Page 12-Tuesday, October 24, 1978-The Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, October 24,
Contest winners
B LOODY HORROR was only narrowly
averted. Those of us around the Daily
will likely long remember the screams and tor-
tured cries hears when we found out there was no
photographer around to handle the important
mission.
Our only hope was chief photographer
"Papperazzi" Freeberg, who was shooting the
wedding of Belgian Prince Anton
Leiberundstoller and Luxembourger Princess
Monique Farapraxes, in Luxembourgh city. Our
choice was simple-get him or look the fool.
Between bites of Porc Stallone washed down by
Chateau Calon Segur, Freeberg barked over the
phone the phrase that has become his
trademark: "sure, I'll do it!"
But the assignment was roughter than he
thought. Leaving Luxembourg, he flew straight
to Willow Run airport and arrived with only two
hours to scan our entries and select, with his able
staff, the three winners. The temperamental
photographer took one look at the small number
of entries--less than a dozen-and promptly
threw his light meter at us.
The whole thing was disappointing.
There was skimpy response from area
photographers, and the promised debut of stills
from Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon
somehow never materialized.
But anyway, Freeberg and the gang
eventually did find three photographs of
prizeworthiness. The first prize in the 1978 Daily
photography contest goes to Geoff Fong,,for his
beach scene.
Second prize goes to Gregory Quinting, for
ashes of a sunny day in a park.
The third prize belongs to Laurie Beth Shell,
for a photograph of a birch tree shot in August,
1978. Thank-you's are in order to Big George's
Photo Dept. for providing the $25 first prize, and
Purchase Camera for providing the second and
third place, $15 and $10 prizes. Thank you.
Also, "Papperazzi" Freeberg has not spoken
to the Daily in months, and is reported living in
Bonn.'
Maybe next year's contest can bring him back.
The photography of
A nsel A dams. Black
and white in color
Herb David Guitar Studio
209 S. State Street 6
Ann Arbor (Upstairs)
'K'LessonsIr
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Except Sundays
By BRAD BENJAMIN
Walk into most any major art museum
and you are bound to see one. Skim the
pages of any photography book and you
can instantly recognize them. They are
the photographs of Ansel Adams, one of
the few men of modern American
history to be termed a genius in his own
time.
He doesn't usually photograph
people. He never relies on photographic
tricks or gimmicks, nor does he
generally shoot pictures with color
film.
NONETHELESS, his work is always
breathtaking and spectacular.
Adams is generally lauded as a lan-
scape photographer, famous for his
photographs that capture the raw,
physical beautyof the American West.
However, anyone can photograph a
landscape or do nature photography;
but no one has come close to imitating
Adams' great passion for the contours
of the American terrain.
CONSISTANTLY, Adams'
photography has utilized rich,
baseblocks and snowy whites, while
retaining contrasting gray tones. But
for all his on-the-spot wizardry, Adams
is even more remarkable in the*
darkroom.
He is an ardent believer in the
philosophy that "proof is in the prin-
ting." For after all, a person can,
all the best techniques, but ruin
everything with haphazard printing.
Adams is the supreme perfectionist,
possessing a patience that would'
outlast a chess champion's,
According to one of his associates,
"I've seen him spend three or four days
printing one picture--and that's from a
negative he has been printing for 30
years." Adams may develop a print,
dry it and mount it to see what it would
look like under proper lighting before
he made the decision to reprint or not.
ALTHOUGH HE IS not a rich man,
requests, for reprints allow Adams to
live comfortably. He once received
$3,500 for a single print of his famous
"Moonrise, Hernandez."
"Hernandez" is a fine example ofAn-
sel Adams' artistry: it is a striking pic-
ture of a small New Mexican town, the
setting sun vividly striking white
cemetery crosses in the foreground of
the photo. The shot is nothing short of
remarkable.
At the present, Adams isn't making
many new photographs, as he has been
directing his attention towards
developing some 65,000 negatives in his
library of negatives. "Unless a
negative is printed," says Adams, "you
haven't completed the expression, and I
have an obligation to do that."
Not even Adams could know how
many masterpieces wait in those 65,000
negatives. Int no, matter hQW rT4ny,
there. ie rpiece of al i ,httdams .
truest masterpiece of all is Adams.