We just went to the “Ansel Adams In Our Time” exhibit at the DeYoung in SF. Boy have they done Adams a disservice! The
lighting is dim, really dim, dimmer than I recall for the Dutch Masters show we saw at the Met last fall. St. Ansel
printed for decent light, while those old Dutch guys painted for pre-electric light. Most pix didn’t “POP” and many were
just too dark to really see.
Photos mostly full of shadow tones were hopeless. People, myself included, were going up close to Thunderstorm, Chama
Valley, NM and squinting to try to see what the subject is.
I've seen many of the prints in other shows, other times, with better light.
It's a whole different experience.
A woman next to me, viewing "Mr. Shepherd at his home, Independence, California", remarked that the man on the left
didn’t really belong in the composition. I pulled out my pocket light, lit it properly. “Oh! I see it now, that’s lovely!”
I thought properly fixed silver prints were unharmed by reasonable light levels
. . .
Through a Dark Glass Moose
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