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Yosemite 1938: On the Trail
with Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe
Through September 3, 2006
In 1938, Ansel Adams
took a trip to Yosemite National Park with friends Georgia O'Keeffe, David
McAlpin, and Godfrey and Helen Rockefeller. Adams took photographs both
of the landscape and of these individuals documenting the adventure. Adams
arranged his work into three handcrafted albums, one of which was given
to McAlpin. The exhibition displays photographs from the pages of these
journals, including some of Adams' best-known natur images, and provides
an intimate look at this memorable group of friends.
Yosemite 1938: On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia
O'Keeffe was organized by the National Museum of
Wildlif Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Wall texts from the exhibit
- In September of 1938, Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, David McAlpin,
and Helen and Godfrey S. Rockefeller took a memorable pack trip through
Yosemite National Park. Upon their return, Adams made three albums to commemorate
the trip and presented them as gifts to his travel companions. The album
on view here belonged to friend and supporter David McAlpin. In 2000, McAlpin's
wife, Sarah Sage Stewart McAlpin, kindly donated the album to the National
Museum of Wildlife Art.
-
- The album documents a wonderful excursion through Yosemite, but it
is more than a typical photo album; it is a work of art in and of itself,
carefully laid out and hand-assembled by Adams. The 48 photographs on 42
pages present highlights of the trip, with a fine combination of broad
landscapes, earthy close-ups, and posed portraits. The album gives a clear
sense of the journey, while it also reveals Adams's philosophy on photography,
art, and life.
-
- All images in this exhibition are on loan from the National Museum
of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
-
-
- Adams, O'Keeffe, McAlpin, and the Rockefellers departed for the High
Sierra on Sunday, September 11, 1938. With them went a pack-string of fourteen
mules, enough animal power to haul all the camping, kitchen, and photo
equipment, with a few extra mounts for those who wished to ride. The ten-day
trip through the high country was not particularly arduous, outfitted as
they were with plenty of blankets, food, and hired help. Assisting the
group were local backcountry experts Al Kay, Alvin Rhode, Robert Barnett,
and Lile Pierce, who assumed the duties of guiding, packing, unpacking,
setting up camp, and cooking. Five campers with four hired hands is a luxurious
ratio when it comes to wilderness treks. Adams had arranged everything
with convenience in mind, so the campers could photograph, hike, or relax
as the mood struck them.
-
- It was reportedly quite cold on a number of evenings, particularly
after the group climbed to 10,000 feet and camped near Tuolumne Pass. Ever
positive, Adams recalled that everyone considered it a "prime adventure."
Mornings began with hot coffee and a good breakfast. Adams was an early
riser, who liked to be up with the sun so he could take advantage of dawn's
dramatic light. During the day, the party made small excursions from their
base camp or trekked to their next campsite. Gas lamps enhanced the light
of the campfire at night, and the party scheduled dinner for after sunset
to allow for more photography at dusk.
-
- To have the group in Yosemite, seeing and appreciating the land that
he loved, must have been uplifting for Adams. His later reports of the
excursion are glowing. In his autobiography he wrote, "O'Keeffe loved
campfires and would stand close to them in her voluminous black cape, her
remarkable features and her dark hair gleaming in the flickering light.
She never seemed bored or tired and enjoyed every moment of the trip."
-
- YOSEMITE 1938, the album and the trip, tell a number of important
stories about Ansel Adams and his relationships with friends, patrons,
artists, and nature. The photographs show us many of Adams's favorite spots
in the Sierra, from the Tuolumne Meadows and the Cathedral Peak region
to his beloved Lyell Fork of the Merced River. Adams designed the excursion
to show off Yosemite at its best for some of his best friends. He hoped
that the restorative and spiritual power of Yosemite would affect his companions
the way it had affected him. We will never know the conversations that
happened around the campfire or be able to recreate the feeling of looking
at Half Dome for the first time with Adams at our side, but we can experience
the pleasure of looking through this album, a remarkable record of a singular
journey through the Sierra with one of its greatest proponents.
- This map shows the approximate route Ansel Adams and company took on
their ten-day trek through Yosemite.
-
- 1. On Friday, September 9, 1938, Adams took the group to Glacier Point,
where he pointed out all the remarkable places the party would be visiting.
-
- 2. On Sunday, September 11, the group left Best's Studio and the Yosemite
Valley. Best's studio was originally owned by Adams' father-in-law, Harrie
Cassie Best. In 1936, Adams and his wife, Virginia, inherited the studio,
which is now the Ansel Adams Gallery.
-
- 3. They took the Snow Creek Trail to the Tuolumne Meadows.
-
- 4. They spent their first night at the Budd Creek Campground.
-
- 5. Monday, the party turned south, on the Sunrise Trail to the Echo
Peaks, where they camped for two nights.
-
- 6. Wednesday, they trekked to the Merced Lake High Sierra Camp.
-
- 7. The party visited Washburn Lake while at Merced Lake.
-
- 8. Thursday, they spent a chilly night at about 10,000 feet at the
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp.
-
- 9. Friday morning, they went to the Lyell Fork of the Merced River,
Adams' favorite camping spot. The party stayed on the Lyell Fork for three
nights, Friday through Sunday.
-
- 10. While on the Lyell Fork, they took a day trip up to Isberg Pass
and Post Peak Pass for a grand view of the High Sierra. On Monday, they
descended and slept at Merced Lake. Tuesday, September 20, they returned
to the Yosemite Valley, passing Nevada and Vernal Falls en route.
- Ansel Adams
- (19021984)
-
- Ansel Adams is among the most recognized figures in 20th-century American
photography. Yosemite was one of his favorite places, and its stunning
vistas became trademark subjects for Adams' elegant yet bold depictions
of the dramatic landscape of the American West.
-
- Born in San Francisco, Adams trained as a concert pianist as a youth;
but in his twenties, he set his aspirations on a career in photography.
When he was 14, he first became interested in photography after receiving
a Kodak Box Brownie camera from his parents while vacationing in Yosemite.
His love of nature and landscape as a subject for photography was fostered
by his work in Yosemite with the Sierra Club beginning in 1919. He became
very familiar with the park's topography while working as a guide for Sierra
Club treks; and he was a guardian of the LeComte Memorial Lodge, the Sierra
Club building that served as Yosemite's first visitor center. He was a
member of the organization's board of directors from 1934 to 1971.
-
- By 1923 he was using a 6 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch Korona view camera to produce
elegantly composed and meticulously planned photographs. As a mature photographer,
Adams employed a wide range of cameras to achieve various effects. Among
his many achievements was his role as one of the founders of the f.64
group in San Francisco in 1932. The group's members were dedicated to producing
unmanipulated images. The photographs in this exhibition reflect this interest
in the pure, unaltered photographic image. Adams is renowned for his technical
skills, including the development of the "zone system," a scale
system used to capture a wide, subtle, and carefully balanced range of
white, gray, and black tones in the image. Adams' understanding of how
to gauge and use light to produce tone is one of his most famous aesthetic
and technical skills.
-
- Adams was an ardent conservationist and environmentalist. In 1985,
a mountain peak in Yosemite National Park was named in his honor.
-
-
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- (18871986)
-
- Georgia O'Keeffe is among the best-known American artists of the 20th
century. She is perhaps most recognized for her beautiful paintings of
flowers, the American Southwest, and cityscapes. O'Keeffe is associated
especially with New Mexico. Like Ansel Adams, she drew endless inspiration
from nature and, in her case, the stark forms of the desert landscape.
In 1924, she married Alfred Stieglitz, an undisputed pioneer in the history
of photography. She became the subject of many of his most famous photographs.
-
- Adams and O'Keeffe first met in 1929 at an artists' retreat outside
of Taos, New Mexico. Her participation in this camping trip attests to
her friendship with Adams and to the extent of her connection to the world
of photography. Adams reportedly was disappointed that she did not bring
her painting equipment with her to Yosemite. Instead, she enjoyed the experience
as an observer.
-
-
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Untitled (Georgia
O'Keeffe and Tree), c. 1938, Black and white photograph,. National
Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H.
