NDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Before he became known as the creator of some of the most influential photographs ever taken, Ansel Adams was a restless teenager with a simple Kodak camera. It was a 1916 family vacation in the Yosemite Valley that focused his inner lens, putting Ansel on the path that sealed his destiny. At Yosemite, he took snapshots of the majestic beauty of the landscape and found the inspiration that led him to introduce the world to photography as art. On March1, 2014, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art will open Ansel Adams – a collection of more than 80 of this legendary photographer’s personally-chosen photographs.
Featured images from The Museum Set
The photographs in Ansel Adams focus largely on the vast spaces of the American West, ranging from Yosemite to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest, Alaska, Hawaii and the Northwest. Referred to as The Museum Set, this lifetime portfolio includes many of Adams’ most famous and best-loved photographs, including architectural studies, portraits and magnificent landscapes. Film clips in the gallery will give perspective to the artist’s life, helping visitors understand how he worked and what inspired him. The images are joined by vintage prints from a private collection – including representations from Adams’ first published portfolios from the late 1920s.
Guest curator Jonathan Spaulding, Ph.D.
Ansel Adams was drawn together by guest curator, Jonathan Spaulding, Ph.D., whose 1995 book, Ansel Adams and the American Landscape, is considered the leading biography on the famed photographer and environmentalist. According to Spaulding, Adams legacy is more than a body of beautiful black-and-whites.
“Adams changed how we think and how we act,” writes Spaulding. “Across the arc of his life, one thing remained constant: to express through his art the forms and moods and ancient forces of our small planet, our only home in a vast universe.”