Ansel Adams Performing the Print at PHX Art Museum

The Phoenix Art Museum is showcasing a special exhibition of legendary American photographer, Ansel Adams. His photography prints will be on display until June 7th, 2020.

The exhibition showcases several prints of the same image to demonstrate how the photographer often created multiple interpretations of the same photograph, even titling the same image differently, depending on the feeling they invoked.

These varying interpretations of the same image were designed to express his creative vision.

Not unlike photographers today, who use digital manipulation to define and redefine their works and style, he revised many of his photographs to fit the expression he wanted to convey. Thus, he created several prints from one negative. A very different process, in fact, it is a fine art that has been lost on many photographers of this era. However, Ansel Adams manipulated his original image long before digital photography and post production became a regular pastime.

The exhibition held at the Phoenix Art Museum explores the famous photographers practice of black-and-white printmaking and his body of work throughout the six decade course of his career.

The twentieth century photographers quotations along with descriptions of the subjects of his work accompany many of the prints displayed in the museums third floor showroom.