Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film

This DVD contains a video that was directly copied from the PBS "American Experience" program. You can tell it was not touched up or enhanced their fixed or anything else. I suspect that they were not planning on people having 46-inch televisions. The credits in the beginning part of the program are fuzzy. But when it gets down to talking about Adams, he gets down to talking about Adams and many of the photographs mysteriously get sharper. We get so engrossed in the subject matter of both Adams and his pictures that we no longer care one way or the other were sharp or not.

My only complaint is that it was in soundbite form. I do not know who designed the program that way, but they could have focused on one person or another instead of person A, and B, and C, and a, and B, and c, repeatedly, and so forth. It breaks the continuity of thought.

For me, the experience is enhanced because I have been to most of these places several times. I hope to go back again. I have also been intrigued by the mechanics of photography before it became the digital age. I am now still interested in digital photography. But photography aside by the time that you get to the end of this program you will feel that you have lost your only friend.

This presentation gave me a unique way of looking at life and being conservative about what nature has brought us.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black & white images of the American West.

Adams was a life-long advocate for environmental conservation and his photographic practice was deeply entwined in this advocacy.

Directed by Ric Burns - This intriguing bio-documentary takes a close-up look at the life and career of Ansel Adams.

It was three years when I, a naive adolescent with a burgeoning love of film and photography, was lying on a mattress beside the fire place at 1 o'clock in the morning, trying desperately to fall asleep. I had the television on, hoping the colours and sounds would lull me to sleep when I grew tired of whatever was on and started flipping through the channels.

"Ansel Adams": the words beamed out at me from the TV guide; immediately I was reminded of a spectacular photograph hanging in the doctor's office I would often stare at as I waited for my name to be called. In the lower right hand of that photo was the name Ansel Adams. I've never forgot that.

I quickly changed the channel to TVO - the last great Canadian television channel - and watched, and watched, and watched.... Whatever promise there was of getting to sleep was suddenly no more. I was glued to the television as one magnificent photo after another was presented, in-between some very interesting facts and commentaries on the legend himself.

By the time 1:30 rolled around it was safe to say photography was now a passion of mine, even if I had very little experience. It's been three years and I've been trying to track down this documentary whenever I am reminded of it, and until yesterday I thought the quest was hopeless. But when I found this IMDb page and subsequently the torrent file, I discovered this was the same PBS documentary that captivated me three years ago.

I'll admit, the second time around I was not as enthused, but it is still a remarkable documentary. There are breathtaking photographs and some very insightful/interesting dialogue, especially the stuff by Ansel himself. I'm not so sure why it didn't make the same impression on me the second viewing, but I assume it had more to do with the perfect atmosphere in which I first saw it: my naiveté; my burgeoning interest; the fire; the stillness and remoteness of the night hours; and the larger-than-life persona whom I connected to the nostalgic memory of sitting in the doctor's office, wondering the story behind this amazing print.

Nevertheless, I cannot recommend it enough to anyone with an appreciation for art and/or photography.

It's almost shocking how fascinating this biographical documentary is. But when you combine the curious and variegated and pioneering story of Ansel Adams -- who led a much more unusual and surprising life than one might expect -- with his extraordinary, absolutely breathtaking photographs, presented gloriously and reverently, you get a film that is riveting from start to finish.

Whether you are a fan of Ansel Adams or not, whether you know even one whit about him or not, or even whether you are well-versed on Adams' life, I guarantee you will enjoy and be mesmerized by this intimate and fascinating film. It's like one of those novels you can't put down.

This is a heartwarming masterpiece of a film.

Note: This film is listed under various titles in various places, so if you're looking for it or for the DVD, just remember it's the 2002 film, and search under the following titles, which are all the same film:

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film

American Experience: Ansel Adams

It will be a glorious find. You won't be disappointed.