Frozen Lake and Cliffs

Object Details

Adams, Ansel

Description (Brief)

Silver gelatin, mounted. Eye level view of ice on water, foreground. Tall rock formation, background. Signed, ink (recto: bottom right corner). Verso: Adams stamp, handrwitten title, center.

Description

While on an annual Sierra Club outing to Sequoia National Park, Adams took this image of the frozen Precipice Lake high in the Sierra Nevada range. The contrasting textures, sharp focus and full tonal range are indicative of Adams’ period of transition towards the f/64 Group’s photographic philosophy. In his book, “Examples,” Adams explained that some critics have called the work almost abstract, due to its strictly geometric composition, but that he disagreed. “I cannot change the optical realities, but only manage them in relation to themselves and the format,” he wrote ("Examples," p.11). Perhaps this photograph challenges the viewer to think about the shapes found in nature and the primary framing of a photograph.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) is one of the most well-known twentieth century photographers. His contributions to the field of photography include his innovation and teaching of the Zone System. The quality of his photographs set the standard by which many straight photographs are judged.

The collection in the Photographic History Collection consists of twenty-five photographs, all printed in or about 1968. All are gelatin silver, mounted, labeled and signed in ink by the photographer. The photographs include some of his most well-known images, but also portraits and objects. The selection of images was made in collaboration between the collecting curator and Adams.

Credit Line

Reproduction rights held by the Center for Creative Photography--

print made

ca 1968

negative made

1934

ID Number

PG.69.117.05

accession number

282326

catalog number

69.117.5

Object Name

photograph

Object Type

photographs

Physical Description

paper (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 35.5 cm x 45.9 cm; 13 31/32 in x 18 1/16 in

place made

United States: Sierra Nevada

See more items in

Work and Industry: Photographic History

Photo History Collection

Ansel Adams Collection

Photography

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_906035

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-3eb9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa