Ansel Adams at PEM

“Stream, Sea, Clouds, Rodeo Lagoon, Marin County, California” (1962) gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams

What can you say about the iconic photographer Ansel Adams that has not already been said?  And yet, the Peabody Essex Museum in coastal Salem, Massachusetts, has managed to chart a new course through Adams’ legendary work in its current exhibit, “At the Water’s Edge” (through October 8, 2012).

“Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, California” (circa 1937) gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams is best known for his spectacular black & white images of the natural world, and especially Yosemite National Park in California.  Throughout his long career, he was repeatedly drawn to the motion, form and drama of water.  With stunning composition and extraordinary tonal range, Adams portrayed water from every angle and in all its forms.  Curator of Photography Phillip Prodger cleverly organized Adams’ work “into four galleries according to look and feel, from turbulent images of water in motion to contemplative scenes of water at rest.”

“Barnacles, Cape Cod” (1938) gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams

The show is edifying on multiple levels.  It presents both famous and lesser-known works in a fresh way.  It touches on the cultural context that helped transform photography from the Pictorial school of the 1800’s, wherein the merit of a photograph was judged by how closely it mimicked paintings and drawings, to Modernism, in which artists like Adams championed the mechanical qualities of the camera and photographic realism.

“Reflections at Mono Lake, California” (1948) gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams

As a photographer, I wish the show delved more deeply into some seminal aspects of Adams’ methodology: the fact that he used a “view” camera, rendering many of his images veritable “contact prints” or any description of his most famous invention, the Zone System of print developing.   Nonetheless, an element of his technique is alluded to in a brief description of his co-founding, with Edward Weston and Immogen Cunningham in 1932, of the group “f/64”, which refers to the smallest camera lens opening, resulting in very sharp focus throughout an image.

“Waterfall, Northern Cascades, Washington” (1960) gelatin silver print by Ansel Adams

Of course, a great photograph is a concert of technique and artistry.  Ansel Adams famously made the analogy of a negative and print to a musical score and performance.  As his own career advanced, we can see him become bolder, printing with greater contrast and sense of spectacle.  The PEM presents an enlightening exploration of water in the hands of a true maestro.

All images courtesy of the Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust and Peabody Essex Museum.