Ansel Adams... a Great Photographer

Since Christmas and our Canadian friends the Albrecht's visit I have been doing a 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle... it took 30 days! I got a few hours help from my friend Lorne a couple of times... and Shirley would stop and help find a problem piece for me from time to time. Feels good to have this one done!

The result is that every free moment has been spent finding just one more piece in the puzzle... no time to blog.

We did however have a few very inspirational adventures.  I tagged along with our Del Webb photo club to on field trip to the U of Arizona campus to see several exhibits.

Apart from this photo outside the Charles Harbutt exhibit I photographed nothing inside... I was totally enjoying his work, watched a 30 minuted movie and looked at hundreds of photos.  It was great.

The John P Schaefer Center for Creative Photography was no small building. When we got home I did a little google search to learn more about Dr. John P. Schaefer and learned he was an interesting man. His major study was in chemistry... which lead him to come to this university  as a chemistry professor... and later to become president of the university for 11 years between 1971-1982.

I liked this YouTube video where he tells how the idea for the Center for Creative Photography evolved... and how he became good friends with Ansel Adams, who played a role in it all. It was an idea whose time was right, and Schaefer made the most of his friendship with Adams in his last years before he died in 1984.

Schaefer is an avid photographer and has published several books with his photography... he loves the cactus and the desert.

I like to learn about the people who have played a part in making the City of Tucson a better place... and Dr. John Schaefer is one of them.  The newspaper did a great piece on him when he was given a Founders Award in 2010. Click on his name to learn more.  I like this man.

When we tour a gallery Shirley and I often play the game, "If you could have just one piece from this exhibit, which one would you want?"  For me it would would be this one.

They asked us not to take photos of Ansel Adams exhibition... but that was not a problem, since much of his work is easily copied off the internet.  There were I believe 21 or 22 of his original photos that we saw that day.

Adams was well known for his photography in the National Parks.

Without any comment I have included several of his photos.

I recognize the Hoover Dam... but today there is a new bridge that goes above it.  We have stopped to look around... but never got down to the spot where Adams took this great shot.

We have a poster print of this framed and in our home here... Half Dome in Yosemite.

 If you are fan of Ansel Adams you might enjoy this documentary... a film by Ric Burns.

This is one of my most favourite photographers. Ansel Adams, Feb. 20, 1902 - Apr. 22, 1984.

A life well spent.

And a most enjoyable and inspirational day with the Photo Club.

You may also enjoy the blog post that Shirley did on this same day... check it out!