Ansel Adams Garage Sale Mystery Apparently Solved

  • Michael Zhang · Jul 29, 2010
 

The mystery of the Ansel Adams garage sale negatives keeps taking on new twists, but the latest twist might have solved it once and for all.

KTVU in Oakland is reporting that a Bay Area woman named Mariam l. Walton has come forward with apparently solid proof that the photographs were not taken by Ansel Adams but her Uncle Earl. She was watching KTVU report on the story Tuesday when she suddenly saw a photograph of the Jeffrey Pine on Sentinal Dome and recognized it as a print her uncle Earl Brooks made back in 1923.

You can watch the segment and check out the pictures here.

Upon hearing this story, the fact that the clouds in the two photographs were different made me quite skeptical that the found photo was the same as Uncle Earl’s. However, I decided to investigate a bit further. Here’s a screenshot of Uncle Earl’s photograph shown in the segment:

Now, taking that screenshot and a screenshot of the photo found by Rick Norsigian in Fresno, I used Photoshop’s Auto-Align feature to match up the features in the photograph for comparison. Now here’s Norsigian’s photo aligned with the previous one. You can hover your mouse over it to overlay Uncle Earl’s for comparison:

Although the Jeffrey Pine that stood on Sentinal Dome was a well known landmark and often photographed, the fact that the lighting in the photographs match exactly seem to indicate that the two photos were in fact taken in the same session. Furthermore, notice how the branches and leaves in the two photos seem to match exactly. The uncanny similarity between the lighting and the trees seems to show that Norsigian’s photograph was indeed taken by Uncle Earl.

Keep in mind that we’re doing this comparison based on low resolution screenshots of the two photos. If we had access to the real things, this technique might reveal an even higher degree of similarity.

Oh… and did we mention Uncle Earl lived in Fresno (where the negatives were purchased) and often took photos in Yosemite?

If the photographs are indeed Uncle Earl’s and not Ansel’s, then it would appear that much of the “evidence” that was examined by experts and presented to the public was faked, and that the whole story is indeed a $200 million con.

What do you think?

(via The Online Photographer)

Image credits: Screenshots taken from broadcast by Oakland’s Channel 2

 

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  • Pingback: Ansel Adams Tooks These Photographs! Or Was It Uncle Earl? : PhotoTimes

  • Scott

    So.. The “experts” are now suspects?
    WOW!
    Go Photography!

  • joedyndale

    So… If someone was willing to pay $200 million for those photos last week, why not now? They're still the same photos. The valuation of art is so indescribably ridiculous. Judge the art and not the artist please…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LNYTXFZOVBBY6XIYIMJM2UDRAQ AndyonNE

    It has nothing to do with the 'photos' only the photographer.

  • Rudy

    So, is art always about the artist not the artwork, eh?

  • http://twitter.com/mjardeen Michael Jardeen

    Except if you look closely you can see more differences. They are small but to my photographers eye add up to two shots made during the same season, and the could have been days apart. This is a subject that was frequently shot. If these are by the same photographer and we assume the same camera, film and lens there should be even more in common between the two.

  • Devresearchjmw

    I'd love to see high-res images of all of the photos from the garage. It may be that Uncle Earl was a very talented photographer on his own, but didn't market his work or himself as Ansel Adams did (and I am glad that he did). Adams wrote about his photography and his own system for getting great images. A talented photographer who studied Adams' articles and books, bought really good photo equipment, learned to develop the negatives and make great prints, etc. could well have produced a great body of work. Let's see the photos!!

  • Joeomar

    Nonsense. You're not much of a photographer if you think these two pictures could have been taken “days apart”. The photographer would have needed to EXACTLY mark the position of the tripod legs and the height of the tripod, plus get the same time of day, same general cloud formations, and oh by the way the leaves have to be EXACTLY in the same place. In fact if you flip between the photos you can actually see the clouds on the left hand side MOVE. These two photos were taken minutes apart at most.

