Last year in History of photography a photograph by Timothy O'Sullivan came up and I was never able to get it out of my head. I was clearly in love with the photograph and also since it was taken in the 18oo's the idea that when he showed people this picture I cannot even imagine the reaction that he got because it's so unlike anything that anybody in that time had ever seen. Well when I was walking through the exhibit I am seeing all the photographs and I see the exact same photograph and I basically have a little mental break down because I'm like oh my gosh it's my favorite photograph who knew they even had it here!! So clearly I was like WHAAAT. Then I looked at the tag AND IT'S THE EXACT SAME PICTURE BUT BY ANSEL ADAMS!!!!!
Let me show you them side by side.... this is so crazy to me.
okat the first one is by Timothy O'Sullivan in 1873 and
the second one was taken by good ol' Ansel in 1942
SO crazy.
But anyways on with the assignment. Sorry about that tangent. Ansel Adams was a guy who was an environmentalist and a photographer. He is well known for his landscapes of the west. Him and his buddy Fred Archer (Archer was known for the portraits that he took) and they created something that is called the zone system. The system allows you to be able to properly expose and adjust the contrast of the photograph for the print. Adams used large format prints that allowed his photographs to be incredibly sharp and was able to show the detail throughout the frame.
He also severely broke his nose as a kid which stinks, but also gave him a distinct look that made him very recognizable.
Back to the exhibition in the very back in the left hand corner their is another photograph that is by Burtynsky.
And way back in the Chrysler their is a painting that reminds me so much of this photograph and the series that it's in called Shipbreaking.
Its by a French guy named Eugene Louis Boudin and it was done in 1879
Here's some other photographs from that project but are not in the Chrysler
Hailey! Super impressed by your article! Loved all the additional facts and especially the comparison between Timothy O'Sullivan and Ansel Adams. I really enjoyed studying the two against each other and how time has effected the artist and landscape since being taken. Also, enjoyed the additional images that furthered me to realize the ships being abandoned on a larger scale. The first picture is like the early phase of decomposition and then the later pictures made me think of what will soon happen to these other leftover ships and the process of before and after each picture was taken.
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