You Can't Put Jet Fuel in a Volkswagen: 2009

Lisa Ellis
Photography I
19 October 2009
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was a man of twos. Two eyes, two ears, two legs, to name the obvious. There were, however, many other things in his life that came from two conflicting sides.
He had two homes. The first was San Francisco, where he was born and lived for most of his life. The environment of the early metropolitan area is said to have influenced him greatly. His other, however, is Yosemite. He was a very important conservationist and environmentalist. He adored Yosemite. It’s where he met his wife, and grew his passion for photography. Adams did more for Yosemite Valley than many other people at that time. He used his pictures to convince politicians and the public of its importance, and ended up impacting the environmentalist movement greatly. Adams was also involved with the Sierra Club, working closely with them and even on the board for a time. However, he never actually chose between San Francisco and Yosemite.
He had two parents. His mother, Olive, was ambivalent towards him, and he towards her. She was a neutral presence in his life. His father Charles, however, was supportive and encouraging to him. Adams had many hardships in his early life; during the San Francisco earthquake he was thrown and irreparably broke his nose; he was and energetic child with whom normal school didn’t agree; he couldn’t socialize normally. Yet, through all of this, his caring father helped him through. Charles and Adams’ aunt privately tutored him, and eventually Adams effectively graduated from the eight grade. To cope with his social skills, Adams learned the piano, and became passionate about it.
He had two passions. The piano was his first, and for a long time Adams aspired to become a professional concert pianist. He taught himself the piano when he was growing up, and it helped him through his developmental years, and clearly affecting his whole life. However, one day his parents gave him a simple, early-model camera. He took it with him to Yosemite and photography quickly became an important hobby. Then, one day he was on a hike with the Sierra Club and was taking pictures for them. Adams discovered that he could become a professional photographer instead of a pianist, and that this career choice probably made more sense. So, Adams chose photography over the piano.
He had two children. Adams married Virginia Best with whom they were begat. They are not often mentioned in his biographies, so it can be assumed that he was not as involved with them as his father was with him.
He had two women. Virginia Best, his longtime love and eventual wife, was the subject of his affections during his adult- and young adult-hood. He met her in Yosemite and spent many years wooing her, convinced her to accept his proposal, broke it off with her, and then asked her to marry him again. Eventually, they were married and had two children. Later, however, Adams met a woman who was helping him in the dark room. They had an emotional affair, but it’s undetermined if it was physical as well. They had notions of running away together, but Adams wanted to remain true to Virginia. Adams stayed with his wife and family.
Adams died in 1984 at 82 years due to heart failure and complications of cancer. He died before his wife and two children.