The Ansel Adams Exhibit at the Lora Robins Art Gallery presented nature in a way I never viewed it before. One picture in particular, Moonrise, taken in Hernandez New Mexico, captivated me because it evoked a message about humanity rather than just nature. I saw a point to the picture rather than just a gorgeous view in nature. I thought it had a powerful quality which encouraged exploration of its meaning.

Black and white photographs such as this do not show nature in all its colors but instead emphasize the town Adams photographs. The lack of various color contrasts enable the viewer to look at nature from a different perspective. Seeing this image without color gave me a chance to look at the details of the picture in a way the natural human senses prohibit. The photographer’s choice to develop the picture without colors suggests that he intended to redirect the viewer’s attention from what they can naturally see with their eyes towards the image that can only be seen through the lens of his camera.

Adams photographs from a distance forming a frame wide enough to capture Hernandez New Mexico from the sky, through the mountains, onto the architecture, down to the field of grass leading up to civilization. The photo can be separated into levels; the sky with the light of the moon, the snowcapped mountain tops, open plain, civilization, and finally another shrub filled plain. Narrowing the frame easily could have concentrated the focus of the picture to a single element or a different combination of elements. Adam’s had a purpose for the inclusion of each element by intentionally using such a wide frame for the photograph.

The distance from which the photograph was taken places a visual emphasis on the scale of each element. The mountains and sky in the distance appear relatively large compared to the civilization located foremost in the picture. Adams did not alter the scale of each element; he simply showcased their organic dimensions. This raw glimpse of Hernandez, New Mexico belittles the existence of the civilization by capturing the grandness of the nature surrounding it. The contrast in the photo between different parts of nature with the small rectangular portion of civilization plugged in the middle of the land blurs the identification of a central focal point for the photo. The dominating presence of the huge mountains, broad sky, and centered moon make the civilization look insignificant and misplaced. Therefore, the civilization stands out because of its displaced position just as the nature stands out for its dominating presence in the photo.

The complete darkness, in the top of the photo, consumes a third of the entire space of the picture. Nearing the horizon line of darkness and light, the moon sits in the middle, overlooking everything below. The moon almost sits perfectly in the middle of the entire sky. The next level of the picture is a staggered line of snowcapped mountains. Seeing that made me believe Adams was suggesting something about the relationship between nature and humanity. It seemed as if each included element was photographed based on priority; Nature coming first, above the civilization on the plains.

The sky, moon, light, and distant mountains all appear very elevated from the land of the earth. The civilization is the only element in the picture closest to being even with the open plain. The mountains and the architecture both sit on the earth however the mountains are natural where as the buildings are manmade. This concept acknowledges a difference between things that are on the land of the earth. The architecture is on the earth but not of it. The mountains are of the earth because they are organic to its makeup. This contributes to the idea that nature is bigger in both scale and relevance to the earth than actual humanity. It displaces the importance of human contributions to the land. Although both the mountains and the architecture are level and come from the same foundation they are not equal in the lands overall composition.

The civilization on the plain lacks any sign of life. The civilization includes a church cast off to the left, small structures throughout, and a graveyard that takes up majority of the “civilized” land. The area shows signs of a past civilization rather than a thriving one. The graveyard offers evidence of many past lives in that area. Adams did not have to include this portion of the region being photographed if he just wanted to show the environment. However, his decision to include it makes a point about the existence of humanity in relation to nature.

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The commentary feature on the wiki has momentary stopped working. So here you are:

I wish you'd had this done earlier! Luckily, the shape of the project is sound and the observations precise (if not always precisely written). Partly my concerns come from  weak verbs such as "is" and "are," as well as a lack of economy in some sentences.  Consider these:

--"grasped my attention" is not the typical form of this verb-phrase. It's usually "grabbed" my attention. I'd suggest cutting it completely in favor of an active verb such as "captivated me" "compelled me to study it" or something very strong, given the emotion you express.

--Why "almost" separated into levels? Make a stand here. What about Adams' composition creates those levels?

--Why "the existence of the developed civilization"? Isn't civilization, by definition, "developed"? That said, you have a dynamite prelude to this misspent phrase.  The "This raw glimpse of Hernandez, New Mexico belittles the existence" is powerful stuff.

--"The photo is black and white which does not show nature in its authentic  light but instead limits the color spectrum for maximum attention to the nature and the town being photographed." What is essential here?  The number weak "is" verb gets you off wrong.

How about: "Black and white photographs such as this do not show nature in all its colors but instead emphasize the town Adams photographs."

Contrast your weak original, before I revised it, to this strong sentence you have "Narrowing the frame easily could have concentrated the focus of the picture to a single element or a different combination of elements."

--That fix is a "freebie." Now apply the same approach to this one:

"This contributes to the idea that nature is bigger in both scale and relevance to the earth than actual humaninty."

Let's set aside the misspelled word for a moment (but find it). I like the verb "contributes" since you are building a case for your claim. It's the structure of "to...is...to..than" that has so many conditional statements that the prose loses its punch.