Ansel Adams , The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Wyoming

Written by NEHMA's Staff member Ali Snow

March 27, 2015

American photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams was born in 1902 to an affluent family in San Francisco. At 12 he fell deeply in love with the piano and studied it diligently with such important figures as Henry Cowell. He intended to pursue piano as a profession, but ultimately gave it up for photography. This experience 'profoundly informed his visual artistry, as well as his influential writings and teachings on photography.'

In 1941 the the National Park Service commissioned Adams to create a photo mural for the Department of Interior building in Washington D.C. 'The Grand Tetons and the Snake River' was a product of this project and is one of Adams most well-known works. It displays his mastery of large format photography and composition for landscapes. In fact, this iconic work was included in the 'Voyager Golden Records,' a collection of phonograph records and images showing the life and culture on Earth. These records were included aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977.

While presenting Adams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Jimmy Carter stated, 'Drawn to the beauty of nature’s monuments, he [Adams] is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution. It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans.