Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was a prominent American photographer, born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his stunning black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, particularly Yosemite National Park, which he became enamored with during a family vacation in 1916. Initially aspiring to be a musician, Adams's artistic direction shifted after receiving a Kodak Box Brownie camera, leading him to develop a lifelong passion for photography. He played a significant role in the Sierra Club and was an influential figure in environmental conservation, using his art to advocate for the protection of wilderness areas. Over his career, Adams produced over thirty books and portfolios and received numerous accolades, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. His innovative techniques and dedication to the craft earned him a lasting legacy as one of the finest photographers of the twentieth century. Adams passed away on April 22, 1984, in Carmel, California, leaving behind a rich cultural heritage as a photographer, writer, educator, and environmentalist.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Ansel Adams
Photographer
- Born: February 20, 1902
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
- Died: April 22, 1984
- Place of death: Carmel, California
Biography
Ansel Easton Adams was born in San Francisco, California, on February 20, 1902, the only child of Olive Bray Adams and Charles Hitchcock Adams, a businessman and the son of a wealthy timber baron. Adams grew up in a house his father had built in the sand dunes beyond the Golden Gate. During one of the aftershocks that followed the Great Earthquake of 1906, Ansel was knocked down and his nose was broken, permanently altering his appearance. The family fortune was wiped out in the panic of 1907, and Ansel’s father was never able to recoup his losses.
After unsuccessful attempts to keep the bright but hyperactive child in school, it was decided that he should be tutored at home. Fortunately, Ansel was an omniverous reader, an enthusiastic observer of nature, and a born musician. At twelve, he taught himself to play the piano, but it was a resolute music teacher who instilled in him the self-discipline that would later prove so useful. Ansel intended to become a professional musician. However, during a family vacation in Yosemite National Park in 1916, his father presented him with a Kodak Box Brownie. From that time on, Ansel had three passions: photography, music, and the Yosemite Sierras.
In 1920, Ansel spent the first of four summers as a custodian at the Yosemite headquarters of the Sierra Club. The following year, he was invited by a painter, Harry Cassie Best, to practice on the piano in his studio. There he met the artist’s daughter, Virginia Rose Best. After a long courtship, they were married in Yosemite on January 2, 1928. They had two children, Michael and Anne. When Best died in 1936, the Adams family made his home in Yosemite their permanent headquarters. Even after moving to Carmel, California, in 1962, they would return to Yosemite each summer.
After joining the Sierra Club in 1920, Adams became acquainted with a San Francisco art patron, who became the sponsor of Adams’s first portfolio. By 1930, when his first book appeared, Adams had decided to make photography his profession. In 1936, the famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz gave Adams a one-man show in New York City. However, most of Adams’s life was spent in the West. His photographs of Western landscapes appeared in over thirty books and portfolios. He also wrote a number of books on photographic techniques, and he established photography programs at the San Francisco Art Institute; the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; and the University of Arizona.
Adams held three Guggenheim fellowships. He also won numerous awards for his achievements in his profession, including the Photographic Society of America’s Progress Medal, in 1969. For his efforts as an environmentalist, he received a Conservation Service Award from the United States Deparment of the Interior in 1968 and the First Ansel Adams Award of the Wilderness Society in 1980. The same year, he was presented with the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Ansel Adams died of heart disease in Carmel, California, on April 22, 1984. He was remembered as one of the finest photographers of the twentieth century, an innovator in photographic technique, a writer and illustrator, an educator, and an environmental activist whose efforts helped to preserve the Western wilderness he so loved.