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Charles
and Olive Adams gave their son, Ansel, the freedom
to grow and become whatever his intellect and
talents would allow him to be. At twelve, unable
to stand the confinement and tedium of the classroom,
he utterly disrupted his lessons with wild laughter
and undisguised contempt for the inept ramblings
of his teachers. His father decided that Ansel’s
formal education was best ended. From that point
forward, the boy was home-schooled in Greek,
the English classics, algebra, and the glories
of the ocean, inlets, and rocky beaches that
surrounded their home very near San Francisco.
He also made a serious study of the piano, which
he thought was to be his avocation. Another
rich source of learning was the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition, which celebrated the
opening of the Panama Canal, and contained exhibits
and displays from around the world that fascinated
young Ansel for a full year. In 1916, during
a family vacation in Yosemite National Park,
Ansel was given another gift from his parents...a
Kodak Box Brownie. It allowed him to record
the wondrous images that he already perceived
in the natural beauty around him, a process
that would continue all his life.
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