan or Ansel Adams magnificent work for a very long time. That being said, I was extremely surprised to learn of this beautiful collection of his color photography which I wasn't really aware that he had done. It almost made be embarrassed that I didn't know yet I called myself a fan and appreciator.

Ansel Adams in Color taught me the extent to which Ansel Adams practiced color photography. The fact that he had over 3,000 color transparencies was a bit of a shock. Ansel Adams is more well known for his black and white photography. One of the reasons for this is because of his aggravation with the technical limitations of color photography. The writing of this book was so informative and well done.

I was not surprised, however, by the outstanding quality of his color photography. His photos were absolutely breathtaking and captured a wide variety of locations including, but not limited to, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Death Valley National Park, and Salt Pools of Utah. And that is just to name a few.

I'm so proud to have this wonderful book as part of my collection and I would recommend it to any appreciator of photography.

Grade
Writing: B+
Photographs: A+
Enjoyment: A
Recommendable: A-
Cover: A

Overall: A

I received this review copy from Hachette. Thank you!