Photographer's Bio
Alan Ross
Alan Ross has earned an international reputation as a specialist in the art of black-and-white photography – as an artist, educator and master printer. He was Ansel Adams' Photographic Assistant in Carmel from 1974 to 1979, and was integrally involved in Adams' books, teaching in Yosemite, and production of fine prints. He has been exclusive printer of Ansel Adams' Special Edition negatives for nearly thirty-five years and over the span of that time has made one hundred thousand prints from Adams’ original negatives.
Alan operated a commercial photography studio in San Francisco for twelve years with projects ranging from ads and worldwide campaigns for the Bank of America to landscape murals for the National Park Service. He relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1993 to devote more of his energies to his personal work, teaching, and work for select clients, including Boeing, Nike, IBM, and MCI.
His photography hangs in collections and galleries throughout the country and internationally, and he has lectured and led workshops in locations from Yosemite to China.
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In spite of his time spent with Ansel Adams and his ongoing involvement with Adams’ work, Alan considers himself something of a Zone System heretic. It’s perfectly all right to make your own rules, and the Zone System is not the Zen System. And neither are for everyone!
Alan regards himself as a classicist with regard to his photographic approach, but not a purist. His work in the last twenty-five years has been mostly with 4x5 and 8×10 view cameras, but he has no philosophical objection to digital photography or “point-and-shoot” cameras. He has one and likes it very much. The 8×10 is getting bigger and heavier every day.
He used to object to being pigeonholed as a Landscape Photographer, when the truth was that he liked photographing all sorts of things. Since his hair started to fall out he’s mellowed a bit and he doesn’t mind being called a Landscape Photographer because he still photographs whatever he wants – it’s just that he’s encountered a number of landscapes that needed photographing!
sun to moon gallery • 1515 levee street • dallas, tx 75207 • 214.745.1199