Medium Of Photography
Today it has become a truism to say that the medium of photography is
light. But the skill required to capture that light in ways that celebrates its
beauty and mystery has been mastered as fully by Ansel Adams as by almost any
other twentieth-century photographer. And it seems highly appropriate that the
name of the exhibition contains the words FIAT LUX: let there be
light,
As a case in point we may contemplate the beautiful fragment of
Bristlecone Pine Wood at the White Mountain High Altitude Station. Here the
stark light-dark-light contrasts reveal Adams at his best. While the sunset's
light accentuates the shapes of the wood at its edges, so that it glows with
luminescence, the darker tonalities remind us that this fragment is as much dead
as it is alive, and thus reminds us of our own mortality.
For me this
image also suggests that we pay greater attention to the cultivation and
preservation of nature, its delicate balances, which, when neglected, lead to
devastation, as is occurring in the rain forests of Brazil. Even in
juxtaposition with death, however, this lovely Adams image speaks of the glory
of life.
I don't know of a more spectacular view than the one from the
top of the Berkeley hills across the San Francisco Bay toward the city, and the
Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. The silent serenity of this photograph
contrasts markedly with the devastation of recent events. As beautiful as this
image is we also know that many areas of the greater area of the San Francisco
Bay are polluted.
In a photograph taken from the Lick Observatory the
scientific facility is not visible, but we still, with the knowledge of the
vantage point from which it was taken, sense the precarious balances of nature
and technology, which so universally threaten the existence of both, including
threats to outer space, reminding us to heed the ever-increasing warnings of
pollution. The misty delicacy which characterizes this photograph of rolling
hills, outlined with light, and trees, which are threatened by drought, makes us
wonder how long these species will remain.
Whether young or old, located
in a city, or in more remote environs, whether researching the fruits of the
earth or the mysteries of outer space, these never-before-exhibited images
provide a wealth of visual information about the varieties and richnesses of our
world.