Pre-Visit Activity: Art Talk

Please view the two reproductions with your class and lead a discussion using the following questions as guidelines.  There are no “right” answers.  The questions are meant to guide the group discussion.
Students will revisit and discuss the original works at BAM.  The vocabulary in this packet will aid discussion.

Research and experience have shown that students feel more comfortable when they can connect with something familiar once they arrive at the Museum.  The students are excited to find “their” works of art while they are at BAM.  They enjoy sharing their insights from the classroom discussion with the docent and making valuable comparisons between the textbook-like reproductions and the original works of art.

Ansel Adams

This tour centers on one of the best known landscape photographers in American history. Students will view Ansel Adams’ early works and create their own works of art inspired by this legendary artist. In 1935 the publication of Making a Photograph initiated Adams’ immense influence on the techniques and look of American photography. Over his career Adams published over 20 books and portfolios. He founded the Photography Department at California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1946 and the organization Friends of Photography in 1967. The exhibition focuses on the masterful small-scale prints made by Adams from the 1920s into the 1950s and includes vintage prints and rare examples.

Vocabulary
Ansel Adams

Curricular Connections
Ansel Adams

Social Studies, History, Geography

• Have students map locations of the sites where Ansel Adams took his most famous photographs.
• Have students create a visual timeline of Ansel Adams’ work. From the internet, they can print pictures, Medals of Honor, Ansel Adams at any given time in his life, his family members or his photographs.
• Study National Parks, Theodore Roosevelt, the Sierra Club and the Progressive Era.
• Study Manifest Destiny and the idea of the Western Frontier - how Ansel Adams photography documented the West.
• Discuss Japanese internment and relocation camps in the context of World War II. Ansel Adams focused on the Manzanar Relocation Camp in the Owens Valley of Eastern California. Why did this occur? What were the locations of camps? How do you think you would have felt? A lesson plan is available online which encourages students to explore activism. http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/anseladams/lessonplans/lesson_photohistory.html
• Discuss the role of Ansel Adams as an environmentalist. Talk about how his images are a record of what the landscape was like before human intervention, travel and industry. Explain how Adams, through his photography and passion for conservation, brought environmental issues to the surface for the American public. Inform students of Adams’ activism with the Sierra Club, America’s oldest, largest and one of the most influential grassroots environmental organizations. Adams began working with the Sierra Club in 1919 as a custodian and later moved on to the position of club photographer. As his success as a photographer grew, so did his role in the club. Adams was active in suggesting proposals to improve the parks and wilderness of the United States. He later served as a member of the board of directors for 37 years.
• After viewing the film about Ansel Adams, have students research other Americans whose work promoted natural conservation: John James Audubon, Rachel Carson, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt. Have students write one question (on a single index card) based on the life of each of these persons (including Ansel Adams); for example, which of these persons lost his or her job in a bitter public dispute over use of lands in Alaska? (Gifford Pinchot) Encourage students not to make their questions too obvious or too obscure. Have students hand in their questions. Use the questions for a quiz game by reading the questions aloud. The first person (or team) to correctly answer each question earns one point.
• Discuss Ansel Adams’ documentation of the American West with students. In a way, his photography has preserved the natural environment as it was in the early twentieth century. Have students brainstorm and discuss what they would photograph for future generations. What do they think might not last? What do they enjoy that might not be recognized as beautiful by everyone? Have students use disposable cameras or a digital camera to create a mini collection of images that preserve their ideas and experiences for future generations. Afterwards, have students share their collections with the class. How are these projects similar to or different from Ansel Adams’ work? Have the students compare their motivations.

