Ansel Adams, born in San Francisco in 1902, is a foundational figure of both photography and conservation. Raised by a supportive father who embraced Transcendentalist ideas, Adams abandoned traditional schooling at 13 and immersed himself in music, nature, and art. His summers in Yosemite shaped both his identity and his photography, and in 1927 he created Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, the first image to showcase his signature style of sharp focus and dramatic contrast. That work helped launch his career, earning support from major arts patrons and eventually leading to a 1936 solo show curated by Alfred Stieglitz in New York.
Though he briefly struggled through a personal crisis during that period, Adams returned to Yosemite—both physically and creatively—to regain clarity, describing art as a form of love and truth. His photography soon became a tool for conservation: he successfully lobbied for Kings Canyon to become a national park, worked on a mural project for the Department of the Interior, and documented Japanese American incarceration at Manzanar during World War II. In later decades, he became a leading environmental advocate and teacher, meeting with multiple U.S. presidents. Ansel Adams died in 1984 at age 82, leaving behind a vast artistic legacy and a wilderness area named in his honor.
