Enamel Plates Mounted on Brass Rod, 1967

Growing up, Krantz spent Saturdays in the studio of his grandfather, an abstract-expressionist painter and enamel artist. Krantz would watch him make enamel plates. The small plates mounted here were test discs, made before he would create larger plates. "He'd place things on glass shards and he'd sit and stare at it," Krantz says. "He would take tweezers and move it just a fraction, then he'd look at it. There was so much quirky little nuance and attention to detail. I soaked it up." Krant's grandfather called this experimentation "baking cookies."

Torn-Out Page of Carmel Phonebook, 1973

When Krantz was 17, he drove from Omaha, Nebraska, to Carmel, California, to find Ansel Adams. He found Adams' address in a phone book and tore out the page. Krantz studied under Adams for three years. "The most important thing he said is that technical proficiency leads to artistic freedom," Krantz says. "Technique, technique, technique."

Jim Krantz with Ansel Adams, 1975

From Adams, Krantz learned about pre-visualization. Before the advent of digital photography, more visualizing was done on the front end, before a single picture was ever taken. "You knew what you wanted it to look like when you're done, so you had to make a negative that was properly exposed," Krantz says.

Jim Krantz on Set, 1999

A great deal of orchestration goes into Krantz's commercial work. "I’m not hired to make art for a gallery," he says. "I am in the business of creating images that not only satisfy me on a personal level but also satisfy the brand and say what the brand has to say." This photograph shows Krantz on set for a Wells Fargo advertising campaign.

Way of the West Series, 2009

Krantz developed a personal project he titled "The Way of the West." In his signature style, he illustrated with both stills and motion footage "the intensity of the life of a real working cowboy in harsh and unyielding situations."