Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/898390
see what drew a man such as Adams to this place; the views from the house stretch from Point Sur to Point Lobos, the sky and sea go on forever. It's a photographer's and environmental- ist's dream. Adams was born February 20, 1902, to Charles Hitchcock Adams and Olive Bray. Photographs of their 24th Avenue house in San Francisco show it isolated on the sand dunes, commanding sweeping views of the Golden Gate. Adams grew up in this idyllic location, play- ing on the windswept sands and nearby Baker Beach. He was an intelligent lad, but unfocused and therefore did not adapt well to formal edu- cation. Charles Adams, recognizing his son's innate intelligence, encouraged and nurtured it. In lieu of school, he hired private tutors and, sig- nificantly, gave Ansel a year-long pass to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. The wide- eyed 13 year old attended every day. He recalls his experience in his autobiogra- phy: "I made many visits to the painting and sculpture exhibits…where I saw work in the modern vein—Bonnard, Cézanne, Gauguin, Monet, Pissaro, Van Gogh. They had little effect on me at the time…I now wonder what sub- conscious effect they had in the years to follow." It was also at this age that Adams discovered a natural talent for the piano. So, his doting father added music lessons to the curriculum. This led to his dream of a career as a classical pianist, a goal that would only be usurped years later, when, loving music but frustrated 108 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 7 Mount Ansel Adams, Yosemite National Park, California Photo: Adams Family Collection and the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust