Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — LBJ

Sept 29, 1965, White House Rose Garden: President Johnson presents Ansel Adams with a pen from the signing of the Arts & Humanities Act.

*To defend the arts is to protect our democracy.*

cspace.arts.arizona.edu/detail/62a25...

“We were in the shadow of the mountains, the light was cool and quiet & no wind was stirring. The aspen trunks were slightly greenish and the leaves were a vibrant yellow. The forest floor was covered with a tangle of russet shrubs. It was very quiet.” — A.A.

‘Aspens, Northern New Mexico,’ 1958.

WWII Split These Yosemite Artists—and Reunited Them Chiura Obata and Ansel Adams met as artists drawn to the same peaks—but their views of the West soon diverged.

“How do you keep yourself grounded? And how do you know who you are through all of this?”
— Kimi Kodani Hill, granddaughter of painter Chiura Obata

“Many of the Nisei have suffered spiritual and psychological wounds that may never entirely heal.”
— Ansel Adams www.altaonline.com/culture/art/...

Congress wants to overturn land plans in AK, MT & ND—gutting protections for wildlife, recreation & Tribally-important lands. If they succeed, it could unravel how ALL public lands are managed. Call (855) 980-5638 and tell your rep to vote NO on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions.

Brooding skies over Monument Valley…🏜

It’s summer 2025, but we’re already curating AA’s 2027 calendars. This 1937 photograph is on our short list for November. Picture it printed in rich duotone at 10x13”—too moody or perfect for the season?

Also: 2026 calendars are now LIVE! Link in bio)

🤠📆

‘Petroglyphs, Monument Valley, Utah,’ 1958. Photograph by Ansel Adams.

A glimpse of how photographic chemistry shaped Ansel’s early vision circa 1925:

Left: Mount Clarence King, Pool — panchromatic plate (records red, green, blue). Clouds appear dramatic.

Right: Kearsarge Pinnacles — orthochromatic plate (no red sensitivity). Sky washes out.

#worldphotographyday

Ansel’s political life didn’t happen behind a camera — he made art for its own sake. Alongside his career as a photographer, he had a 2nd career as an activist: meetings, phone calls, letters, lobbying. Sometimes his images helped the cause. More often, the work was all words, strategy, persistence.

Terrible news.

A Sunday morning meditation…

“Trees, Slide Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,” c. 1965. Photograph by Ansel Adams. © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

“Let us never forget that the National Park Service…is not securely incorporated in the Constitution of the United States. Hence, it is vulnerable to erosion & destruction by legislative action. . . Obviously, eternal vigilance must therefore be the essential attitude of all our people.” - A.A.⁠
⁠

Ansel Adams. Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California. 1944 | MoMA Ansel Adams. Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California. 1944. Gelatin silver print. 15 1/8 × 18 3/4" (38.4 × 47.6 cm). Purchase. 468.1964. © 2025 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Tru...

www.moma.org/collection/w...

“The artist and the creative intellectual MUST examine himself and his relation to society as a whole, and by positive assertions and example give the people at large a more satisfactory understanding of the importance of art and the creative spirit.”—A.A.🇺🇸 (8/8)

“The arts, literature, science - the great triumvirate of human progress - are literally on the block, so to speak. Merely castigating the stupid opposition does more harm than good, as it creates more stubborn opposition and determinations to destroy…(7/8)

“Such monstrosities of taste and distortions of fact are accepted by a large docile public as gospel truth. But this docility is an illusion; in the face of a great crisis it may turn suddenly into a great consuming flame, searing the spiritual well-springs of our society… (6/8)

“The advisors F.D.R. gathered around him - usually men of rare mental and imaginative gifts - were caricatured as “longhairs”, nit-wits, and often as *reds*... (5/8)

“It is not good for our civilization that such attacks do not draw forth vigorous protest from large numbers of our people. We have all seen art and intellect ridiculed in comic strips, popular fiction and on the movie screen… (4/8)

“There is no doubt that his pronouncements served to strengthen the already sour opinions of vast numbers of people whose tolerance may be dangerously approaching the breaking point… (3/8)

“Recently a congressman has publicly linked contemporary art with Communism. The stately bluster of congressional authority carries a lot of weight with a lot of people... (2/8)

“The average man is plagued with bewilderment over the productions of contemporary artists. Neither can he understand the artist himself… (1/8)

“We must keep our cool and our dignity and fight like hell!” —A.A.

Letter for the ‘Opinion’ Page of the San Jose Mercury News (subsequently reproduced in Knight Ridder Newspapers nationwide). Published April 28, 1981.

dorothealange.museumca.org/image/ansel-...

“Ansel Adams, Photographer,” circa 1930. Photographed by Dorothea Lange.

Film negative
Gift of Paul S. Taylor
5 in x 4 in
A67.137.898
© The Dorothea Lange Collection, the Oakland Museum of California

#anseladams
#dorothealange
#historyofphotography
#1930s

@oaklandmuseumca

Godspeed, Sebastião Salgado.

Ansel Adams in Color Renowned as America's pre-eminent black-and-white landscape photographer, Ansel Adams began to photograph in color soon after Kodachrome film was invented in...

www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/john-...

‘Alfred Stieglitz at an American Place, New York, New York,’ c. 1945. Photograph by Ansel Adams

As reproduced in “Ansel Adams In Color,” edited by Harry M. Callahan, Little, Brown & Company

©️The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

‘Hands weaving magnetic-core memory, IBM, Poughkeepsie, New York,’ 1956. Photograph by Ansel Adams.

This photograph was made on a commercial assignment for IBM.

‘The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,’ c. 1948. Photograph by Ansel Adams

©️The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

“I would not want “post-card” realism, but I would enjoy “enhancements” of the colors which I fear is not possible with conventional material today.... The scope of control with the electronic image has not been explored, but I feel confident astonishing developments await us in this area.” —A.A.