Photo Friday, Ansel Adams: Themes and Variations

Music played an important role throughout Ansel Adams’ life. At the age of twelve, Adams taught himself to play the piano and to read music. For the next ten years or so he studied piano, intending to pursue a career as a concert pianist. Although he eventually gave up the piano for photography, music influenced his work as a photographer throughout his career.

Adams said, “. . . the negative is similar to a musician’s score, and the print to the performance of that score. The negative comes to life only when ‘performed’ as a print.” The February 7, 2014 Photo Friday at the Center for Creative Photography will feature pairs and small groups of Adams photographs exploring an idea taken from music – themes and variations.

Yosemite Valley, Rain and Mist, Yosemite National Park, California, ca. 1940 Collection Center for Creative Photography. ©The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust 84.91.130