Turn $ 45 into a $ 200 million with Ansel Adams

If Ansel Adams were alive today he would probably be pleasantly surprised at this return on investment. A song Rick Norsigian did used a whole box of negatives he found in a garage sale. After 10 years of trying, he finally confident experts the negatives were taken by legendary photographer Ansel Adams. He wants the reward on his $ 45 investment now. All the photos are being appraised for more than $ 200 million now.

Ansel Adams garage sale photographs

Photographer Ansel Adams, who died in 1984, was renowned for his black-and-white photographs of the American West. Images by Ansel Adams of Yosemite National Park in California are among the most famous. Norsigian told CNN that he bought two boxes of glass negatives for $ 45 although the sellers wanted $ 70 for them. Art expert Robert Moeller told CNN that after six months of study, he concluded “with a high degree of probability, that the images under consideration were produced by Ansel Adams”.

’Missing link’ in Ansel Adams life is what these pictures are

Norsigian’s Ansel Adams garage sale photographs are a “missing link” in the history of the photographer’s career; appraiser and art dealer David W. Streets told CNN. The Beverly Hills gallery had the photos shown for the very first time July 27. $ 200 million is the lowest amount Norsigian will get for a return on his investment. 5,000 plates were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire although these 65 negatives seem to have made it.

Zone System created by Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams’ Yosemite photos didn’t become famous until the 1940s, while these photos were taking between 1919 and the 1930s. Wikipedia explains that the Zone System was co-developed by Adams which helps the photos get the proper exposure and contrast to them. You are able to see this in all of Adams’ photos. Adams used big, heavy, expensive high-resolution large-format cameras to ensure sharpness in his images.

Ansel Adams negatives

Numerous experts nevertheless aren’t too certain about accepting the Ansel Adams photos as real. The blog, Croanca, wonders if the dealers in the CNN article are really qualified to say this is Ansel Adams photos. Those who like Ansel Adams wonder if reproduction will be a bad thing. Somebody at visualjournalism.info wonders if the Ansel Adams photographs could be produced good enough.

Find more information on this subject

CNN
cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/07/27/ansel.adams.discovery/?hpt=Sbin
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams