I came across an article on MSNBC. You will find the link to the article at the bottom of this post. This blog is based on that article.
The article points to a California resident who purchased a bunch of negatives at a garage sale, 10 years ago. Apparently, based on a hunch, he thought he had found these negatives to be the original work of Ansel Adams. While the Ansel Adams Trust denies it, this gentleman and his lawyer are all set to sell these negatives.
And people want to pay millions of dollars for the negatives, which are at least as of now, disputed..!
Fanfare for Ansel Adams
Trust me, I am one hell of an Ansel Adams fan. And, I am one of many out there.
Recently, on calphoto, a group for California based photographers, someone posted a link suggesting that November 28 happens to be the day where you can repeat one of Ansel Adams's very famous moon shots of the half dome.
I am sure hundreds of photographers will be out there, in the valley (which is really a canyon), trying to repeat what Adams has done.
This is exactly where I differ from most Adams' fans.
I forwarded the post about the "perfect night for the Ansel Adams shot" to a very good friend and my friend asked me if I too, was going to be one of the hundreds of fans running riot over the valley floor.
Here is my reply: I am looking to Ansel Adams for inspiration. I am not looking to be a copycat.
An artist, a good one, looks for inspiration, but more importantly, for originality, for inspiration. That is what Ansel Adams sought, that is what he was able to produce.
Collection and Confusion
I too collect Ansel Adams photos and books. I collect a multitutde of cameras and photography related work. I tend to place value to my collection - except not in monetary terms. It is amazing to hold a piece of art, an instrument of art in your hands and watch it in amazement.
However, I would set limits at how far I would go to collect. At present, of course, fiduciary ability limits me. However, my focus on art would always be to support both the accomplished and the aspiring.
If you are willing to pay for and treasure art, why not achieve a balance. It is ridiculous to pay millions upon millions of dollars when equally capable artists starve on the street corners...
This is what, as they say (oh well, no one says it anymore), gets my goat.
Why is it that people have a sense of direction till they collect oodles of cash, and then have no sense of direction once they have it?
Don't kid yourself. Are you collecting art, or are you feeding your ego?
Link to MSNBC article:
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-ansel-adams-prints,0,2910333.story
[Note: All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
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1 comment:
I must confess I did not hear of Ansel Adams until Hari blogged about it, and now I am more than curious to check his photos especially the famed half dome of Yosemite and others. I agree with Hari's notion that originality and inspiration are the qualities one tries to imbibe from a role model. However most often eager amateurs tend to copy because they would think that once they get that same exact photo with all its beauty as identical as the original one, they stand in equal to master himself. A subtle point to be missed is, this copy cat knows what he is copying from and tries to rebuild it. The master knew it when he saw it and captured it on the spot. Or he waited for the event to happen again to capture it, but he knew it in his head to start with. And, that my friends, is the beauty in photography.
Also, it's been some time since I saw the usage of "get my goat". The word fiduciary caught my attention, since it was spun in a new way and sure enough a discussion with the author about its etymology ensued.
All in all, a good blog...
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