McAlpin )
-
- David Hunter McAlpin III
- (18971989)
-
- David McAlpin was one of the participants in the camping trip recorded
by Ansel Adams. In fact, the pages on view here were part of the album
Adams gave to McAlpin following their excursion. McAlpin was the grandson
of William Rockefeller and a cousin to Godfrey S. Rockefeller, who was
also on the trip.
- A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, McAlpin
was a prominent businessman in an investment trust firm, an important philanthropist,
and a collector of photography. Along with Adams and Beaumont Newhall,
McAlpin helped to establish the department of photography at the Museum
of Modern Art in New York, and he was instrumental in founding the history
of photography department at Princeton University. He was also an amateur
photographer and indulged this interest while on the Yosemite camping trip.
-
-
-
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Untitled (David
McAlpin), c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum of Wildlife
Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin )
- Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
- (18991983)
- Helen Gratz Rockefeller
- (19001985)
-
- Godfrey S. Rockefeller was the grandson of financier William Rockefeller
and a cousin to David McAlpin. A graduate of Yale University, Godfrey was
an investment banker and later became chairman of the textile company Cranston
Print Works. Like his cousin, Godfrey was an important collector of photography,
and both men purchased special cameras in preparation for the Yosemite
adventure. Godfrey chose to work with large-format cameras and film on
this trip, using 8 x 10-inch negatives. He relied on Adams for technical
assistance in handling this equipment. Helen and he had three children.
-
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Untitled (Godfrey
Rockefeller), c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum
of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin
)
Captions for exhibit images
-
- Plate 1
- Yosemite September 1938
- Ansel Adams had long been a fan of straightforward, classic typography.
He used title pages laid out in a similar, balanced fashion for many of
his professional publications.
-
- All of the photographs in this exhibit were taken by Ansel Adams during
his trip through Yosemite in September of 1938 with Georgia O'Keeffe, David
McAlpin, and Helen and Godfrey Rockefeller. He printed this selection documenting
the trip upon his return and compiled three albums, which he presented
to his companions around Christmas of
- 1938.
-
-
- Plate 2
- Yellow Pine
- The rough surfaces of tree trunks were an Adams' favorite. Close-ups
and medium-range shots of trees are prominent parts of his oeuvre and appear
throughout this album. In this picture, the heavily textured trunk of the
pine dominates the lower portion of the image. The foreshortening and extension
of the tree through the center of the picture communicates both great height
and massiveness.
-
-
- Plate 3
- Half Dome
- This photograph was taken from the top of Snow Creek Trail on the first
day of the trek. The composition is classic Adams. He often placed a tree
directly in front of a mountain or other geological feature, comparing
similar shapes while simultaneously bringing out contrasts. Here, the top
branch of the tree reaches up and seems to support Half Dome, while the
bend of the main branch echoes the Dome's upper curve.
-
-
- Plate 4
- Untitled (Water Over Rock)
- Water delicately flows over the top of this rock, fanning out into
rivulets, creating a shape that looks like a palm frond. The scale of the
rock is difficult to judge. Negatives from the trip housed at the Center
for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, feature campers sitting next
to the rock, showing that it is larger than might be expected, approximately
three feet across.
-
- Plate 5
- Tuolumne Meadows
- The single tree in the center foreground is the main subject here.
On the horizon, Mount Dana, Mount Gibbs, Kuna Crest, and Mammoth Peak are
visible. This photograph probably was taken from Pothole Dome looking east.
The party camped in the Tuolumne Meadows on their first night at the Budd
Creek Campground.
-
-
- Plate 6
- Cathedral Peak
- This photo epitomizes Adams' sense of composition. The rocks in the
foreground take the eye back and to the left into the picture. The lake
continues this movement, but shifts direction to the right. Attention is
then drawn upwards to Cathedral Peak, which reaches almost to the top of
the frame. This creates a sinuous line binding the picture together. The
sun shines on the rocks in the foreground and on the peak in the background,
contrasting nicely with the dark sky above and darker water in the middle.
-
-
- Plate 7
- Untitled (O'Keeffe and Tree)
- Likely taken next to Upper Cathedral Lake, this picture shows Georgia
O'Keeffe leaning against a large, old tree stump. With her face in profile
and her back to the trunk, the tree and O'Keeffe seem like one entity-solid,
earthy, and resilient. The stump may have been something O'Keeffe remarked
upon as an interesting visual form. Along the trail, she pointed out many
trees and rocks that interested her.
-
-
- Plate 8
- Echo Peaks
- Adams often captures the drama of gathering cumulous clouds, towering
over a beautiful landscape. Here, the Echo Peaks fill the bottom third
of the picture, while the rest of the image is dedicated to the tumult
above. In these wide shots, the pattern of sunlight on the landscape is
an important compositional element. The sun shines on the peaks in the
background, while the foreground elements are cast in shadow. The bright
peaks in the background form a band of light in the picture that balances
the dark foreground and darkening sky.
-
- Plate 9
- Unicorn Peak
- This photo makes an interesting contrast to the previous landscape,
Echo Peaks (Plate 8). Similar to Echo Peaks, the clouds and sky take up
roughly two thirds of the image, with the landscape filling the bottom
third. The areas of light and dark are reversed here, however. Unicorn
Peak and the ridge behind it are in shade, forming a dark ribbon running
horizontally through the picture.
-
-
- Plate 10
- Cockscomb Crest
- Sunlight illuminates the tree in the lower left corner of the photo
and shines on the small snow banks located on the right side. The texture
of the rock on the dome and the peak are similar, but this picture contrasts
the two forms, the rounded hump of the dome and the jagged outline of the
peak.
-
-
- Plate 11
- H.R. on Echo Peaks
- This picture of Helen Rockefeller on Echo Peak is a fairly typical
mountain portrait. The rock wall dominates the picture, but putting Rockefeller
next to it on the rocky ground gives a sense of communion with nature.
-
-
- Plate 12
- Echo Ridge (Mount Clark and Echo Ridge)
- Another picture taken from a different position of the same ridge on
the same trip appears in Ansel Adams' Autobiography.. The high clouds
and fairly even light in this photograph do not provide much contrast.
Similar to Cockscomb Crest (Plate 10), this photograph compares different
natural elements, the blocky formation of rocks in the foreground with
the smoother planes of the ridge in the rear.
-
-
- Plate 13
- Echo Ridge
- The Echo Peaks and Matthes Crest are featured here in a composition
similar to Cathedral Peak (Plate 6) with the summits rising nearly to the
top of the frame. The faces of the peaks in the left half of the image
are bathed in sunlight, a visual contrast to the darker trees in the fore-
and middle ground. One tree sticks up from the bottom of the frame, bisecting
the two peaks and breaking up the band of light.
-
-
- Plate 14
- Untitled (Helen Rockefeller)
- This portrait of Helen Rockefeller presents her in a contemplative
pose, looking out into the distance, perhaps reflecting on the beauty of
nature laid out before her. The slightly low angle from which this photo
was taken raises her up, making her look powerful, healthy, and vigorous-the
conqueror of the mountain contemplating the view. Later in the album Adams
included other portraits with similar iconography (Plates 26, 40, and 42).
-
-
- Plate 15
- Echo Creek
- It is likely that this photograph was made in the lower end of Fletcher
Meadow, on the Merced Lake Trail en route to the Merced Lake camp. The
light in the picture illuminates a sand bar next to a clear, rippling stream.
Here the darkness of the meadow fills the bottom two thirds of the picture,
while a band of darker trees delineates the lighter rock formations in
the upper third of the photo.
-
-
- Plate 16
- Fungus
- In addition to his broad landscapes, Adams was also known for his close-ups
of smaller, natural elements. This photograph contrasts the light outer
flesh of the mushroom to its dark inner gills. The composition differs
from the mountain pictures, which are generally divided into thirds. Here
the undulating, biomorphic form is central, nearly filling the frame, making
the scale difficult to gauge. In some of his work, Adams sought to extract
elements from their environment and find abstraction in natural forms.
-
-
- Plate 17
- Barnett (Robert Barnett)
- Adams included portraits of all the participants on the trip
guests and hired hands (except for himself and for Al Kay, whose visage
remains a mystery). Creating a visual record of the trip, for Adams, meant
recalling not only the landscape features, but also the associates who
made the journey more pleasurable.
