Ansel Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist, renowned for his monochrome photographs of the American West. Adams was part of groups such as Group f/64, an community of photographers, that he helped create, advocating “pure” photography, favouring sharp focuses and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph.

He and some other photographers also created their own “zonal system,” a system that helped to ensure all tonal values would be represented in a photo – consisting of 10 primary colour values from black to white.

Adams’ work includes several aspects of romantic views, and captured the essence of the sublime in a way it never had been before – creating dramatic, bold compositions of mountains, national parks, and other incredible natural landscapes – so much so that it was in competition with painters at the time.

He used red filters to add drama, darkening hues and widening the contrast between the blacks and whites. Adams grew fond of this technique throughout his career, using it primarily when creating his most iconic work.