Ansel Adams: The Obligation of all Creative People
Ansel Adams is arguably the most famous American photographer of all time. No doubt we’ve all seen and admired his work [1].
The Tetons and the Snake River. Ansel Adams (1942).
Ansel Adams was a creative and technical master, who was extremely interested in sharing his knowledge with other photographers. He was the principal photographic consultant to Polaroid and Hasselblad, he produced 10 volumes of technical manuals on photography, and “developed the famous and high complex “zone system” of controlling and relating exposure and development, enabling photographers to creatively visualize an image and produce a photograph that matched and expressed that visualization.” [2]
Ansel Adams Portrait. Photo by J. Malcolm Greany, (1950)
I was recently standing at the desk of an admired artist, looking at the things surrounding her desk, when I saw this quote from Ansel Adams [3].
The Ansel Adams Gallery Ad, Artweek Magazine, July 7, 1994.
I have thought a lot about this quote and what it means. The more I think about it, the more I see its various meanings.
About a month ago, inspired by our lengthy discussions about it, my artist friend sent me a copy of that same 1994 magazine clipping she had hanging near her desk. Interestingly, the magazine clipping was on my desk on and on my mind when I needed to interview a few dozen candidates for a prestigious creativity fellowship for undergraduate engineers. As part of the interview, I showed them the quote and simply asked them to tell me what it means to them. I was impressed with all of the on-the-spot responses. Here are just a few that stuck out to me.
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I see people who have good ideas, who are creative, and who can think outside the box. But I also see them fall into the trap of having a good idea and getting really set on that idea. That initial creativity can often lead to a lack of creativity thereafter, which prevents them coming up with the very best solution.
I think it’s important to remember – especially in a team setting – that we all have different ideas. If we’re all creative and open to coming up with the very best solution by talking through things and not getting set on our way of doing something, then we can keep creativity moving. We can keep getting better and better instead of just going down the one route that we initially thought would be best.
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I feel that creativity can die out as we grow older. For many people, they get into their little box and think “I have to be like this, and this, and this, and I can’t go outside of this box”. But the people who are able to keep their drive and keep themselves going with their creative ideas are the one’s changing the world.
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I’ve worked in industry where I’ve seen a lot people who just go to work 9 to 5, put in their hours, and do their job. But I have also seen on the other side: creative people who push that boundary. They don’t do the normal thing. They don’t do just the minimum of what is required of them. Those are the ones I have enjoyed working with and have learned a lot from. Those kinds of people keep creativity moving as they continue to push the boundaries of what we know and do in engineering as well as in other disciplines.
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The concept of creativity is dynamic. It’s constantly progressing and growing, there is no set answer. The obligation of creative people is to progress and grow along with creativity, and to help others be and contribute to the world.
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We all have innate skills and gifts. That’s something God gives to us. With that we have an obligation to use what we have to the betterment of all other people. For people who are creative, their job is to innovate and make things that will be beneficial for people in the future. Not just a new device that might be cool, but something that’s really going to make a difference in the world. Something that’s going to help people’s standard of living, or ease someone’s pain, for example.
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I look at creativity as something like a muscle. It’s something you need to keep moving. It’s kind of like imagination. Something that always drove me nuts is that people would say “education destroys imagination”. I always looked at this as pessimistic, because I feel that imagination is something you can keep working on no matter what your circumstances are. Creativity is the same. No matter what, you can keep creativity moving in anything you do, it does not have to be engineering, or entrepreneurship, or finance. Creativity is something that needs to keep moving. So it’s up to the creative person to keep pushing the imagination, keep pushing the innovation, keep pushing the out-of-the-box thinking.
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There are three parts to this quote that stand out to me. “Obligation”, “creative people”, and “moving”. Obligation stands out because it is no longer about whether or not you want to say yes to the responsibility. You have no choice but to say yes to it. You cannot say no.
Creative people: The human soul is creative. We are creative beings. Whether we are aware of it or not, is what makes the whole difference. This leads to the third part: the verb “moving”. This emphasizes the importance of letting other people know of their creative potential and how they too are creative beings.
Looking at all three parts together, this quote means that I have the responsibility to let other people know about their creative potential and allow them to become empowered by it. In turn, they can also help other people become aware and empowered. It’s a cycle that keeps creativity moving.
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This quote is challenging us to not be content with anything we have done, or with who we are. Often when we do something unique we say “I’ve done it. I’m good. I’m okay”. The quote is saying that if you are an individual who is capable of creating, never stop with one thing, never stop with two things. Always challenge yourself to be more creative, do something different, try something new, which is very much outside our comfort zone as human beings. But if you keep challenging yourself to do more, which is harder, then that is when you become more than what you are today.
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Closing Thought
The intrigue surrounding this quote’s power is palpable. Consider it, on the 10-year anniversary of Ansel Adams’ death, a magazine editor chooses to publish the quote. More than 25 years later, a faded browned clipping of that quote ends up on the wall of my artist friend, who finds and sends me an original copy that now hangs on my wall. I then use the quote in an interview where young creatives elaborate on its meaning, and now the editor of the BYU Design Review publishes their responses. To me, this is a powerful – maybe the most powerful – unintended embodiment of the quote itself: Decades of creative people sharing the quote, discussing the quote, and being inspired by it, thus doing exactly as it asks – to keep creativity moving.
The Artweek Magazine Clipping Posted on My Wall (2020)
References
[1] The Ansel Adams Gallery, https://shop.anseladams.com/collections/ansel-adams-exclusives2
[2] https://www.anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/
[3] A. Adams and M. S. Alinder, “Ansel Adams: An Autobiography”, 2017 (ebook), https://books.google.com/books?id=52enDQAAQBAJ,
Ansel Adams Quote in Full Context [3]
“I confess to a limited appreciation of all art, even less the contemporary statements. In other words, I am limited and exclusive in my response to much of art, and I know it. To be fully committed, an artist has to believe so strongly in his own art that it is difficult to have strong affinities to other artists’ production. If I truly believed in the art of another artist, I would be making it rather than what I am making. The few examples of art in any media that I respond to bear close relationship to the personalities that have produced them; this colors the levels of my appreciation. When I rashly express such thoughts, I feel as if I have questioned Scripture in the time of the Inquisition. I tread as softly as I can and carry a gentle twig.
However, these observations relate to my personal appreciation. I am perfectly aware that art, in all forms, is vastly greater that I am. While I may reject most of what I experience in the art world, I feel obligated to do what I am able to do to keep this world going. I know the pendulum will swing; but it does not have to swing precise back to its original track. I believe it is the obligation of all creative people to keep creativity moving.
It is increasingly clear to me that my art relates more and more to a sublimation of my closeness to the natural world, its events, light itself, and the positive. What I do seems natural and simple to me; to others it may appear as a miraculous performance. It is neither simple nor miraculous; it is a personal expression based on observation and reaction that I am not able to define expect in terms of the work itself. If mankind progresses, we are certain to attain heights undreamed of now. We might trust that we will become a mirror of the creative background of the Universe. For me God is a three-letter word representing the goals of creation.”
Ansel Adams (1984)
