Getty Museum
El Capitan, Yosemite
Creator
Ansel AdamsAmerican Photographer · 1902–1984
All works by this person →Ansel Adams was first trained in music, but in 1930 he gave up a career as a concert pianist to pursue photography. Although he began his career as a Pictorialist, Adams soon became an advocate of the sharp-focus, unmanipulated image. Along with Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston and others, he was one of the cofounders of Group f/64. The name derived from the smallest aperture of the camera lens, w
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- negative 1938; print 1950
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Nature was a source of optimism and inspiration for Adams. A quintessential American landscape photographer, he is known for his timeless, idyllic depictions of the natural environment. Here he captured the quiet drama of afternoon sunlight illuminating El Capitan, which rises like a cathedral from the Yosemite Valley floor. While Adams did not make pictures specifically for conservation groups, he was a supporter of their efforts and permitted his pictures to be employed in their promotion.
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