  • mike

    I'm so glad this woman came forward to set the story straight. It's obvious the camera was used to expose two glass plate negatives. The photographer was changing the aperture or length of exposure so that he'd have a greater chance of going back with a perfect exposure.

    I'm not impressed with the visual sensitivity of the general public. Most comments I read seem to come from people convinced the beverly hills lawyer is revealing a huge news story. This story has been around for many years and the images are obviously not AA. But with the new forms of viral news destribution, the fact that most news is just regurgitated press releases and the fantasy come true 200 million figure the public has been masterfully hoodwinked. The art in this story is the art of trickery.

  • Vipeee

    the clouds are not in the same location, so they are not the same photograph, and obviously Uncle Earl's is not the exact photo as the negative. So who took the photo?

  • Lr7660

    i took this same pic with my camera phone- i'll email it to you for 10k

  • AA

    Does Miriam have uncle Earl's camera ?

    Engineers could determine if it was the camera that made the pictures…

  • Art Doc

    The sample photos on the web are clearly different.

    For context, I have a Ph.D. in visual arts that includes photography and cinema, with studies that range from the invention of the camera…and artist's from the cave painters.

    There are a great many studies done by artists for the purpose of capturing landscapes at different times of day and in different seasons.

    It's quite probable that Uncle Earl was doing such studies, attempting to see what Adams saw — and so on. What we probably have is Earl's studies after he saw Adams.

    Maybe Adams saw Earl's?

  • Lovefear

    my feelings completely. reminds me of the marla olmstead controversy — the 4 year old girl who allegedly painted abstacts on par with the masters. when it was suspected that she hadn't painted them at all, the price of the paintings plummeted. ridiculous.

  • nzm

    Forget the clouds – check the snowline on the back mountain range to see if it lines up.

  • Madbeachcondo

    If you look at the two together the cloud formations are similar to the right, but are clearly different to the upper left and middle. Perhaps taken by the same person minutes apart.

  • Magpie

    To even a non-professional , it is clear that the same photographer took the photos.
    Clouds move…if you examine them closely in the photos, it is the SAME cloud masses, which have simply moved.
    It would be impossible to duplicate that.

  • Dave

    This is a very old tree. The shape and branches probably look the same today. Clouds are different.
    Could have been taken near the same time of day as the first .
    Was Uncle Earl a pro photog? Are there others that match other plates?

  • PugZilla

    “Forget the clouds – check the snowline on the back mountain range to see if it lines up.”

    Very good point, but I have a feeling it will. While the clouds are similar, the appearance of A.A.'s is not enough different from Earl's to state that they weren't taken at a relatively close interval. And the virtually identical appearance of the tree is evidence for that also.

    “What we probably have is Earl's studies after he saw Adams.”

    IMO, only if they were in the area together

  • http://www.pigneguy.com ansel adaams

    “I woke up one morning and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates.”

  • dave

    This type of tree has needles not leaves so they do not move greatly in a wind.
    .

  • Rembrandt

    I agree completely. The extrinsic value ascribed to works of 'art' as an investment is nothing but puffery. The old masters had great skills of observation and the ability to transfer what they saw to canvas, rendered thorough the unique and often poetic filters of their very human hearts and minds. This is what gives their work its intrinsic value. I also want to know why these photos are not still worth $200,000,000; after all, distinguished experts think they're as good as Adams'. BTW, I have over a hundred similar photos which I have taken over the years. I am willing to sell them as a single lot for only $20,000,000. Please reply to this message if interested.

  • FRoghaar

    Am I the only one who sees that the clouds are entirely different? Perhaps “Uncle earl” was standing behind Ansel and decided to photograph after AA left, that would explain placing of the leaves and branches and also the clouds.

  • marlee

    they are not suspect, it is his photo; put on some glasses to compare ……..geez

  • Christy

    Different pictures from same angle, the clouds are different. Geeze.