Reading, Writing, Public Speaking

• Ansel Adams was a passionate environmentalist who believed in the importance of preservation. Have students research his beliefs and involvement with the Sierra Club. Have students write a report or create a Power Point presentation to present their findings.
• Poetry is a term that is used in many ways. Show students an image of Ansel Adams’ photographs and ask them to tell you how this image could be interpreted as poetry. Pass out images or books of Ansel Adams’ photographs. Ask students to select a photograph by Ansel Adams and write a poem inspired by his photograph. Encourage students to explore a specific type of poem: http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.html Have students share their poetry with the class.
• Especially in recent decades, numerous public debates have occurred over development projects that aim to promote economic growth but that critics charge will harm the environment. Examples include the Alaskan oil pipeline, logging and farming in the Amazon rain forest, the Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River, the proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed nuclear waste storage site in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. As partners, have students choose one such debate -- either an ongoing debate or one from the past. Conduct brief in-class debates. In each group, have one partner take one side of the issue and the other take the opposite side. Student should use visuals if necessary to make their arguments. After arguments are presented on both sides, have both students briefly describe the debate’s historic outcome (if the issue has been decided). After all the groups have made their presentations, hold a class discussion about what issues and arguments appeared most often in these debates.

Math and Science

• Use Ansel Adams’ photographs to discuss the math behind creating perspective and scale. While photography seems to reflect reality directly, often images appear even more vivid than reality itself. Can students point out examples in Adams’ photographs of this “super real” effect? What makes it appear that way?
• Have students explore the physics and chemistry of the camera and photography. http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/anseladams/lessonplans/lesson_science.html Have students experiment and discuss why the image is upside down and how they think they could improve image quality.
• Help students learn about using a camera and understanding f-stops, shutter speeds and the use of light specifically as they affect the depth of field, contrast and tonal values in black and white photographs. Through black and white photographs explore the similarities and differences between the human eye and the aperture and shutter of a camera. How does the brain receive images from the eye? How does a camera capture an image?
• Assign this take-home experiment. Before sending the project home, have students imagine they are filling a glass with water. If the faucet is open all the way, would it take a longer or shorter time to fill the glass half-way than if the faucet were only letting out a trickle of water? Have students imagine that a water faucet represents the aperture of a camera and the water is the light. Students should attempt to fill a receptacle to the half-way mark in a specific amount of time. Have students observe and record their findings about the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. For more information visit the website: http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/anseladams/lessonplans/lesson_math.html
• Have students study the properties of light and how we use these properties in our lives. Imagine reaching for something that is visible in front of you and not finding it there or shining a flashlight in the darkness and having it illuminate only something in back of you. This, of course, is not likely to happen, since light mostly travels in straight lines. It is true that a beam of light can "bend" under certain conditions, such as when going from air into water or glass and the reverse. Scientists now know that light passing through space is attracted and curved by the gravitational fields of massive objects in space. Other than these exceptions, though, light does appear to travel in straight lines.
• Ansel Adams’ photographs document the environment as it was. Take this opportunity to discuss how the environment has changed over time. Can the students point to an instance in their own communities where the environment has changed? How did it change? Why did it change? What this a positive or a negative change?

Related Web Sites

Post-Visit Activity: MAKE IT!

To extend the museum experience and connect the tour to your curriculum, please consider using or adapting this suggested lesson

Observational Images

Background
Examine the ability of art to inform and inspire.
Determine the place of observational art in the exploration of the American West and the establishment and protection of national parks.
Apply the process of observational art to portray a landscape.

Artists have always used their craft to tell a story or convey a meaning. During the 1800s, explorers of North America often employed artists to document their journey, catalog findings and portray the environment around them. Yellowstone and other national parks, which were often established with the help of artists, continue to inspire painters, photographers and other artists. Today, like yesterday, artists record and document natural resources. Federal government sponsored expeditions encouraged travel to the West, and artists such as Thomas Moran and William Henry Jackson captured the pristine landscape and portrayed their experiences for those who could not be there. Artist Ansel Adams was an activist and advocate for the establishment and protection of wilderness areas and national parks.

Materials

• Reference materials for student research
• Drawing paper
• Colored pencils, pencils, paint
• 4x6 inch cardboard frames
• Digital cameras, computers
• 35 mm camera with black and white film

Instructions

Have students research examples of art and artists who were instrumental in the exploration of the American West and in the establishment and preservation of national parks. A good source for viewing historical artworks related to Yellowstone National Park may be found at http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/art/index.htm.

After research is complete, have students share their findings with the class

Divide students into groups based on an art medium as follows:
a.) Drawing/painting a landscape
b.) Black and white photography
c.) Color/digital photography

Instruct students to use the art medium and tools assigned to their group (drawing/painting, black and white photos, digital photos) to document a landscape of importance to them. It might be a national park or a local landscape. To help them frame the image they capture, have them use the 4x6 inch cardboard frames. Have them use their observational skills to record the information about their landscape as accurately as possible.

Post all works in the class by group. As a class, discuss the similarities and differences among the methods used to portray the landscape. Which images seem the most accurate? Which have the most power? Are they the same or different? What are the difficulties with each method? The strengths? What information did each type of image give the viewer? How did the medium the students used affect the outcome of the artwork?

Assessment

Have students complete an essay outlining their own experience with this observational art project.

Have students write a descriptive paragraph about the location they captured through observational techniques.

Extensions

Use the Hayden Expedition, or other government and army sponsored surveys, as an example. Take students on a hike in a local park or wilderness area. Have them keep a journal of their trip much as artists and explorers on historic expeditions have done. They should map their route and draw their observations. Be sure to have them accurately draw the plants, animals and landmarks they encounter on their trip.

Adaptations

For younger students, have them draw/paint landscapes of importance to them and then tell the class why they would want this landscape preserved for people in the future.

Source
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming. 2002

Bibliography
Ansel Adams

Selected Titles related to Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film. PBS. 2002.
Ansel Adams: An Autobiography. Bulfinch. 1996.
Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs. Andrea G. Stillman. Ansel Adams. 2007
Ansel Adams: Original Soundtrack Recording from the Film by Ric Burns. Brian Keane. Green Linnet label. 2002.
Ansel Adams: The National Park Service Photographs. Alice Gray. Artabras Publishers. 2004.
Ansel Adams at 100. John Szarkowski. Bulfinch. 2003.
Eye on the Wild: A Story About Ansel Adams (Creative Minds Biography). Julie Dunlap. Carolrhoda Books. 1995. (ages 4-8)
The Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography, Book 1. John P. Schaefer. Bulfinch. 1999.
The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 1). Robert Baker. Bulfinch. 1995.
The Negative (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 2). Robert Baker. Bulfinch. 1995.
The Print (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 3). Robert Baker. Bulfinch. 1995.

Selected Titles related to Photography
My First Photography Book. Dave Kind. DK Children. 1994. (ages 4-8)
Opportunities in Photography Careers. Berwin Johnson. McGraw-Hill. 1999.
Photography (Eyewitness Guides). Alan Buckingham. Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 2004.
Photography Guide for Kids. Neil L. Johnson. National Geographic Children’s Books. 2001.
Photography (Make It Work! Science Series). Kathryn Senior. World Book. 1997.
Picture This: Digital and Instant Photography Activities for Early Childhood Learning. Susan Entz. Corwin Press. 1999.
Picture This: Fun Photography and Crafts (Kids Can Do It). Kid’s Can Press Ltd. 2003.
The Best of Nature Photography: Images and Techniques from the Pros. Jenni Bidner. Amherst Media Inc. 2002.
The Encyclopedia of Discovery and Invention – Photography: Preserving the Past. Bradley Steffens. Lucent Books. 1991.

Selected Titles related to the Environment
A Child’s Introduction to the Environment. Michael Driscoll. Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers. 2008.
Kids Care! 75 Ways to make a Difference for People, Animals and The Environment. Rebecca Olien. Williamson Books. 2007.
Everything Kids’ Environment Book. Sheri Amsel. Adams Media. 2007.
Opposing Viewpoints Series: The Environment. Laura K. Egendorf. Greenhaven Press. 2004.
Protecting Habitats. Rufus Bellamy. Franklin Watts Ltd. 2006.