Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

Print Notes

The negative for this image was the last one Adams made during a daylong trek with friends on April 17, 1927, and with the trip of the shutter he knew that he had caught something exceptional. In 1927, Adams made contact prints, the format of the negative determining the image size. Only later would he print it with an enlarger so that he could more fully convey Yosemite’s grandness, as in this print from 1979.

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Description

Ansel Adams
1902-1984
1927 | Printed 1980
Gelatin silver print signed in pencil on the front of mount.
Image Size: 19 x 14 1/4 inches
Frame Size: 31 x 26 1/4 inches
Location: Miami ~ Unique ID 232

Provenance

Acquired through Doyle Auction House, 2017.

Literature

Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, p. 35 and cover; The Portfolios of Ansel Adams Portfolio III, pl. 1; Yosemite and the Range of Light, pl. 54; Classic Images, pl. 2.