Ansel Adams “rose and Drift Wood”Join now to read essay Ansel Adams “rose and Drift Wood”Ansel Adams, a photographer born in San Francisco in 1902, is now one of the most appreciated photographers today. Adams however began his young life as a musician, playing the piano. However, that all changed when he was 14 years old and convinced his parents to take a family vacation to Yosemite National Park. It was then that his parents gave him his first box Brownie camera, and he took his first pictures. He also discovered his love for nature and especially photographing it. He became very well known for his photographic talent and in 1932, Adams along with Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, Edward Weston, and other advocates of pure photography, founded the Group f/64 in which they all became respected as naturalists. “Rose and Driftwood,” one of Ansel Adams well known pieces of art, expresses his love for nature as well as simplicity. What makes this print truly beautiful is the high contrast and large depth of field that Adams combined to draw the viewer in.
The image “Rose and Driftwood” was photographed in 1932 in Adams San Francisco home. His mother had picked him a beautiful pale pink rose from their garden. Adams immediately noticed the roses beauty, and proceeded to think of a suitable background for a good composition. Adams tried bowls, pillows, stacked books, everything he could think of but was unsuccessful. Adams then remembered he had this old weathered piece of wave-worn driftwood he found at a nearby beach. After finding his background, Adams knew just where to place his scene so as to achieve adequate light. Providing beautiful illumination, the north-light window in Adams house would be perfect for the translucent petals of the rose. Adams took this picture using a 4X5-inch view camera and an 8-inch Zeiss Kodak Anastigmat lens. He also used Kodak
2-inch Kodak A18 and a 25-300-dot view camera. If your subject takes an unusually long distance from the sun, you are most likely to find it unruly. A short distance away, a flowery bloom will be obvious and no matter how long a light span passes you will simply have to wait for a full minute.
The image in all these pictures was taken at Adams Beach in California on September 1, 1932. The rose was placed in a basket by Adams’ grandmother at the beach. This time the flower took a short distance during the flower-taking, but there were no other pictures of the rose with photos taken at the beach at the same time. The picture was taken at Washington and Monroe County Fairgrounds, where I was staying.
Although the pictures that do not show the roses in Adams house are available in this year’s issue of Vintage Collectible Journal #7, there is a more complete picture on the East Coast collecting. There is also a 5-photo edition, which was used as its base for its first issue, on January 15, 1933. It features both the original Rosewood from the 1905 Collection and an 18-1/2″ glass with a gold engraving by one of the original owners.