From Library Journal
Although he claimed he did not like color photography, Ansel Adams nonetheless produced a highly accomplished if relatively small body of color work, selections of which are gathered here. These scintillating images embody the same refined detail and delicacy of light seen in Adams's black-and-white photographs. In fact, the subtleties of light so often overwhelmed in color photography are clearly evident here. Characterized by restrained, at times understated hues, the photographs are consistently remarkable. They have been ably selected and arranged by editor Callahan and are further enhanced by an informative introduction by James L. Enyeart. This beautifully designed and printed work, which is well worth its price, should be considered a standard title in all public and academic library collections. Highly recommended.- Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, Ill.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Adams died in 1984, still planning a book on color photography, a topic that he had wrestled with since the 1950s and that gave him profound discomfort. He allowed that were he a young photographer in the 1980s, he'd work in color, yet in the last letter quoted herein he confessed, "I don't like photographic color. . . . It is not my dish of tea!" In other remarks, he was more analytic about color's challenges. Mostly, he regretted lack of control over intensity and hue, which afforded him no way to transform color as he transformed and exaggerated tonal values in black-and-white. For Adams, black-and-white was an abstract medium and color was inseparable from banal realism. He also sensed in himself a lack of "color imagination," the quality that distinguished the work of his colleague and friend Eliot Porter. He was right, yet he produced 3,000 color transparencies, most as tests for Kodak or for 1940s and 1950s commercial jobs. Eminent color photographer Harry Callahan culled 59 landscapes from this work for this album, which thoroughgoing photography collections will want in order to document Adams' beliefs about color photography and as testimony to the problems color has presented as a creative medium. Gretchen Garner

From Book News, Inc.
Adams began to photograph in color soon after Kodachrome was invented in the mid-1930s, but a collection of his color work has never been published. This presentation unveils the great photographer's color legacy in 50 beautifully reproduced photos, with an introductory essay, and a selection of Adams's thoughtful, often contradictory writings on color photography. 10.5x11.5" Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

ANNOTATION

This landmark book presents 50 majestic full-color images by great American landscape photographer Ansel Adams. This breathtaking work marks the first time a significant portion of Adams' color work has ever been published. Includes a selection of Adams' fascinating writings on color photography.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This landmark book presents fifty majestic images by America's greatest landscape photographer - the first time that an important body of Ansel Adams' color work has ever been published. Ansel Adams began to photograph in color soon after Kodachrome was invented in the mid-1930s, and shot more than 3,000 color images during the course of his lifetime. Very few of these photographs, however, were published or exhibited. As Adams remarked late in his life after observing the advances in color printing techniques, "People are skeptical about my thoughts on color. I do not blame them, as I have protested it and have not shown my color pictures. I feel the urge now and I wish I were sixty years younger!" The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, working with the distinguished photographer Harry Callahan, has at last agreed to publish the best of Adams' color work. The result is a major event in the history of photographic publishing - an eye-opening work that is certain to stimulate controversy and debate. The photographs presented here are vibrant yet subtle, suffused throughout with Adams' passionate love of the American landscape and marked by the technical mastery and distinctive vision that are the hallmarks of his black-and-white photography. Employing state-of-the-art color imaging and printing technology, Ansel Adams in Color faithfully reproduces dozens of unforgettable color photographs of the American wilderness and enables us to appreciate anew the grandeur and artistry of Adams' vision. These magnificent images, accompanied by an introductory essay by James Enyeart and a selection of Ansel Adams' thoughtful, often contradictory writings on color photography, add a fascinating new dimension to Adams' enduring legacy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Although he claimed he did not like color photography, Ansel Adams nonetheless produced a highly accomplished if relatively small body of color work, selections of which are gathered here. These scintillating images embody the same refined detail and delicacy of light seen in Adams's black-and-white photographs. In fact, the subtleties of light so often overwhelmed in color photography are clearly evident here. Characterized by restrained, at times understated hues, the photographs are consistently remarkable. They have been ably selected and arranged by editor Callahan and are further enhanced by an informative introduction by James L. Enyeart. This beautifully designed and printed work, which is well worth its price, should be considered a standard title in all public and academic library collections. Highly recommended.-- Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, Ill.

BookList - Gretchen Garner

Adams died in 1984, still planning a book on color photography, a topic that he had wrestled with since the 1950s and that gave him profound discomfort. He allowed that were he a young photographer in the 1980s, he'd work in color, yet in the last letter quoted herein he confessed, "I don't like photographic color. . . . It is not my dish of tea!" In other remarks, he was more analytic about color's challenges. Mostly, he regretted lack of control over intensity and hue, which afforded him no way to transform color as he transformed and exaggerated tonal values in black-and-white. For Adams, black-and-white was an abstract medium and color was inseparable from banal realism. He also sensed in himself a lack of "color imagination," the quality that distinguished the work of his colleague and friend Eliot Porter. He was right, yet he produced 3,000 color transparencies, most as tests for Kodak or for 1940s and 1950s commercial jobs. Eminent color photographer Harry Callahan culled 59 landscapes from this work for this album, which thoroughgoing photography collections will want in order to document Adams' beliefs about color photography and as testimony to the problems color has presented as a creative medium.

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