Ansel Adams

American, 1902-1984

Ansel Adams was an American photographer whose iconic black-and-white landscapes transformed the way the natural world was documented and understood. Born in San Francisco and drawn early to the outdoors, Adams first visited Yosemite in 1916, a trip that shifted his focus solely to photography.

In the 1920s and '30s, he became a leading voice for “pure” photography, co-founding Group f/64 and advocating for sharp-focus, high-clarity images that emphasized the medium’s unique strengths. His early portfolio Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras established a lifelong devotion to the American wilderness, captured with striking technical precision and depth.

Adams's images of the Sierra Nevada, the Southwest, and other wild places became synonymous with environmental advocacy. He worked closely with conservation groups and used his photographs to influence public policy and awareness. Beyond his creative output, Adams was instrumental in elevating photography as fine art—organizing museum collections, teaching, and co-founding the Center for Creative Photography in 1975.

Spanning over seven decades, Adams’s career combined aesthetic mastery with a deep sense of responsibility to nature. His work remains central to American visual culture and continues to inspire photographers, collectors, and conservationists alike.