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Winter Yosemite Valley

1933–34
Not on view
A man whose name is, for many, synonymous with landscape photography, Adams was one of America's most well-known photographers by the mid-1930s, just a few years after his decision to pursue photography as a career. He came to the medium from a background in music and a profound love of the western landscape, particularly that of the High Sierra and Yosemite Valley, where he made the vast majority of his negatives, as well as this photograph. Both influences are clearly evident in this work: the strong vertical dark lines of the tree trunks create a base-line grid for the delicate melody of horizontal, snow-tipped branches, while the clean precision of the print mimics crisp mountain air. As a result, this, like most of Adams' photographs, functions as the graphic equivalent of natural experience.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Winter Yosemite Valley
  • Artist: Ansel Easton Adams (American, San Francisco, California 1902–1984 Carmel, California)
  • Date: 1933–34
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: 23.4 x 18.5 cm. (9 3/16 x 7 1/4 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.55.177
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Photograph by Ansel Adams. Used with permission of the Trustees of The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. All Rights Reserved.
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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