Home Photo Gallery Classroom Documents A Letter From Ansel Adams!!
June-July 1940 Editor's Note: We have received the following in the form of a letter from Ansel Adams. We feel that its contents are of such great value that we are reprinting it here. Thank you for the two copies of PHOTO NOTES which came to hand a few days ago, and which I find most interesting. [You] are a real live bunch of people, and I look forward to seeing some of you when I get to New York next time--when that will be I don't know, but I hope fairly soon. I was interested in the criticism of my article in "Graphic Graflex Photography." I am not prone to answer criticisms and I trust that what I say below will not suggest any rancor. In fact, it is quite the contrary; I appreciate any sound comment, and that criticism is in the main, most sincere and sound. But there is a certain statement that, for the sake of accuracy, should be argued. It is in reference to "gold toning"--Mr. Fenn states that he cannot understand the improvement of tonal relationships by such toning. In the first place, the reproduction certainly gave no impression of the actual print quality and in the second place, what I was talking about had no relation to prints for reproduction. I believe that a moment's thought will convince one that the particular blue-green-black of the usual photographic print is a color that is definitely "negative" in itself. It is peculiarly "dead" and the average print suffers through this inevitable "negative" black. For reproduction purposes, there is very little value in tone control, as the ultimate visual effect is what counts, and most printing processes are not so hot. But considering the actual print--the print as a thing in itself--I believe you would be astonished if you could see the difference between an ordinary print and a slightly toned print. The actual tonal relationships are imperceptibly changed--but the color of the print; the visual impact of the values; is vastly improved. The illusion is that the scale of the print is augmented. This augmentation I do not believe the sensitrometric devices would respond to, as, weight for weight, the tones remain about the same. But the peculiar purple-brown tone--very slight--that is obtained by only a few minutes treatment in the toning bath, does wonderful things from an emotional point of view. Try it sometime!! But never carry it so far that the toning is obvious. I have been profoundly interested in documentary photography for a long time. I have not found myself in the stream, as it were, of such work, but I have envied those who were making conspicuous success with it, as I think the true function of photography is to convey ideas, emotions, facts, and solutions to the greatest number of people. I have always been disturbed at the lack of attention paid to what might be called, for the lack of a better term, technical quality. I am not arguing for merely empty precision. What I mean to say is this: the cleaner the technique, the more intense the message of the print as a thing in itself, the richer will be the ultimate expression. Something perceived--no matter how important in itself--and photographed without a true "feeling" for the medium, is not conveyed with all the impact it deserves. A print for ordinary reproduction is one thing--I have to make hundreds of them--but a print for itself is another thing. My whole statement in that article related to just the latter phase of photography--to the print as something in itself. Most of you people seem not to worry much about such things as prints; you worry about pictures. Perhaps that is by far the most important thing to worry about. But permit me to raise a peep about this--your best picture, would hit harder if the print of it conveyed an enlarged experience of the elements of form, substance and textures of the subject. If, for instance, snow enters into the picture; perhaps as just a background, or something underfoot;--without being trite, might I ask,--would it not be better to convey the feeling of snow than just to have a white or grey area which casually symbolizes it?? You and I know thousands of swell pictures have been weakened--emasculated--by careless attention to the final vehicle--the print. I repeat--the cleaner and more forceful the technique, the better the message will be conveyed. From a documentarist's point of view, the argument illustrated by a landscape might not be important,--but I am going to show you what I mean some day by the use of a normal piece of reportage as the subject! One more comment--this letter is too long now--; let any one of you set down in detail the minutae of his photographic procedure. Even the simplest procedure will appear a bit thick. Most of you people rely too much on the Formulae books; on the routine procedure of the manufacturer; on the requirements of ordinary reproductions. I would like to see what could be done someday with the grand material you have, and that which you are working with, along the lines of maximum impact in relation to the capacities of the medium. Maybe I will see it when the show arrives! Of course, the joke is really on those who think my technique--or the technique of Edward Weston--is intricate. We both use Pyro for the negatives, Amidol and MQ for the prints, Isopan for the films, Convira, Velox, Brovira, for the prints. Even our cameras are identical. But Adams and Weston are tow very different people. I am sure most of you are very different from each other, photographically, but I am wondering how different you are in the visual values of your work. I know of very few of you directly, but I do know that about 75% of your type of photographers adhere to a technique pattern; and that pattern does not take into consideration the vital impact of individual expression. I believe that in the world of today and in the world to come that you have to consider the next floor above fact. Please do not take this long tirade seriously. But please do not hesitate to answer it vigorously. I want to know more about the vistas of photography; and I do know that the documentarists have embarked on a long journey. Some wonderful things are to be found as the camera goes deeper into life and into the spirit of people, events, and things. This letter is a bit personal, but I do not want to miss the opportunity to get in a few words about the show. In the first place, I may be able to extend it for another week. There is some talk already about continuing the Fair another month; if such is the case I am sure we can put on that additional seven days. In the second place, I presume the show is going to be more than just a series of prints. I would like to have texts--reasons for doing--histories, method. I would like to show that photography with a real purpose is not a collection of salon prints; it should be stressed that important reportage and documentation is not a casual matter. There is something very architectural about doing a good photographic job. You have to remember--that the average spectator is basically Salon minded--he likes pretty pictures, can't quite grasp ones that are not pretty, swears like hell when some print reveals something he is subconsciously ashamed of in himself or in his class. But he seems to come around when an incontrovertible logic and sequence of though is presented him. I think that contemporary expression--especially expression related to social qualities--is mistrusted by the average spectator about as much as a spinster in extremis mistrusts Dali. So that is why I think you should give us the works in this show. Let me know how it is progressing, and what I can do to make it most effective. It is certainly an amusing situation I find myself in regarding the requested paragraphs on the definition of Documentary Photography. The only one who has come through is Beaumont Newhall! Strand refers me to Van Doren--MacLeish and Mumford are too busy,--and so on!! How about you people preparing a real alive definition of Documentary Photography?? You are doing it--what are you doing?? Please understand that what I want is a definition that the layman can grasp; thousands of people a week go through the galleries; about three might understand a technical definition. Give me something that will indicate the power of photography to say things about the world and about specific problems of our time. I anticipate a grand set of definitions!! Or one amalgamated Definition!! Dorothea Lange anticipates the forthcoming show with great enthusiasm. I believe I told you that the FSA is coming through with a show on the American Small Town. All good wishes, Ansel Adams.
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