1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: Greetings everyone, Welcome to this Day in History class, where 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: we bring you a new tidbit from history every day. 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: Today is February. The day was February nineteen o two. 4 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: A child by the name of Ansel Adams was born 5 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: to Olive Bray and Charles Hitchcock Adams in San Francisco, California. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: Adams would turn out to be a renowned landscape photographer 7 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: and a crusader for wilderness conservation. Adams was born into 8 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: a wealthy family, as his grandfather was a successful timber baron, 9 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: but his family fortune took a hit in nineteen o 10 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: seven after a financial crisis in the United States, and 11 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: they struggle trying to recoup what they had lost. As 12 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: a child, Ansel had a hard time at school. He 13 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: was kicked out of several schools for bad behavior, so 14 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: he started taking lessons with private tutors and family members 15 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: at age twelve, and early on he was drawn to music. 16 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: He taught himself to play the piano, started taking piano 17 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: lessons and had no problem focusing his efforts on training 18 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: to become a professional musician, but playing the piano was 19 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: not the art form he would eventually become famous for 20 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: Adams was already smitten with nature as a child. He 21 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: took long walks around Golden Gate, hiked the sand dunes, 22 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: and went to the beach, among other escapades and the outdoors. 23 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixteen, Adams visited Yosemite National Park for the 24 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: first time. He had read the book In the Heart 25 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: of the Sierras by James Mason Hutchings and persuaded his 26 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: parents to take him to the park, and he was 27 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: immediately taken with the landscape. On that trip, he would 28 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: take pictures of the scenery with the Kodak number one 29 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: box Brownie his parents had given him, and from that 30 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: point on Ansel would only dive deeper into his love 31 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: for nature and photography. In nineteen nineteen, Adams joined the 32 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,839 Speaker 1: Sierra Club, an organization that promotes outdoor activities and advocates 33 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: for environmental protection and preservation. He became super active in 34 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: the club, and his first published photos and writings were 35 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: released in nineteen twenty two in the club's bullets In. 36 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: Adams soon became the trip photographer on high trips or 37 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: wilderness excursions that the Sierra Club hosted every summer, uniting 38 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: his passions for the great outdoors and photography. In nineteen seven, 39 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: Ansel climbed four thousand feet to get to the spot 40 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: where he would take a photo called Monolith the Face 41 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 1: of Half Dome. Adams would call the photo his first visualization, 42 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,639 Speaker 1: or the first time he attempted to convey his feelings 43 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: and vision in a photograph. Ancel with right. I saw 44 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: the photograph as a brooding form with deep shadows in 45 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: a distant, sharp white peak against a dark sky. That 46 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: photo would turn out to mark a seminal moment in 47 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: Adam's life and career. Adams still had an interest in music, 48 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: but by the late nineteen twenties he began to focus 49 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: more heavily on his photography projects informed relationships with people 50 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: who influenced his artwork. Patron of the arts Albert M. 51 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: Bender encouraged Ansel to keep pursuing photography and provided Ansel 52 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: with the funds to do so. In nineteen Ansel married 53 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: Virginia Best. That same year, at had his first solo 54 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: exhibition at the Sierra Club's headquarters. Anselill also begin traveling 55 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: to the American Southwest to work with writer Mary Hunter Austin, 56 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: and they published the book Taos Pueblo in nineteen thirty. 57 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: Adams had been practicing pictorialism in his work, using soft 58 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: focused techniques, filters, and heavy manipulation, but in nineteen thirty 59 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: he met photographer Paul Strand, whose work influenced him to 60 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: pursue a style called straight photography, where the focus is 61 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: sharp and scenes do not appear manipulated. This would be 62 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: the style he would go on to champion in later years. 63 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: Adams said the following in his essay A personal Credo. 64 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: A great photograph is a full expression of what one 65 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,239 Speaker 1: feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, 66 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: and is thereby a true expression of what one feels 67 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: about life in its entirety, And the expression of what 68 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: one feels should be set forth in terms of simple 69 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: devotion to the medium, A statement of the utmost clarity 70 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: and perfection possible under the conditions of creation and production. 71 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: That will explain why I have no patience with unnecessary 72 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: complications of technique or presentation. Over the years, Ansel and 73 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: his work gained more popularity and he collaborated with more artists. 74 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: He joined a group called F sixty four with other 75 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: noted photographers, and though it was short lived, the group 76 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: brought straight photography to the art world's attention. Adams had 77 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: his first New York show in nineteen thirty three, published 78 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: his first series of technical articles in nineteen thirty four, 79 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: and launched his first widely distributed book in nineteen thirty five. 80 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: He worked long hours and has been described as a 81 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: party may in. But as the story goes, for so 82 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: many artists, just because he was so popular didn't mean 83 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: he was making the money to match that. He took 84 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: commercial photography jobs throughout his life. Adams technical mastery and 85 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: artistry were set in stone. He went on to develop 86 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: the zone system, a photographic technique to get proper exposure 87 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: in development, and produced many technical manuals on photography. But 88 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: he also fought for environmental conservation. He advocated for new parks, 89 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: pushed back against unnecessary highways, and wrote letters in support 90 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: of conservation to editors and politicians. His photos influenced public 91 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: awareness on issues of natural landscape preservation. He even documented 92 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: life at a Japanese American internment camp. Ansel Adams died 93 00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: in four in California, but his advocacy in our work 94 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: left an imprint for later generations of artists and environmentalists. 95 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little 96 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. And if 97 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: you're so inclined, you can follow us at T D 98 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Thanks 99 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: again for listening, and I hope you come back tomorrow 100 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: for more delicious morsels of history.