Early Work: Yosemite, Sierra Nevada, and the Canadian Rockies
Early Work: Pueblo Indians
Group f/64
The American Southwest
The National Parks
Late Work
The American Southwest

Adams went often to the Southwest, photographing the scenery, the local architecture, the pueblos (villages), Indian ruins, and even the vegetation—all so different from the familiar subjects of Yosemite Valley and San Francisco. Adams visited the Southwest with friends such as David McAlpin, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Beaumont and Nancy Newhall; photographed the national parks for the Department of the Interior; worked on many book and magazine projects; and fulfilled various commercial assignments, including making vast Kodak Coloramas for New York’s Grand Central Station.



Shooting with a 35 mm camera—without a tripod or large-format camera—Adams captured friend, Georgia O’Keeffe and their guide, Orville Cox, against a cloud-filled sky. Years later he wrote: “This photograph recalls for me the brilliant afternoon light and the gentle wind rising from the canyon below. I remember that we watched a group of Navajos riding their horses westward along the wash edge, and we could occasionally hear their singing and the echoes from the opposite cliffs.”

Ansel Adams, American; Georgia O’ Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937; printed ca. 1955; gelatin silver print. The Lane Collection. ©2007 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.




Moonrise is one of the most famous landscape photographs ever made. It was taken very late in the afternoon, when Adams was driving his Pontiac station wagon along Highway 84 toward Santa Fe. The rising moon caught his attention. Acting quickly, Adams stopped and frantically began to set up his camera. Unable to find his light meter, he estimated an exposure time, released the shutter seconds before the sun slipped away, and the town fell into the shadow.

Ansel Adams, American; Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941; printed date:1965–75; gelatin silver print. The Lane Collection. ©2007 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.


Left corner image: Ansel Adams, American; Georgia O’ Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937; printed ca. 1955; gelatin silver print. The Lane Collection. ©2007 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.