Ansel Adams and the American Landscape: A Biography

Ansel Adams and the American Landscape: A Biography by Jonathan Spaulding is a superlative biography of one of America's true icons. Spaulding does a magnificent job describing the evolution of Adams as a photographer, environmentalist and individual. In this, the book is more than just Adams' biography, but a history of the environmental movement and photography in America.The only significant disappointment was the inability of Spaulding to utilize the actual Adams pictures when describing their creation. For instance, his description of the creation of Moon over Hernandez would have greatly benefitted from the ability of the reader to actually see the picture. However, unfortunately he was unable to obtain permission to utilize the photographs. While this is not Spaldings fault, it does limit the impact the of the narrative.The most interesting part of the book was the evolution of 20th Century American photography. Adams cannot be separated from the development of photography in American and his life touched most of the great American photographers. Adams was constantly in conflict with many of them over the issue of quality versus the benefits of photojournalism. Adams saw photography as a high art form and was at odds with those who saw it as more as a story telling devise.For those that are interested in Adams, environmentalism or photography this book is a must.

Jonathan Spaulding's biography of Ansel Adams (or AA as people referred to him) provides a counterpoint to Mary Street Alinder's. While Alinder shows us Adams the Man first, with the influence of the American West and the Environmental Movement in a supporting role, these forces are prominent in Spaulding's work.This is not to say that Spaulding does not talk about AA's private life, a pre-requisite for any biography, but does so only as it relates to AA's pursuit of photography and environmental causes. Absent, for example, are details of his relationship with his wife Virginia (which was quite complex: someone needs to write a biography of Virgina Best Adams in a way that Stacy Schiff wrote of Vera Nabokov) and the hard relationship with his children.What Spaulding gives us instead is a very detailed account of the evolution of Adams' photographic vision and technique, and the influence of the American West on it. Through this you find his relationship to other important photographers and their influence on him and his styles: Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and many others. We also see the influence of Western expansion throughout the first half of the 20th century, especially after WWII. In particular the seeming incongruity of AA producing pictures drawing people to the Western national parks while campaigning with the Sierra Club to limit the impact of tourists on Nature is discussed. The battle, falling out, and eventual reconciliation between Adams and David Brower is also detailedIf you are most interested in AA's life, read his autobiography or Alinder's biographry. If you want to know more about his influences and those things that he influenced, Spaulding's book is an excellent and readable choice. The book is heavily footnoted, with over 80 pages of notes, and contains a useful bibliography for anyone wishing to research further Adams' very interesting life.As a footnote, the book does not include any pictures whose copyright is held by the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, which refused to grant permission.

This biography offers its readers a wide range of suggestions and examples how American landscape entered into the American cultural essence as an icon, a point of reference. Obvious that photographers could inhale deeper this magic: great prairies, majestic spaces of woods and water, and so on. Adams fought all his life for this searching, his adventure followed this last century, expecially for what's "preservation of nature and animals/plants nature contains". Thank you, Adams, from one among million walkers and photographers! Fred T. from Turin, Italy.