Tag: Ansel Adams

f.64 at SFMOMA

We arrived at SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) about noon, having ridden BART. Public transit is a great option since driving into the city and parking can be a challenge. We were hungry when we arrived so the first order of business to head up to Cafe 5 where we split a salad.

Then it was off to see the exhibition Around Group f.64: Legacies and Counterhistories in Bay Area Photography. This turned out to be quite an extensive exhibit with work from 31 artists on display, including images from Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and many other photographers. The f.64 group set a new trend in photography creating images of startling clarity and beauty that rivaled art made in other mediums.

The exhibit leads you through the early pictorial style of some of the f.64 members before the group was established. It then moves to many of the images that represented the emerging style of sharpness and clarity. I decided to put my own spin on the exhibit by experimenting with a long exposure app on my iPhone called Slow Shutter with the hope of creating some intentional camera movement. I find these images more provocative than just straight photos that document the exhibit.

The exhibit goes way beyond the work of the original f.64 group. I was particularly intrigued by the work of Tarrah Krajnak. Her work Master Rituals I: Ansel Adams | 2018 to Present was quite provocative.

One of the photos in the show featured an image of a building with the Flag Makers sign on it. When we walked out of the museum, we discovered that the building next to the museum had this signage. I was compelled to see what I could do with my iPhone camera.

The show is up through July 13. If you have an interest in photography, it’s well worth seeing.

Ansel Adams at the de Young Museum

In the summer of 1980, I had to opportunity to participate in the last photography workshop Ansel Adams taught in Yosemite. Needless to say that was a key steppingstone in the path that led to where I am today. So, when I saw the announcement that the show Ansel Adams in Our Time was up at the de Young Museum in San Francisco through July 23, I put a date on my calendar.

This turned out to be quite an extensive exhibit with over 100 of Adam’s prints. It also included the work of other 19th-century landscape photographers, such as Carleton Watkins and Eadweard Muybridge, and contemporary artists like Trevor Paglen, Will Wilson, and Catherine Opie. It is interesting to see how contemporary artists treat some of the grand landscapes of Yosemite. We spent a good 2-1/2 hours in the exhibit, and that didn’t even seem like enough. Well worth the visit.

Olmstead Point

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but Nature’s sources never fail.” John Muir – Our National Parks, 1901

Lone tree at Olmstead Point. Yosemite National Park.
Lone tree at Olmstead Point. Yosemite National Park.

Olmstead Point is located in high country of Yosemite National Park. It’s 30.5 miles east of Crane Flat on Highway 120. It is a popular spot to stop and get a sense for the grandeur of the high sierra. There is also a short nature hike here. It is also away from the crowds of Yosemite Valley, although it is only accessible in the summer and fall. In winter Highway 120 closes.  Prints of the photo above are available in my online store.

This stop always brings back memories of the photography workshop I did with Ansel Adams in 1980. It was Ansel’s last Yosemite workshop, and while he was restricted to the lower elevations, The workshop instructors and students made our way to this point.