TPO68

The main idea of both the article and the lecture is whether the discovered anonymous photographic negatives belong to a reputed photographer or not. In this vein, the author of the article brings up 3 reasons to support the idea of the ownership of Ansel Adams, the well-known photographer. The professor, on the other hand, believes that even though some similarities were found, the reasons are not convincing and refutes them all.
First, the author points out that found negatives include a pine tree, just like the tree, which was depicted in another photo that definitely was taken by Ansel Adams. The professor, conversely, opposes this and states that the mentioned tree is not a random tree. He clarifies that this pine tree is a famous landmark, which has been the most visited location and has been the subject of many photographers.
Second, the author claims that some envelopes, the negatives' covers, contain words and numbers with handwriting, resembling that of Ansel Adams' wife, Virginia Adams, who had assisted him archive his photos. However, the professor counters this speculation and avers that it doesn't seem possible that Virginia Adams wrote those notes. He asserts that the addresses on the envelopes contained mistakes in spelling that raise questions about how can it be probable for Virginia Adams to misspell the name of places, which she was familiar with since childhood.
Third, the author describes that some negative films in envelopes possessed burn marks, which matches the fact that once, a fire accident happened in Adams' studio. In contrast, the professor seems skeptical about this idea and explains that previously artists utilized highly flammable ingredients. Accordingly, fire is a common incident in art studios. Therefore, discovered photos can be the possession of any photographer, not exclusively Ansel Adams.