The Atlas Gallery presents Ansel Adams: Landscapes of the American West, an exhibition of works by the renowned landscape photographer and environmental activist. It is the first time in ten years that a significant body of work by Adams has been exhibited in a London gallery.
The landscapes of the American West testify to Adams’ technical mastery and innate sensitivity to nature. It includes some of Adams’ most dramatic and recognizable images, such as Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, in 1941, in which a lone moon hovers above cloud-like clouds of specters covering a valley near Española in Santa Fe.
Adams grew up in San Francisco amidst the sand dunes beyond the Golden Gate and fell in love with the landscape around him from a young age. His early years, “colored and modulated by the great earthly gesture of the Sierra de Yosemite,” prompted him to return to explore and photograph the valley throughout his life. Adam’s relationship with Yosemite led him to join the environmental organization, the Sierra Club, which led him to lobby for the establishment of King’s Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada years later.
His familiarity with the California landscape allowed him to capture the unspoiled beauty of the region. Mount Williamson in the Sierra Nevada in Manzanar, California,in 1944 is an example. “The eye and the mind combine the splendours of this region to create wonderful ideas and anticipated visualizations. »As a storm raged through the mountains, Adams was able to use the generally dry and gray landscape conditions to accentuate “new shapes and plans”.
Adams had more control over a finished photo by using his Zone system, a method that translates tonal variations into different shades of gray in black-and-white photographs on negatives and paper. His concept of “viewing” was also a fundamental part of his original aesthetic – seeing the whole image in its spiritual, emotional and intellectual aspects – before shooting.
During his life, Adams worked for Kodak, Polaroid and Hasselblad, advising them on improvements in camera technology. Making a Photograph (1935) and in the 1940s and 1950s, Morgan & Morgan Basic Photo Series (Camera, Negative, Print, Natural Light Photography and Artificial Light Photography), he remains the professor of the most sought following photography today.
Ansel Adams: Landscapes of the American West
November 30, 2018 to February 2, 2019
Atlas Gallery
49 Dorset St, Marylebone, London W1U 7NF, UK
