Oct 17, 2013 - Sale 2325

Sale 2325 - Lot 144

Unsold
Estimate: $ 18,000 - $ 22,000
ADAMS, ANSEL (1902-1984)
"Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park." Silver print, 11x8 inches (27.9x20.3 cm.), with Adams' signature, in ink, on mount recto, and with his Portfolio Three hand stamp with the print number and set number, in red ink, on mount verso. 1927; printed 1959
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Additional Details

From the Scheinbaum and Russek Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2003; to a Private California Collector.
"Monolith has led a charmed life…It rests in my vault, still printable, and represents a personally historic moment in my photographic career." - Ansel Adams, An Autobiography

Ansel Adams' iconic photographs of Yosemite are inextricably linked with American landscape photography, and Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park is classically identifiable. The photographer was only 25 years old in 1927 and a willowy 125 pounds. Adams hauled his Korona camera and 40 lbs. of photographic gear to his desired shooting spot, but through a combination of errors and other pictures taken along the way, he only had two intact glass plate negatives left with which to capture this important image. The first plate resulted in moderate success, but for the second plate, Adams opted to use a red filter in order to darken the sky and achieve more drama and contrast. Adams held the shutter open a full 5 seconds to counterbalance the exposure reduction facilitated by the red filter. Years later, reflecting on Monolith, Adams stated that, "This was one of the most exciting moments of my photographic career." Interestingly, it was this very image that inspired Adams to articulate the theory that eventually led to his famous Zone System.


The Eloquent Light, cover and 45; Seeing Straight, 44; Adams: A Biography, 107; Adams: The Early Years, 6 and 7; Morgan & Morgan, 8.