-
-
- Plate 18
- Juniper near Merced Lake Camp
- A very similar photograph taken within a few minutes of this one, judging
from the position of the clouds, appears in Yosemite and the Range of
Light, titled Juniper Tree, Triple Peak Canyon (dated c. 1940). The
two images are taken from slightly different angles, so that more of the
tree appears in the album, while more of the rocky outcropping appears
in the book. The Triple Peak Fork of the Merced River flows into Washburn
Lake after joining with several other tributaries. It is possible that
this tree is in Triple Peak Canyon, but also possible that it is located
closer to Merced Lake, as Adams
- noted in the album.
-
-
- Plate 19
- Washburn Lake
- While at the Merced Lake Camp, the party also visited Washburn Lake,
a few miles southeast. In this photo, the dark bow of the mountains contrasts
with the glare off of the lake and the lighter clouds in the sky.
-
-
- Plate 20
- Untitled (Tree Trunk)
- This old and weathered trunk has a smooth, grooved appearance; it almost
seems to flow into the ground. Adams' other tree images in the album tend
to focus on the rougher texture of bark or the overall shape of the tree.
As mentioned, O'Keeffe pointed out different trees and rocks along the
trail, this trunk may have been something she found intriguing.
-
-
- Plate 21
- Untitled (David McAlpin)
- East Coast businessman David McAlpin probably did not go unshaven very
often while at home. But in the High Sierra, a more casual atmosphere prevailed.
This portrait seems more personal and less formal than some of the later
portraits in the album (see portraits of the Rockefellers and O'Keeffe
on Plates 40 and 42).
-
- Plate 22
- Merced Lake Country
- This twisted tree appears to bow under the weight of the full branches
on its left side, forming a weighted, arching shape. From the Merced Lake
area, the party traveled up and over the Vogelsang Pass and arrived at
the Lyell Fork of the Merced River, one of Adams' favorite places in the
region. There are no photographs of this portion of the journey, however.
The next plates begin in the Lyell Fork area.
-
-
- Plate 23
- Lyell Fork of Merced River
- The peak nominated to be named Mount Ansel Adams by the Sierra Club
appears in reflection on the water, banded between a crown of dark trees
above and a string of reeds along the bank. When Adams told his companions
that the Sierra Club had suggested naming the peak after him, O'Keeffe
teased him for days, implying that the only reason he had brought them
there was to show off his little mountain. The peak was officially named
Mount Ansel Adams on April 22nd, 1985, the first anniversary of his death.
-
-
- Plate 24
- By Lyell Fork
- This image is taken from a nearly identical vantage point as an early,
popular Adams photo, the slightly soft-focus Lodge Pole Pines, Lyell Fork
of the Merced River, 1921. Unlike the earlier picture, this one is sharply
focused and features even light, in contrast to the hazy, glowing effect
of his earlier photograph. This picture reflects the aesthetics of the
f/64 group, which Adams helped found. f/64 championed straight photography,
meaning photographs that were uninfluenced by pictorial traits such as
soft-focus, coloring, or other distorting effects.
-
-
-
- Plate 25
- Peaks in Lyell Fork of Merced Canyon
- Perhaps as an in-joke Adams included four images in the album of the
peak that would be named Mount Ansel Adams after his death. It is the tallest
peak in this picture, highlighted in sunshine. The other subjects of this
photograph are the blocky boulders resting on the smooth glacier-polished
stone in the foreground.
-
- Plate 26
- Untitled (Godfrey Rockefeller)
- In contrast to the earlier portrait of McAlpin (Plate 21), who had
a serious five-o'clock shadow, this portrait of Godfrey Rockefeller shows
the subject as clean-shaven and looking fairly regal with head tilted up
and eyes gazing out into the distance. The portrait seems more obviously
posed and formal, less personal than the picture of McAlpin.
-
-
- Plate 27
- Rodgers, Electra Peaks
- The party stayed at the Lyell Fork Camp for three nights and had plenty
of time to explore the region. Mount Rodgers (on the left) and Mount Electra
(on the right) are just northeast of Mount Ansel Adams. Below the three
peaks are a series of small mountain lakes, one of which is pictured here.
-
-
- Plate 28
- Mts. Maclure and Lyell
- Just north of Mount Rodgers and Mount Electra (Plate 27) are Mount
Maclure and Mount Lyell. Another of the small mountain lakes that dot this
region can be seen here, below
- the white patterns of eroding snow banks higher up on the mountainside.
-
-
- Plate 29
- Lyell Fork
- A picture of the same fallen tree appears in Adams' books Yosemite
and the Range of Light, Yosemite and the High Sierra, and Yosemite.
It is unclear whether that picture was taken on the same day or trip, but
it seems likely. The photograph in the album shows the same subject from
a different angle but in similar light with the same smooth water behind
reflecting the mountainous landscape. The gnarled roots of the fallen tree
clearly interested Adams.
-
-
- Plate 30
- Glacier Polish
- This image appears in Yosemite and the Range of Light and Ansel
Adams at 100. Along the trail, the smooth surfaces created by glacier
movement on the rocks in Yosemite interested O'Keeffe. Given the order
of the album, following the route of the trip, these rocks are probably
located in the Lyell Fork region. In this photograph, the massive rocks
take up the bottom two thirds of the image. The sun hitting the rocks creates
a highlight and brings attention to the smooth, round surface.
-
- Plate 31
- Lyell Fork
- Mount Ansel Adams appears again in this photograph, and again is the
tallest peak in the image (similar to Plate 25). The pack-string dominates
the foreground, with a bank of trees separating fore from background.
-
-
- Plate 32
- Mt. Ritter
- Mount Ritter is behind the chain of peaks that includes Electra, Rodgers,
and Lyell. In this photograph, the summit rises almost to the top of the
frame. The picture shows the massiveness of the mountain with all its craggy
outcroppings. The white snowbanks break up the picture's surface, giving
the photograph a more interesting visual pattern.
-
-
- Plate 33
- Untitled (David McAlpin)
- The negatives of the trip, stored at the Center for Creative Photography,
show that McAlpin was not the only participant posing without his shirt
on; Adams also captured Godfrey Rockefeller shirtless, but he did not include
those pictures in the album. This picture provides further evidence of
the relaxed, casual atmosphere that must have predominated on the journey.
-
-
- Plate 34
- Untitled (Post Peak Pass)
- While camped at the Lyell Fork of the Merced River, the party made
an excursion up the Isberg Pass Trail to Post Peak Pass (elevation 10,650),
pictured here, with Mount Ritter visible on the left. The spiky peaks in
the center are the Minarets. Above, large cumulous clouds gather. Dark
underneath, they cast shadow over much of the landscape below. Noticeable
patches of light on the mountains draw attention to the background.
-
-
- Plate 35
- Al Rhode
- For the modern camper, seeing so many glass bottles and jars may be
a little shocking (imagine the weight). Cook Al Rhode brought a fully stocked
kitchen with him on this expedition; lucky for him, they had an adequate
pack-string to bear the burden of such a load. After Plate 35, all of the
images in the album are portraits of the participants, which
- may have been taken at various campsites along the route.
-
-
- Plate 36
- Untitled
- top: David McAlpin, Al Rhode, Helen Rockefeller, Godfrey
- Rockefeller, and Georgia O'Keeffe
-
- bottom: Barnett, Rhode, Pierce
-
- In the top photo, the group circles around Al Rhode and the campfire.
This photograph, taken at the Lyell Fork campsite, shows Mount Ansel Adams
for the fourth and final time in the album. In the bottom photo, three
of the hands pose around the portable kitchen.
-
-
- Plate 37
- A Quiet Evening at Home
-
- top: Helen and Godfrey Rockefeller
-
- bottom: Camp hands
-
- In the top photo, Helen and Godfrey Rockefeller sit in their camp chairs,
relaxing after a long day of exploring. In the bottom photo the hired hands
warm themselves next to the fire. To the far left may be Helen Rockefeller,
holding up the magazine pictured in the top photo.
