Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42621 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
Ric Burns's documentary for the American Experience series winningly persuades one to think of Ansel Adams as not only the greatest American photographer of the 20th century, but also one of its most treasured artists. Using the familiar formula of New York (and his brother Ken's documentaries), Burns vividly brings Adams's world to life. Narrator David Ogden Stiers is used minimally after the initial set-up, leaving the words to curators, authors, and family members who knew Adams's life and art best (Adams's own letters are also voiced). The film, sponsored by the Sierra Club to mark the 100th anniversary of the photographer's birth, makes a passionate plea for this man "who helped transfer the meaning of wilderness and what people thought about it." There is plenty of time for his magnificent pictures to be shown, often nicely accompanied by modern-day color films of the area. It's a must-see for any fan of Adams. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Another Ric Burns classic
This documentary is typical of Ric Burns. It's inspirational both visually and mentally; a very humanistic look into who Ansel Adams was as a child, a man, a husband, pianist, and photographer. This is something that should be watched at least once, by photography students and photographers as a whole. I'm sure it won't be viewed just once. The wonderful accounts, spectacular cinematography, and of course, a look at some of the Grand Master's classic photographs round out this finely crafted documentary worthy of Ansel Adams.

Beautiful Documentary
A beautiful documentary telling the story of Ansel Adams life, while also illuminating the history and meaning of photography and the importance of art in our lives

Larger than life
Ansel was an obsessive compulsive who had emotional and financial peaks and valleys that mirrored the contrasts within his photographic subject matter.

Many of the photos are breathtaking but cannot be adequately portrayed on screen; they are panned and zoomed to depict entire image but you lose the totality of the entire composition. Nevertheless, the documentary is a good introduction to a larger than life image on both ends of a camera lens.