Ansel Adams would be happy if he were still alive to see how investments have paid off. Rick Norsigian purchased a box of glad negatives at a garage sale for a song. After 10 years of persistence, he has finally convinced some experts that the photos were taken by famous photographer Ansel Adams. Now he hopes to get the return on his $ 45 investment. The Ansel Adams garage sale photos are now being appraised for more than $ 200 million.
Garage sale for Ansel Adams
Black and White photos of the American West were what Ansel Adams, who died in 1984, was known for. California’s Yosemite National Park is where his most famous pictures were shot. Norsigian told CNN that he bought two boxes of glass negatives for $ 45 although the sellers wanted $ 70 for them. CNN reports that Robert Moeller, art expert, thinks that “with a high degree of probability, that the images under consideration were produced by Ansel Adams”.
Ansel Adams negatives considered the ‘missing link’
CNN was told by David W. Streets, appraiser and art dealer, that these photos found are a “missing link” in the life of the photographer. July 27, these photos were shown at the Beverly Hills gallery. $ 200 million is the lowest amount Norsigian will get for a return on his investment. Art experts thought the 65 glass negatives were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire that consumed 5,000 plates.
Zone System created by Ansel Adams
The photos had to be taken between 1919 and also the 1930s considering the silver tarnishing on the Ansel Adams photos, and that was way before the Yosemite pictures become famous within the 1940s. The Zone System was what Adams co-developed which will give the right exposure to the picture and perfect contrast to the print, reports Wikipedia. The resulting clarity and depth of Ansel Adams’ Zone System defined the classic Ansel Adams images. Adams wanted sharpness in his images so he used expensive high-resolution large-format cameras.
Discovering Ansel Adams negatives
The Ansel Adams garage sale photographs still have their doubters, despite the endorsement of art experts. The blog, Croanca, wonders if the dealers in the CNN article are really qualified to say this is Ansel Adams photos. Some are concerned about the reproduction of the Ansel Adams plates. Somebody at visualjournalism.info wonders if the Ansel Adams photographs can be produced good enough.
Additional reading
CNN
cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/07/27/ansel.adams.discovery/?hpt=Sbin
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams
