ZONE ELEVEN

"Zone Eleven" alludes to Ansel Adams' Zone System, a method for controlling exposure of the negative in order to obtain a full range of tonality in the photographic print--from the deepest black of Zone 0 to the brightest highlight in Zone 10. "Zone Eleven" is a metaphor coined by artist Mike Mandel in his challenge to create a book of Adams' photographs outside of the bounds of his personal work. Many of these photographs were found in the archives of Adams' commercial and editorial assignments, and from his experimentation with the new Polaroid material of the times.