Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, California (circa 1937). Photograph by Ansel Adams. Image courtesy David H Arrington© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
Ansel Adams is perhaps the forefather of the sort of iconography we associate with the dramatic landscapes of the Yosemite National Park.
The American established an almost supernatural understanding of light from his beginnings during the 1920s, and went on to become one of the most influential photographers in American history. Coveted by major institutions even Jimmy Carter commissioned Adams to take his first official Presidential portrait.
He’s hardly unknown in Britain, but this is a relatively rare exhibition of his large-scale works, featuring more than 100 original prints which have never been shown on UK shores before, loaned from the National Maritime Museum at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts.
They include his first photograph (at the age of 14, capturing a pool at the 1915 World’s Fair), three American Trust murals noted for their supersize innovation and his favourite work, Golden Gate before the Bridge, which hung above the very desk where he perfected his technical genius.
Ponds, rivers, icescapes, rapids and geysers encapsulate his eye for the monumental.
- Open 10am-5pm. Admission £7/£6. Follow the museum on Twitter @NMMGreenwich.
