Bringing Ansel Back Home

It is an honor to Ansel that he is again receiving a major exhibition in his hometown of San Francisco, nearly 40 years after his passing, and over 90 years since his first exhibition at the DeYoung Museum. It is a testament to the validity of his art, and the timelessness and relevance of how that art is viewed. There is no question that he would be pleased by his acceptance by new generations of photographers and art lovers.

Ansel was a man who cared very deeply about his art, his craft, his medium. He worked tirelessly to promote the art form, with the creation of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), and to spread the technical knowledge of how to expose and develop film and paper to achieve one’s artistic vision. To that end, he co-developed the Zone System and wrote volumes of technical books and articles. He was aware that the medium required multiple masters, and his generosity in sharing his knowledge continues to be widely lauded and appreciated. This exhibition, with so many contemporary artists, is a realization of this goal.

Today Ansel is known as much for his environmentalism as his art. Adams was a tireless advocate for the environment, with letters to the editor, articles, lobbying Congress and the Executive Branch. He was instrumental in the creation of Kings Canyon National Park, and in the passage of the Wilderness Act and the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. He fought hard to kick the fox out of the henhouse, when an energy lobbyist because the Secretary of the Interior.

Surprisingly to most, Ansel said he never made a photograph for an explicit environmental purpose, but he had a deep reverence for the natural scene, and his ability to express that reverence for and to us has left us with a body of work that stands at the pinnacle of expressive photography, landscape photography, and environmental art.