Wow!

That's all I can say after seeing the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Huntsville Museum of Art on Saturday! Okay, that's not REALLY all I can say, as you are about to find out.

I mentioned the exhibit to Cousin Kari over Thanksgiving (she's a bit of a photography nut) and she said that she and Cousin-in-Law Jason would like to come over and check it out. Seeing as how I really wanted to see it myself, but knew it'd probably be one of those things I just never "got around to", I told her I thought that was a grand idea.

Well let me tell you, the exhibit did not disappoint. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect because it seemed a bit odd to me that Huntsville would get a full-fledged Ansel Adams exhibit and if they did I'd have expected to hear much more about it than the occasional ad in the newspaper. In reality I figured they might have 10 or 15 of his lesser known prints, with maybe one famous work. Boy was I wrong. They must have had more than 100 of his works AND many of his best known prints were included. I think my favorite may have been Maroon Bells:



The exhibit also included Clearing Winter Storm, The Tetons and the Snake River, lots of shots of Half Dome, and bunches of Waterfalls. It was amazing!

Though I've long understood (thanks to my art history friend in college) the difference between seeing an original painting and a reproduction on a poster, this was the first time I'd experienced the same thing with photographs. Adams' actual prints just blew me away. Though the museum store had reproductions of many of the prints, they just weren't the same. In fact, I didn't even bother linking to one of my very favorite shots above because internet image doesn't even look like the same picture.

It's not just that the reproductions are smaller, they somehow lose the essence of the shot. The shadows, the glowing whites, the amazing details, ... It was amazing how Adams could photograph a sweeping vista and keep everything, from 10 feet to infinity, in perfect focus. You can see raindrops on grass in the foregroud and individual branches on trees miles in the distance. I was overwhelmed.

Again, why is Huntsville not pushing this more? This is an exhibit I'd expect to see in Chicago or Nashville, at the least, yet Huntsville has it and, as far as I can tell, they're doing nothing more than running a weekly ad in the Huntsville Times. They don't even have an ad in the Decatur Daily!

So here's my PSA for the day -- GET TO HUNTSVILLE AND SEE THIS EXHIBIT NOW! It runs through January 16th and admission is only $7 (half-price on Thursday's after 5:00). They are starting a Maxfield Parrish exhibit December 18th and admission goes up to $10 then. Though I abhor Maxfield Parrish (long story involving a college roommate), the Adams exhibit still will be worth the price of admission.