The American Wilderness (Hardcover)

by Ansel Adams (Author), Andrea Stillman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This is the noted photographer's last book project, begun two years before his death in 1984 at the suggestion of his friend, Wilderness Society president William Turnage. The straightforward design takes pertinent quotations from Adams's writings on wilderness conservation and interleaves them with informal subject groupings of photographs: Yosemite, ocean beaches, Yellowstone, Hawaii, trees, plants, and flowers. Turnage's warm introduction helps readers grasp in concrete terms the early shaping of Adams's commitment to nature conservation, his prodigious output and accomplishments, his visual legacy, and the success of his mission, spanning six decades, to preserve America's wild places. The quality of the large reproductions, from prints prepared by Adams's associate John Sexton, could not be finer. Recommended for photography, geography, and environmental science collections. BOMC selection.
- Kathleen Collins, Great Barrington, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Ansel Adams devoted his life and work to the celebration and protection of America's unsurpassed wild spaces. The American Wilderness presents the heart of Adams' legacy in over 100 of his most powerful landscapes. He reveals primeval nature found across America: the coast of Mt. Desert, Maine, the dunes of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, the Rio Grande River, the grand peaks of Yosemite and the High Sierra, and the most remote reaches of Denali National Park, Alaska. A selection of Adams' writings provides a stirring counterpoint to the images as he urges us all to perceive and cherish "the grandeur and potentials of the one and only world which we inhabit."

This is a magnificent volume, the first large-format book of Adams' work since Yosemite and the Range of Light. It was envisioned as a masterwork of fine bookmaking, sweeping in both subject and design, with extraordinarily beautiful printing in keeping with the originals. Adams' writings are printed on heavy, textured grey paper which is interleaved with the images. It is a vivid remembrance of the American wilderness—a stunning expression of the subject closest to this artist's heart, and one of profound concern to the world today.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 146 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1st edition (November 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821217992
• ISBN-13: 978-0821217993
• Product Dimensions: 15.8 x 12.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #627,652 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #39 in

  Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( A-C ) > Adams, Ansel

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Reproductions of Some Outstanding Adams' Images, November 12, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book is flawed by the images selected to be in it. The other main weakness is that the book is clearly overpriced.

The good news, however, is that the image sizes are large enough to capture the power and majesty of Adams' work. The reproduction quality is superb, as well!

The essay by William Turnage is an excellent discussion of the roles of Thoreau, Muir, and Adams in creating the awareness that has helped us to save and cherish some of what remains of our American wilderness. The artist-turned-conservation leader, Adams' role, is a particularly important function in our society. The artist helps us to experience what we have never seen while the conservation leader takes actions that galvanize the emotions that are evoked by nature and the artist into helpful improvements. When the artist and conservation leader are the same person, there is a combined power and continuity of vision that is irresistible. Thank goodness!

Adams is someone we should all admire for another reason. His nature photography and conservation efforts were hobbies, labors of love. Photography of nature is a field that offered meaningful remuneration only in recent years.

His day job was doing commercial photography. He took pictures of dead people in the Los Angeles morgue as well as of open pit copper mines in Utah.

What we admire about him was what he did on weekends, before and after work, and on vacations. Because he wanted the most remarkable images, this often meant hiking before dawn in difficult winter conditions to remote peaks to get just the right perspective.

Andrea Stillman did a good job of selecting Adams' quotes for her opening remarks. "Photography is a way of telling what you feel about what you see." " . . . [T]he turning out to the light the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit . . ." is what his work is about.

Throughout the book, you will find other quotes about Adams' reflections on the wilderness. They are well selected and add much to your consideration of what his images mean.

Here are some of my favorite photographs as reproduced in this book:

Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park, Texas, 1947

Monument Valley, Arizona, 1942

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, 1942

Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley, 1948

Sand Dune, White Sands National Monument, 1942

The White Stump, Sierra Nevada City, 1936

Terraya Creek, Dogwood Rain, Yosemite, 1948

Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite, 1944

Half Dome, Winter, from Glacier Point, Yosemite, 1940

Leaves, Mills College, Oakland, California, 1931

Maroon Bells, Near Aspen, Colorado, 1951

Old Faithful (4), Yellowstone, 1942

Mount McKinley and . . . Lake, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1947

After you have finished being refreshed and rejuvenated by these inspiring images, I suggest that you contemplate what the wilderness meant to your grandparents and parents, what it meant to you as a child, what it means to you now, and what it means to your children. If you are like me, you will see that wilderness is rapidly receding as a concept as well as a reality. What are we losing? How can we reverse that loss?

Understand all of Nature's message for us by living in harmony with her!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good coffee table book..., January 4, 2001

By	Philip Greenspun (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

... because you can put four legs on it and use it for a coffee table. If you're going to have a single Ansel Adams book, this is the one. His images just don't work in any smaller format.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best work of the original master of photography, January 30, 1997

By A Customer

The photographic images of Ansel Adams are among the most significant pieces of artwork which have been created within the 20th century. His techniques have revolutionized the world of the black and white photographer, and his images are the rule by which all others are measured. His art has spoken to the soul of millions, and you should not be left out! This book contains some of the most beautiful images of nature ever made, and is a bargain at twice the price! Review by Edward Lynn, student of commercial photography, The Art Institute of Seattle