Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was an American landscape photographer, most well-known for his widely influential photos of the Yosemite National Park. He created the Zone System, a photographic technique for determining exposure in black and white photos.

Adams was inspired by photographers who specialized in mostly expedition photography, for example Carleton Watkins, Timothy O’Sullivan, and Frank Jay Haynes, who worked with large bulky cameras and set off into the wilderness carrying their equipment on mules. Adams first visited Yosemite in 1916 and began taking photos there not long after.

His subject was the awe he felt in nature, the humbling exaltation he felt in the wilderness, whether manifest on a huge or tiny scale. In the early 1930s, other photographers and critics complained that the world was going to pieces while people like Adams and Edward Weston were photographing rocks. Adams responded in a letter to Weston that “Humanity needs the purely aesthetic just as much as it needs the purely material.”

IMAGE ANALYSIS

This is one of many photos taken by Adams at Yosemite National Park. This photo features the zone system, with 1 being the shadows reflected from the cliff and 8/9 being the moon which is one of many focal points in the photo. It features not only different shades but also different textures, with the rocky cliff face and the smooth effect the shadow has created. My favourite part of this photo is the moon in the background, as that is what immediately caught my attention even though it is arguably the smallest detail in the photo.

Adam’s role in photography has played a key part in influencing how photos are taken. The creation of the zone system helps distinguish different settings of exposure in black and white. Adam’s love of photography helped him create the image he wanted to see in his mind then recreated it in his photos, inspiring other landscape photographers to do the same.