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In Black and White

In Black and White

Explore the work of photographer Ansel Adams and create a black-and-white drawing of the Sierra Nevada.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper
  • Pencil(s)

Steps

  • Step 1

    Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. Discuss his involvement with the Sierra Club in the Sierra Nevada created by John Muir. Display and discuss some of the many photographs he took in this region. A suggested reference is "America's Wilderness: The Photographs of Ansel Adams, by Ansel Adams, John Muir, and Elaine Bucher. Talk about the power of black-and-white photography and why Adams preferred this medium over color. Ask students why they think Adams felt "constricted" by the rigidity of the color process.

  • Step 2

    Have students research some of the regions of the Sierra Nevada mountain range photographed by Adams and written about by John Muir. What is the highest peak? In what state is it located? Who were some of the indigenous people who lived there?

  • Step 3

    Ask students to sketch a landscape portrayed in one of Adams' photos. They can start with pencil then go over some of the lines with a marker and also enhance the image with pencil shading to create shadows, a sense of light, clouds, or other features in the photographs. The finished work can be mounted on black construction paper.

Standards

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

SS: People, Places, and Environments: Use maps, globes, and other geographic tools. Demonstrate understanding of the use and misuse of the environment and the relationship between human populations and the physical world.

Adaptations

Explore the ecology of the Sierra Nevada. What are some of the plants and trees that grow there? What animal species thrive there? What are some of the endangered species?

Ask students to take photographs of nature in both color and black and white and to compare and contrast the images. Can the black-and-white photos be as vibrant as the color photos? How can the change in color evoke different emotions?