14 August 2011

Ansel Adams: Acoma Pueblo

Ansel Adams - Acoma Pueblo - Public Domain Printed 1941
Susan Brannon
13 August 2011
Acoma Pueblo- 1933, Public Domain Printed 1941.  Ansel Adams took this image while he was working for the Department of Interior.  I believe that the photograph was taken just after a storm, because the pool of water on the dry Acoma mesa is an unusual scene.  The image is now a part of the National Archives.  The pueblo is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and Registered of Historic Places.  Adams was drawn to the stark, elemental beauty of the natural and built environment. In this image, Adam's focused entirely on shape, form and the interplay of dark and light.  The large, placid, oval pool of water in the foreground is balanced against a series of adobe buildings in the background.  The middle is a transitional zone, that is created by the reflection of the architecture in the pool.  The image transforms the cultural and political realities of the Pueblo into a quiet realm of timeless beauty.

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