Photographer Biography- Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams, was an american photographer who was born on February 20, 1902 and died on April 22, 1984. He was also the author of numerous books about photography, including his trilogy of technical instruction manuals: The Camera, The Negative and The Print. He was born in San Francisco in an upper-class family. When he was four, he was thrown into a wall in an aftershock from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which broke his nose. His nose was never fixed and appeared crooked for the rest of his life. He invented the zone system, a technique which allows photographers to transfer the light they see into a specific density on negatives and paper, which gives them better control over the finished photographs. Adams didn't like the education system and left school in 1915 to educate himself. He originally saw himself as a pianist, but Yosemite and the camera changed his interest toward photography. He met his future wife, Virginia Best, in Yosemite and she was known to be camera shy. During World War II, Adams worked on creating great photographic murals for the Department of the Interior. In 1952 Adams became one of the founders of the magazine Aperture. In 1966 he was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1980 Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. When he died he left his wife, two children and five grandchildren to live his legacy.