Ansel Adams’ Love Affair with Yosemite Celebrated in New Book

Mount Ansel Adams
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There is perhaps no other photographer that has helped shape our impression of the American landscape more than Ansel Adams. His black and white imagery of the American West is iconic, showing the majesty of the untamed environment. Synonymous with Adams is Yosemite. It was here that he was given his first camera as a young 12-year-old boy and it was Yosemite that inspired some of his most memorable photographs. Ansel Adams’ Yosemite is a new publication that looks at his love affair with the National Park and all it has to offer.

The book focuses on Adams’ photographs from his Yosemite Special Edition Prints portfolio. Born from a commission in the 1950s to select photographs as souvenirs for park visitors, Adams continued to add to his Yosemite collection over the following decades. From Bride Veil Falls to the cliffs of Half Dome, the natural monuments immortalized by Adams have remained iconic thanks to his work.

Over 160 pages, Ansel Adams’ Yosemite photographs take center stage. Never before published in book form, the streams, meadows, and mountains leap from the page. To help put his work into perspective, the publication features a foreword by former White House photographer Pete Souza, as well as an essay by Adams’ darkroom assistant Alan Ross.

This timely publication continues the legacy of environmentalism that Adams supported throughout his life. Perhaps now, more than ever, with the American landscape increasingly under threat, his work is a reminder of what we risk losing. “Ansel’s photographs originated as expressions of his deep emotional connection to nature,” writes Souza, “and became powerful tools to build support for its preservation. Viewed today, Ansel’s photographs carry as much power and meaning as ever.”

Ansel Adams’ Yosemite is available both in both hardcover and e-book.

Ansel Adams’ love affair with Yosemite—which he first visited at 12-year-old—spanned his entire life.

Clearing Winter Storm

Cathedral Rocks

Bride Veil Falls

His landscape imagery is responsible for shaping how we view the majestic national park.

Lodgepoe Pines

Sequoia Roots

Fir Forest in Snow

Merced River, Cliffs of Cathedral Rocks

Ansel Adams’ Yosemite is a collection of photographs that have never been published in book form.

Tenaya Lake

Moon and Half Dome

Half Dome Evening

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

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