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With an oeuvre that’s both innovative and enduring, the US photographer Ansel Adams is almost universally regarded as a master of his craft and a pioneer in photographic art. Because his black-and-white landscapes have become so ubiquitous – commonly found on postcards, computer backgrounds and doctor’s office walls – it’s easy to take the beauty of his images for granted. But as Evan Puschak (also known as The Nerdwriter) shows in this video essay, there’s perhaps never been a better time to re-examine the careful, deliberate approach Adams took to his work.
Video by The Nerdwriter
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Religion
Hear from blasphemes, sceptics and free-thinkers in this ‘tour of medieval unbelief’
52 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
The ancient Hawaiian myth that sparked a modern ecological breakthrough
10 minutes
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Music
‘Dun dun dun duuun!’ Why Beethoven’s Fifth sticks in the head and stirs the heart
5 minutes
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Art
The irreverent duo who thumbed their noses at the Soviet Union and the US art world
11 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Henri Bergson on why the existence of things precedes their possibility
3 minutes
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Future of technology
Is this the future of space travel? Take a luxury ‘cruise’ across the solar system
6 minutes
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Metaphysics
Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them
8 minutes
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Stories and literature
A French Creole folktale nearly lost to time is given new, gorgeously animated life
6 minutes
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Food and drink
Is a ‘gastronomic society’ dinner the height of decadence, or an act of artistry?
11 minutes