I visited Yosemite recently, and it was glorious as always. In fact, it’s almost TOO glorious for its own good – when you enter on Hwy 41, come through the tunnel, and you see the whole valley before you…it’s just beyond description. So it is that Ansel Adams came to photograph this view, giving it an iconic status. So I find myself, sitting there near sundown, my camera on its tripod, waiting for the perfect light, the perfect moment. The problem is, Mr. Adams already captured this moment 70 years ago, and he did it in very grand fashion. Nonetheless, I shoot away. I try every conceivable exposure in the hope that I will get something that looks “right”. Something that looks like an Ansel Adams print. Upon review, this was achieved for the most part. How unoriginal can I be?
The challenge here is looking for a new angle on something that we’re all familiar with. What I saw through my viewfinder is exactly what Ansel saw in his, probably many times. He certainly saw this view in his darkroom as he made his prints. But now that I’m home, I am frustrated at my lack of an “eye” on this day – I just haven’t been shooting much lately and it’s rusty. As it turns out, there was a chance to tell a story on that day. Soon after I drove up, a busload of Japanese tourists arrived. As the bus’ door produced person after person, I thought to myself “how annoying – so many people to interrupt the view”. What I should have been thinking was “what a chance for a great visual story!” Wouldn’t it have been an interesting visual – kind of like street photography in a national park – to see all the Japanese tourists snapping cliché postcard views w/ their super-miniaturized digital point-n-shoots? That would be something that Ansel did NOT see on Hwy 41. I did see it, and I have no record of it…and so I chose to be an impersonator over an artist…now there’s one to learn from.
