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Title: Photo-Sensitive Issues: Ansel Adams vs. Uncle Earl
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by Vera H-C Chan

Is it Ansel Adams or Uncle Earl?

Back in July, a man named Rick Norsigian claimed the photographic find of the decade at a Fresno, Calif., garage sale, where he paid only $45 for long-lost glass negatives from renowned photographer Ansel Adams. The story made international headlines, but naysayers, including Adams' own kin, immediately accused Norsigian of being an Adams groupie on a decade-long "obsessive quest" to have the negatives declared the real thing.

Now experts are trickling in to dampen the claim for good, including a reversal from an art consultant that Norsigian originally hired to authenticate the work.

The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust filed a lawsuit on August 23 over trademark rights violations.
This week, the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona put out a statement saying "We have no reason to believe that these negatives are, in fact, the work of Ansel Adams."
Robert C. Moeller III, a former curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts says he made a mistake, and opting for the Uncle Earl Theory, named after Earl Brooks, the man who may have shot the Adams' lookalikes.

The Ansel Adams Uncle Earl theory
Who is Earl Brooks, and how did his name surface? After Norsigian's press conference in July, an 87-year-old woman named Marian Walton stepped forward and declared to CNN that the image belonged to her Uncle Earl, who had lived in Fresno in the 1920s. Why was she so gosh-darn sure? Walton said one picture matched exactly the one hanging in her bathroom. And it was looking at Walton's collection that made Moeller backtrack on his authentication.

Uncle Earl, according to The Canadian Press, was born 1897 in Visalia, Calif. He attended Stanford University, drove an ambulance in France during the Great War, then moved east in 1926 and opened a Delaware photography studio. There, he took portraits for moneyed folks who could afford this newfangled luxury during the Depression, and one of his clients included the Du Ponts.

He never did profit from his nature photos (National Geographic sent him a rejection letter), although his 90-year-old stepdaughter's sure the comparison to Adams would be flattering. Uncle Earl later moved back to California, and lived in Fresno.

Sticking to the Adams claim
Meanwhile, "Team Norsigian" has been hard at work disputing the doubters. Norsigian's attorney, Arnold Peter, points out the University Arizona center has never seen the negatives. As for the reversal, a press release on Norsigian's site says the shift reflects Moeller's "opinion."

As for the Uncle Earl Theory, a peculiar August press release claimed proof lay with the garage sale dude himself: Norsigian tracked down 81-year-old Irving Schwartz, who said he bought the negatives in Huntington Beach. The press release also went on to say that Schwartz wouldn't say another word without "being 'compensated for information.'" (Maybe he was still smarting over selling the negatives for $45, instead of the $75 he was asking.)

Then again, Norsigian hasn't been hedging his bets, either: His website ($1,500 or $7,500 for a precious print) has a sold as-is disclaimer if the pics weren't shot by Adams.

Adams vs. Brooks on exhibit
A side-by-side comparison seems the best solution. Attorney Peter told the Los Angeles Times that he has been trying to get permission to bring independent experts to the Center for Creative Photography. In the same article, the center associate librarian said anyone can make a research appointment.

People who fancy themselves as Adams experts can judge for themselves in a California roadtrip. Norsigian's photos will be on display at a Beverly Hills gallery called David W. Streets on Sept. 25, while Walton's prints will be appearing at the Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco.

And if these are indeed negatives from Brooks, how much could they sell for? Estimates Moeller, about $25. With 65 glass negatives, that's still a tidy profit from a $45 garage-sale buy.

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