  • Larry L

    Based on this single screenshot example, I'd say the photos both might well have been taken by Adams. The clouds, of course, differ, but clouds do tend to move rather quickly at times, far faster than shadows. And there is enough cloud detail shown that appears consistent with the idea that the same cloud formation has simply moved, and you're seeing a different view. I imagine that Adams, like most photographers, made more than just a single image when visiting his photography locations. The snow in the mountains looks identical. Uncle Earl, being acquainted with, and fond of, Adams' work, might well have kept an eye out for actual Adams artifacts. To insist that the photos were faked, by visiting the same spot, at the same time of year, when the clouds and snowline were quite similar, seems to border on paranoia. Larry L

  • Dave

    Hey Art Doc, you do realize that none of Ansel Adams' photos of the Jeffrey Pine on Sentinal Dome really resemble the photo in question, so how would Uncle Earl have studied an Adams picture like the one in question if it doesn't exist?

  • Lawlessmark

    Well one thing that is hard to duplicate are the clouds, the shadow of the tree appears to be the same but the clouds are different. So I would suspect that the pictures were taken around the same time, because of the leaves, about the same time of day, because of the shadows but on different days, because as the clouds move so would the shadow. So unless the clouds are the same they are not the same photo and since the shadows seem to match they must have been taken days appart.

  • Traderten

    Think you're missing something Larry, Uncle Earl did actually take one of the photos, that's a fact not in question. So Ansel Adams definitely didn't take both of them. And the negatives in question were labeled with misspellings of the locations, Adams' wife, who the “experts” say labeled them, would have known the proper spellings having lived her whole life in that area.

  • Markhntr

    if you look at the clouds in both pictures they are different so how could they be the same picture or photograph?

  • Joebudgie

    I agaree with joedyndale. The art should be judged, not the artist.

  • Hadder12H

    you really should look at the photos better because they are so different a little kid could see it, the clouds are not the same, the shadows are different, everything is close but by far so different

  • Jstheduke

    here's a link that ADDS TO the mystery!! http://lostnmissing.amplify.com/2010/06/14/fl-e…

  • JimmyBigBalls

    No one is claiming they're the same photo, they're claiming they were taken by the same photographer, Uncle Earl, in one session.

  • Jstheduke
  • Jstheduke

    Area NASCAR Driver Earl Brooks Dies
    Posted: Jul 22, 2010 1:38 AM EDT
    Updated: Jul 22, 2010 1:39 AM EDT
    Reporter: Dennis Carter

    Lynchburg, VA – Area NASCAR driver Earl Brooks died Wednesday in Lynchburg. Brooks ran NASCAR's top series from 1962 'til 77, starting more than 260 races, competing against the sport's top names, the Pettys, Allisons and Pearsons without a major sponsor. He finished sixth in the first Talladega 500 in 1969, his best career finish was a fourth in Nashville in 1971.

    “The Earl of Lynchburg” was inducted into the Lynchburg Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

  • Larry L

    Dave, my bad… I did not pay much attention to the background story. But my other comments, re the clouds, snow patterns, time of year based on ground shadows, etc., stand. Larry L

  • Wildbryde

    When I go to the website that is selling prints of these “lost negatives” I don't see 65 images. I see about 20 images on their website. I believe if we saw the other 45 images, the complete set, we would immediately question them being 'lost' A. Adams negatives because we'd be discussing the image set as a whole. I suspect these '200 million dollar' hucksters carefully chose the images from the set that look most like what we expect an Ansel Adams image to look like. It's what they are not telling us about these glass plates that I wonder about.

    The story also says that Rick Norsigian hired the laywer Arnold Peter. I suspect it's the other way around. I think the lawyer contacted and contracted with Rick Norsigian as a joint business venture. The web site to sell this work was all up and running on the day of the press release and press briefing. All very convenient and pre orchestrated.

    This is more a story about the public being manipulated by artful business partners than a story of long lost and brilliant artistry brought back into view.

    I suggest everyone go and look at books or prints of Ansel Adams and get a good sense of Adam's aesthetic. Because more than anything, these images do not look like Adam's image compositions and tonal compositions. I also suspect the time of day could be analyzed from the shadows to see if they match with time of day Adams photographed during that period of his life. There are so many choices a photographer makes beside where to take the camera and set the tripod and load a view camera with film.

