Half Dome, Merced River, Winter, Yosemite National Park, California
c. 1938, printed 1980
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
overall: 49 x 37.5 cm (19 5/16 x 14 3/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Virginia B. Adams
Accession Number
1986.3.26
Art Historical Context
In the crisp winter light of Yosemite National Park, Adams captures the majestic Half Dome rising dramatically above the serene Merced River in this gelatin silver print from around 1938, printed in 1980. Adams, a master of black-and-white landscape photography and co-founder of the f/64 Group, dedicated much of his career to Yosemite, where he lived and worked for decades. This image exemplifies his "straight photography" approach—unmanipulated, precise renditions of nature's grandeur that emphasize texture, form, and tonal range. The gelatin silver print medium, with its rich blacks and lum...
About the Artist
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams, born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California, grew up as the only child of Charles Hitchcock Adams, a businessman and astronomy enthusiast who tutored him at home, and Olive Bray, with whom he had a distant relationship. A hyperactive child prone to illness, Adams struggled in formal schooling and was educated by private tutors and his father until graduating from eighth gr...