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Artist Biograhpy - Photographer Ansel Adams
- Golden Light Art Gallery
Ansel Adams
1902 – 1984
Greatest Photographer of the 20th Century
 Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco in 1902. In 1916 Adams first visited Yosemite and was transfixed by the beautiful valley. In 1919, at the age of 17, he took a job as custodian of the Sierra’s Club LeConte Memorial Lodge, the Club headquarters in Yosemite National Park. His interest in photography grew and often brought him up to the mountains accompanied by a mule laden with photographic gear and supplies.
In 1927, Adams participated in the Club’s annual outing, known as the High Trip, and, the next year, he became the Club’s official trip photographer. In 1930 he became assistant manager of the outings, which consisted of month-long excursions.
Adams’ role in the Sierra Club grew rapidly and the Club became vital to his early success as a photographer. His first photographs and writings were published in the Sierra Club Bulletin. He also got involved politically in the Club, suggesting proposals for improving parks and wilderness, and soon became known as both an artist and defender of Yosemite. In 1934, Adams was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club, a role he maintained for 37 years. His tenure spanned the years that the Club evolved into a powerful national organization that lobbied to create national parks and protect the environment from destructive development projects.
 Adams’ images were first used for environmental purposes when the Sierra Club was seeking the creation of a national park in the Kings River region of the Sierra Nevada. Adams lobbied Congress for a Kings Canyon National Park, and created an impressive, limited-edition book, Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail, which influenced both the Interior Secretary and President Franklin Roosevelt to embrace the Kings Canyon Park idea. The park was created in 1940.
In 1968, Adams was awarded the Conservation Service Award, the Interior Department’s highest civilian honour, in recognition of his many years of work as a photographer, artist, interpreter and conservationist. In 1980 Adams received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts to preserve the country’s wild and scenic areas.
Ansel Adams’ photographs continue to inspire the artist and conservationist alike.
View Anse Adams' "Oak Tree" in our Golden Light Gallery.
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