Through the use of black and white, reflection in the water, and silence, Ansel Adams illustrates in his masterpiece photograph, “Siesta Lake, Yosemite National Park, California,” a sense of loneliness in an existing place that is forever absent of any human life. There are many aspects of his photo which imply this as he creatively displays through one single picture the many features of nature and life that are overlooked everyday by the ordinary person. These qualities are important features to the photo because they are visions that are not typically seen and thought about but are visible in Adams' work.
Adams brings to life these inanimate objects with his artistic photo. Using the rule of thirds, my eye was first drawn to the large tree that has fallen in what seems to be a lake. This tree is evidently old as there are many branches that have grown out from the trunk and it has fallen to the ground probably after drastic weather changes and cold winters. Visible on the fallen tree are branches that range from small to larger in length and width. This implies the age of the tree; the tree is not young and has been through many stages of life. Adams may have chosen this location in order to demonstrate how outside human life, there is quiet, lonely life that humans do not necessarily make note of.
The angle that he chose is significant because the eye can clearly see the reflection of the fallen tree and grass and even the other trees in the forest. The reflection also implies that there is living life here in this specific area. As an illusion, there is what seems to be a smoky, cloudy area in the lake but you cannot see it’s reflection like you can see of everything else. This creates a sense of confusion, as it is hard to decipher what this could possibly be. Adams keeps this much open for interpretation and able for the viewer to use their imagination. There is obvious real life in this photo because the reflections are clearly visible but this creates confusion to the eye because it is unclear as to where to fog or cloud like figures are coming from.
The grass in the photo by Adams is notably long which implies that human beings do not come around this area therefore it is calm and undisturbed. The lake is also absent of any type of movement. This calm place is relaxing and calm as there is no movement, people or any people in sight. Along to fallen tree, there are branches that range from long and elderly looking and there are shorter ones towards the end, which entails the longevity of this tree and its surroundings that the outside world may never be fully aware of. Even if there are no people around, the world still continues to exist even if we are not aware of it.
Due to the fact that this photo consists of only black and white, this displays almost loneliness and because there are no leaves on any of the trees surrounding the lake this implies that it is wintertime or just a colder time of the year. Wintertime usually implies a sad or colder time and colder types of feelings that is why whenever I look at this photo, although it is very artistic I do not seem to get that happy or exciting feeling. I feel as though if there was color or a shot of sun or warmth then this would attract other emotions. There is a reflection in the lake of what seems to be the sky and there purposely is no sun visible and Adams could have intentionally left this out to get this colder feeling out. However, even though there are no human beings around this type of scenery still exists and emotions still can arouse even if there is not particularly any life around.
Adams does an excellent job portraying the lack of human life here to ensure to his viewers that life still exists out there even if not everyone is aware of it. The lake does not obviously seem to be taken care of at all which is another implication of the fact that there is loneliness and no human life here and its surroundings are untouched and calm. Each individual branch on the fallen tree could possibly imply that even though people are not around to witness life, it still exists and each separate branch represents life and its longevity and the importance of life itself. Through his use of black and white, Ansel Adams not only gets the feel for the cold and lonely life but also he uses this to show that life still exists outside of our specific knowledge.
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Comments (3)
Joe Essid said
at 9:19 pm on Sep 27, 2009
Lots of powerful details here. Let's work on making them as clear as you can to the reader.
Specific notes:
Some preciseness in word-choices will help you out a great deal; here are some examples.
--"abandoned life" is a curious phrase. I seriously thought of a neglected pet, like the small and obviously abused hunting dog that wandered onto our farm recently, or a garden left to go wild. Is that what you mean? You use the term a few times, so be certain that your reader knows, early on, what you mean by "abandoned."
--I'll add that later in the piece I get a good sense of that term when you write "The grass in the photo by Adams is notably long which implies that human beings do not come around this area. . . " that sort of careful and effective observation cannot easily go into your introduction. But if you "unpack the suitcase" early, the reader will be ready for an observation like this as more evidence for your claim that Adams captures a certain sort of abandonment.
--likewise, the setting in winter helps me see. You may want a claim earlier on that essentially says something like "Adams portrays a place abandoned by humanity though X, Y, and Z." Then you have established a set of expectations in your readers' minds.
--perhaps this will help: you write "this displays almost loneliness" and I wondered if loneliness and that sense of being abandoned are not linked. If that is what you mean, I'd state that early on to best explain the idea of abandonment.
--"nature and life": how are they different, in this case? Obviously, they can be very different (there's lots of life, but not much nature, in New York and London).
--"a forced sense of imagination." I don't see what you mean here. Is it the viewer's imagination? And how is imagination "forced"? By how Adams shows us details, or something else? Is the viewer's eye being led?
chelsea said
at 4:11 pm on Sep 29, 2009
I really liked your introduction because you make it clear where you are heading and went on to later describe the features that were overlooked with great detail which makes the paper strong. You did also did a good job by not falling into any of the Writing Analytically traps. I think you did a great job on the paper, your conclusion was good at restating what you originally said. However, although I can see what you mean by "a forced sense of imagination" I can also see how that can be fuzzy to others. Is it the viewers imagination is being forced by Adams details? I'm not even sure if I described what I meant. But over all nice job!
Sarah L. said
at 4:08 pm on Oct 1, 2009
Here are my comments:
Make sure your first sentence is parallel. also, it is forever absent IN human life I think, also, instead of "looked over" try overlooked
"important feature OF THE photo"
What your use of "are" you seem to use it a bit too frequently
Start with "Using the rule of thirds, my eye was first drawn to the large tree.." or something similar to make it more active
"Some rough times" is vague..maybe say something like through the drastic weather changes and cold winters or idk something that clarifies what rough times mean. You repeat yourself in the following sentence with "apparent difficult times"
"within the fallen tree" seems a bit awk to me
These are just a few things right off that I noticed!
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