Customer Reviews

Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the size. This book is about the size of 8x11, so it's not a large coffee table book size. What it lacks in area size, it makes it up in the number of great photos, all 400 of them.

I also own the Yosemite and the Range of Light, one of Ansel Adams most highly acclaimed publication printed back in the 70's. I compared the two books. The 400 uses a whiter paper stock. Many of the photos in the 400 look different from the Range of Light. Some have more contrast, some have less. It is sort of like a slightly different interpretation. I closely compared a couple of the photos, in one case, I found the 400 has more shadow details in the deep shadow area, but the Range of Light counterpart has more emotional impact; the larger size may have to do with the emotional part. In another case,the 400 has less overall contrast, and a lot more shadow information comparing to the Range of Light, and I like the 400 interpretation better.

This book is a must have for Ansel Adams follower.

If you want 400 finely reproduced photographs of the oeuvre of one of the greatest black and white photographers, Ansel Adams, then you must get this book. The photographs are reproduced with the fine attention to detail, shadow and contrast that Adams would have demanded. It was amazing to see his first photographs of Yosemite when he was 14 years old. Turning each page, one stumbles across photographs one has forgotten or never seen, or those one can never forget. Even though the book could have been just a little bit bigger, it is a nice size to fit on your lap without breaking your arms. This is a must-get book for any Adams' enthusiast.

"Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs" covers his work from the 1920s through the 1960s, organized chronologically into the largest compilation ever published of his work. Over one-third of the photos took place in the Sierra Nevada mountains - his favorite area. Adams was able to transform geographic reality into moving emotional experiences. Though a passion for the preservation of the natural world guided his photographs, he also included photos of buildings and an occasional individual. Close-ups and long-views, sunny and cloudy days - all were mastered by Adams.

I particularly like to look at these photos before going out with my camera - helps generate ideas.

Ansel Adams is a legend. You may adore his style or you may regard it as overly technical with little aesthetic appeal. In any case, if you want to "see" what he has done, this is the book, period. There is also some well written text at the beginning of each chapter. More explanations and/or anectodes are provided at the end of the book. There are hints at his life and personality but this book has not been designed to satisfy a reader seeking such information. It is for displaying his photographs only. The order is chronological but not strictly so. The earliest examples are from his childhood! The design and printing quality is very good. The price is not outrageous. I liked the book very much and I still reach it to look at some of the photographs I admire...

It's no secret that Ansel Adams is an inspiration to any landscape photographer who loves to be outside, and this book is an excellent addition to my collection of photo/art related books.

Ansel Adams - 400 Photographs is the latest book related to Ansel Adams and this collection was compiled by Andrea Stillman, who worked for Adams in the 70s as his personal assistant. She is intimately familiar with his work, and according to the book, have spent much time contemplating what should be included . Her goal was to present a selection of the best images made by Adams during different periods of time (and images are presented chronologically to help us see the development in Ansel's vision), and after finishing reading and looking through the book, I must say that she succeeded.

In this book you will find many of Ansel's famous images, but what I liked particularly that you will also find many images that you have not seen before, especially from his early days and those that were made with his first cameras. For someone like myself who's still a beginning photographer, I was inspired to see how it all started for this legendary photographer. You also will not see these kinds of rare images at usual Ansel's exhibits.

The presentation of those images in terms of their sizes and how they are placed against the white background is eye pleasing. There is not much writing in the book, and Ansel's work speaks for itself, which I found appropriate for a book with such title. In addition, the quality of paper and printing is excellent, which is always important when it comes to photography books.

Due to the amount of images presented in the book I know I'll be looking through it again and again for inspiration, so the book is well worth it. It'll also be a great book to put on a coffee table, when we finally get one for our living room.

Anyone who has been the places that Ansel Adams photographed knows that the horizons he so often captured seem to go all the way to heaven. While in the early days of photography it was difficult to reproduce large images in books, today there is no problem except for publishers assuming that buyers prefer saving money over having the images be of the right size to express their emotional majesty. I will say that the overall reproduction quality is quite good. Not too much is lost in terms of detail from the smaller size of the images, but the emotional impact is clearly lessened. You feel like you are looking at an image rather than imagining yourself in the scene.

That flaw aside, Ms. Andrea Stillman successfully draws on her close contact (pun intended) with Ansel Adams to select excellent examples of his finest and most interesting work. For those who depend on icons to guide the way, she's included lots of those.

Although the book doesn't have much writing in it, I appreciated the notes beginning on page 413 that explained the context of the photographs, methods used, and personal stories related to their taking and exhibition. I think you will, too.

The book is conveniently organized chronologically with facing pages wisely selected to bring out common and contrasting elements in his work.

I especially enjoyed seeing works of his that I hadn't seen before. From this entire collection, I also gained many perspectives on his compositional style and how that evolved over time to be more awe-inspiring.

Nice job!

I have most of Ansel Adams' books. This is the least impressive of all. Small horizontal pages with vertical landscapes (sometimes only one 5 x 7 on a page) added up to merchandising, certainly not doing justice to this great photographer. Larger book size and orienting the photographs with the page layout would have been FAR better. We would have had to turn the book 90 degrees to view some of his works, but I would have preferred that.
The selected photographs are quite good, but Adams' work requires a better presentation than this. Leave this on the shelf and buy multiple other volumes and be far more pleased.

While this is a great comprehensive collection of Ansel Adams work, I found the small page size really reduced the impact of the photographs. You're often looking at 5x7 size images, which is just too small for me, but it might not bother you. The resolution of the prints is ok, but if it had had stellar detail I might have decided to get it.

This is a beautiful collection of Ansel Adams photos. A great coffee table book or, as was my purpose, an inspiration for a budding photographer.

Ansel Adams might be the most famous art/nature photographer of all time. He inspired many with his images. In 400 photographs you get far more than a small sampling of a few famous images. This book shows Adams' chronologic development as a photographer. With this format we can not only see his growth but also his depth something that is rare in book under $100. This volume is both something inexpensive and something anyone can be proud to display on ones coffee table.