  • Larry L

    And Dave, what I'm really trying to say in my long comment above, is that the two comparison photos clearly appear to have been taken by the same photograher (whoever that photographer might be) on the same day, and at slightly different times. Larry L

  • bart

    Both photos are Uncle Earles. Leaves are the same and if you look at the top of the photo 1/3 into the photo there are two clouds that look like two dots. The same dots appear in the other photo but a bit higher meaning that the time it took him to change plates in the camera the clouds had moved a bit. The snow fall and melt in the mountains is the same too.

  • Rearickmom

    Any photographer who does photos as an “art” or makes a living at it, always takes at
    least two, three or more shots of the same subject, location, landscape or whatever to make sure they get what's called “the money shot.” How many times have you been at any special occasion (as when you're part of a wedding party) and the photographer says “okay, one more, okay, just one more” ??? The photographer then takes a look at ALL the “takes” and chooses the one that he considers “the best.” I've known great professional photographers who will discard over half of the shots they've taken to eliminate it down to only the ones they consider the “best.” Those photos, in my opinion, were taken only a moment or two apart by the same person. If anyone has spent any time at all in a mountain or ocean location, you're aware that the winds can change cloud position in a matter of seconds!

  • antonio

    OK, let's all be nice to each other. As a photographer who has photographed with an 8×10 and 4×5 field camera and over 30 years of professional work, these images could have been taken just minutes apart or just a few days apart. Don't think different seasons. Many times I have marked my tripod position exactly; the legs and also height to lens from the ground and with a few marks on the ground glass you are at the exact same position. Also when he printed in the darkroom he could have used his hand (as many of us did in the old days) and burn in just a little from the mountain range down giving them a little more contrast and detail. Looks like uncle Earl is the creator of both.

  • Alicia

    Okay did anyone really read the article?
    1.) The photos are 2 different photos one is over lain on top of the other….
    2.) It is a documented fact amoung SOME photographers to have thier cameras set up on the same site for 2 or 3 days = waiting for the right time to photograph and re-photographing for the perfect shot.
    3.) These were glass negatives so the photographer would have had to wait for storms to pass and the right tmeperture in order to have a good photo.

    I love Ansel Adams but at the same time there are other lesser known nature photographers that have done the same thing even before Ansel.

    In response to others….
    Yes it is about the artist and not the art…
    Although an unknown artist can break into the field by having unquie pieces of art.

  • Persugram

    Agreed. The clouds ARE NOT the same; till someone can explain how that happened in what are supposed to be identical photos, it's not conclusively Uncle Earl's work.

  • Scottmfoto

    This will be one to see how the experts who verified the newly found A A's garage sale prints react to the news that they might be Uncle Earls images. I think the owner of the alledged AA images jumped the gun so to speak putting them out there the way they did. For those saying “judge the art not the artist” I would like to say that this statement is a little upsetng to one in the field of creating Art. Works of photographic Art or any other medium all have to do with the artist. As AA once stated ” There are always two people in every photograph. The photographer and the viewer.”

  • Persugram

    So you can't express your diverging opinion without slamming someone else's abilities as a photographer?

  • Sthrnexposure

    It not only appears to be the same photographer but also part of the same roll of film. The clouds appear to have just moved a bit to the left in the picture. The tree is exactly the same as is the foliage on the ground.

  • Bellemei

    The cloud movement is not that much and as a matter of fact the cloud on the lower left seems to evolve into exactly what thunderheads do when they are forming in the afternoon in California, rising up. Could be just enough time between loading a new plate into the camera back for clouds to move this amount and not cause a major alteration to the shadows of the tree if the clouds are not overhead.

  • Coakleyphoto

    Anyone who has read the Ansel Adams series of books on photography, and studied him, knows that he was an absolute fanatic about filing and cataloging, I would find it hard to believe some of his negs are just “floating around” out there!

  • Mrock123

    The clouds ARE the same. Look at the cloud at the upper right above the trunk of the tree. See the “W” notch. It's the same cloud, absolutely.

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