Ansel Adams

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20,1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer born in San Francisco.

Life

Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California in an upper-class family. When he was 4, he was tossed face-first into a garden wall in an aftershock from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, breaking his nose. His nose was never repaired and appeared crooked for his entire life.

Related Topics:
California - Upper-class - Aftershock - 1906 San Francisco earthquake

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He became interested in photography when his Aunt Mary gave him a copy of "In the Heart of the Sierras" http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/in_the_heart_of_the_sierras/ while he was sick as a child. The photographs in the book by George Fiske piqued his interest enough to persuade his parents to vacation in Yosemite National Park in 1916, where he was given a camera as a gift.

Related Topics:
In the Heart of the Sierras - George Fiske - Yosemite National Park - 1916

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Adams disliked the uniformity of the education system and left school in 1915 to educate himself. He originally trained himself as a pianist, but Yosemite and the camera diverted his interest toward photography. He later met his future wife, Virginia Best, in Yosemite. Adams long alternated between a career as a concert pianist and one as a photographer.

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At age 17 Adams joined the Sierra Club, a group dedicated to preserving the natural world's wonders and resources. He remained a member throughout his lifetime and served as a director, as did his wife, Virginia. Adams was an avid mountaineer in his youth and participated in the club's annual "high trips", and was later responsible for several first ascents in the Sierra Nevada. It was at Half Dome in 1927 that he first found that he could make photographs that were, in his own words, "...an austere and blazing poetry of the real". Adams became an environmentalist, and his photographs are a record of what many of these national parks were like before human intervention and travel. His work has promoted many of the goals of the Sierra Club and brought environmental issues to light.

Related Topics:
Sierra Club - First ascent - Half Dome - 1927

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Photographs in Adams' limited edition book, Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail, along with his testimony, are credited with helping secure the designation of Sequoia and Kings Canyon as national parks in 1940.

Related Topics:
Sequoia and Kings Canyon - 1940

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During World War Two Adams worked on creating epic photographic murals for the Department of the Interior. Adams was distressed by the Japanese American Internment that occurred after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was given permission to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the Owens Valley, at the foot of Mount Williamson. The resulting photo-essay first appeared in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit, and later was published as Born Free and Equal: Photographs of the loyal Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California.

Related Topics:
World War Two - Department of the Interior - Japanese American Internment - Pearl Harbor - Manzanar War Relocation Center - Owens Valley - Mount Williamson - Museum of Modern Art

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In 1952 Adams was one of the founders of Aperture.

Related Topics:
1952 - Aperture

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Adams was the recipient of three Guggenheim fellowships during his career. He was elected in 1966 a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1980 Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Related Topics:
Guggenheim - 1966 - Fellow - American Academy of Arts and Sciences - 1980 - Jimmy Carter - Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Publishing rights for the Adams' photographs are handled by the trustees of The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

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The Minarets Wilderness in the Inyo National Forest was renamed the Ansel Adams Wilderness in 1984 in his honor. Mount Ansel Adams, a 11,760' peak in the Sierra Nevada, was named for him in 1985.

Related Topics:
Inyo National Forest - Ansel Adams Wilderness - 1984 - Mount Ansel Adams - 1985

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