-
-
- Plate 38
- Untitled
-
- top: Godfrey Rockefeller and camera
-
- bottom: David McAlpin and camera
-
- After their trip to the Southwest, Adams ordered new camera outfits
for Godfrey Rockefeller and David McAlpin. Taking pictures was an important
part of the journey, with the schedule arranged so the participants could
photograph from dawn to dusk.
-
-
- Plate 39
- Untitled
-
- top: David McAlpin
-
- bottom: Al Rhode
-
- In the top photo, McAlpin sits with a map on his knee. Behind him lies
a pile of blankets and tents. Al Rhode relaxes in the bottom photo on his
sleeping bag.
-
-
- Plate 40
- Untitled
-
- left: Helen Rockefeller
-
- right: David McAlpin
-
- Similar portraits appear on Plates 40 and 42. Adams took pictures of
Helen Rockefeller, Godfrey Rockefeller, and O'Keeffe using the same compositional
idea. He shot the subjects from below, looking off into the distance and
facing into the sun (also look at the portraits on Plates 14 and 26). This
heroic pose communicates an air of power, health, and vigor, but is also
more formal and less personal. These pictures are unlike the more informal
pictures of David McAlpin, which show him relaxing, washing up, or goofing
around (Plate 41).
-
- Plate 41
- Untitled
-
- top: David McAlpin and Bisquick
-
- bottom: Mule at Water
-
- Clearly a humorous image, in this picture McAlpin poses wrapped in
a blanket clutching a box of Bisquick, small comforts on a chilly Sierra
night. Below the picture of McAlpin is a photo of a white mule, which may
have been his mount on the trek.
-
-
- Plate 42 Untitled
-
- left: Godfrey Rockefeller
-
- right: Georgia O'Keeffe
-
- These photographs close the album. They are similar to the picture
of Helen Rockefeller (Plate 40). From these final pages, one gets the impression
that Adams and McAlpin felt the most comfortable with each other. Adams
did not include any heroic shots of McAlpin, substituting casual and comical
photos instead. After their stay on the Lyell Fork, the party packed up,
headed out, and camped at Merced Lake. On Tuesday, September 20, they returned
to Best's Studio in Yosemite Valley. After a day or two of rest, the group
headed into San Francisco and, from there, went their separate ways.
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Echo Creek,
c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum of Wildlife Art,
Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin )
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Untitled (Water
Over Rock) ,c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum
of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin
)
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Cathedral Peak,
c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum of Wildlife Art,
Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin )
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Peaks in Lyell
Fork of Merced Canyon, c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National
Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H.
McAlpin )
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Lyell Peaks,
c. 1938. Black and white photograph. National Museum of Wildlife Art,
Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin )
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Merced Lake
Country, c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum of Wildlife
Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin )
(above: Ansel Adams, American, 1902-1984, Juniper Near
Merced Lake Camp, c. 1938, Black and white photograph. National Museum
of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY, Gift of Sarah S. and David H. McAlpin
)
Editor's note: RL readers may also enjoy these additional
articles and essays concerning Ansel Adams and American photography:
more articles on American photography:
and these videos:
Ansel Adams is a 100
minute 2002 American Experience PBS Home Video directed by Ric Burns and
Narrated by David Ogden Stiers. From Warner Home Video. Ansel Adams's photographs
have made him one of the most recognized and admired names in art. A staunch
environmentalist, the pictures that Adams took reflected a larger world
view the photographer held to strongly.
Ansel Adams, Photographer 60
minutes "This film captures the spirit and artistry of the man as he
talks about his life and demonstrates the techniques that have made his
work legendary. As Adams talks of the country he loves, viewers glimpse
his photographs juxtaposed with the landscapes he photographed. In a conversation
with artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Adams discusses his association with her husband,
pioneer photographer Alfred Steiglitz." "Outlines the long and
prolific career of American photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984) as an artist,
conservationist, and teacher. Follows him to the locations of his most famous
photographs, including Yosemite." [2] By John Huszar. 1986 (available
through Las Positas College Library)
Read more articles and essays concerning this source by
visiting the sub-index page for the Carnegie
Museum of Art in Resource Library.
Visit the Table
of Contents for Resource Library for thousands
of articles and essays on American art,.
Copyright 2006 Traditional Fine Arts Organization,
Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.