This weekend I decided to drive down to the Getty Center and see the new exhibit – In Focus:  Ansel Adams.  The exhibit displays various photos of Mr. Adams in the Getty’s collection and shows the way his printing style has changed over time.

During the later years of Mr. Adams’ life, he didn’t take many photos, but spent most of his time in the darkroom creating images for collectors and museums.  The Getty’s exhibit shows numerous photos that were printed between 1980 and 1981, three years before Mr. Adams passed away.  What I found interesting was that the newer prints were much darker than the older ones he did; so dark in fact that most of the photos had very shadowy areas with very little detail.  The skies in the a couple of the photos were exceptionally dark as well.  I can only assume that as technology moved forward in photography, Mr. Adams was finally able to create the visions he originally intended to do from the beginning.  Who knew he liked images that dark?

I also took in one of the other photographic exhibits – Hiroshi Sugimoto:  Past Tense.  This exhibit shows three series of Mr. Sugimoto’s photography work:  habitat dioramas, wax portraits, and early photographic negatives.  All three series present objects of historical and cultural significance from various museum collections.  What is most interesting from this exhibit is how Mr. Sugimoto would take photos of wildlife dioramas at museums and make it look like they were photos taken by an experienced nature photographer in a real world setting.  This amazing exhibit runs through June 8th at the Getty, so if you have time to go, please check it out.  Definitely worth the admission!

The image below is a photo I took while at the Getty.  The round building on the right is where the photography exhibits are held, on the lower level.

Have a great week everyone!