Skip to main content
Questions & Answers
Our trusted network of 1stDibs sellers answer common questions

Which photographer is famous for their landscapes of the American West?

1 Answer
Which photographer is famous for their landscapes of the American West?
The photographer who is famous for their landscapes of the American West is Ansel Adams. The San Francisco–born photographer is celebrated for his majestic black-and-white photography that brought the deserts, mountains and forests of the American West to the public. His images, beloved for their raw beauty and the magic of their subjects, are known around the world and widely reproduced. Adams’s photographs were first published in 1921. Even these early efforts demonstrate his eye for composition and sensitivity to tonal balance and textural contrast. In the mid-1920s, he began to play with soft focus, as in the dreamy 1927 Lyell Fork Meadows, which appears bathed in a hazy, nostalgic light. The 1948 Sunrise over Sand Dunes in Death Valley exemplifies Adams’s later experiments with stark contrasts in light and geometric framing, transforming the landscape into a near abstraction. On 1stDibs, shop a range of Ansel Adams photography.
1stDibs ExpertJanuary 27, 2025
Shop for Ansel Adams Photography on 1stDibs
Fern Spring, Dusk, Yosemite
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print with exemplary provenance is unsigned but bears several stamps from the artist's family on the back of the mount, including the authentication stamp of Adam...
Category

1960s Modern Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Petroglyphs, Monument Valley Utah Portfolio Original
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel, CA
Rare original photograph. Large size. From Portfolio V. Print date (c. 1979) and the edition size 25/110. Printed by Ansel Adams Has some chipping on the edges, which do not deter fr...
Category

1950s Landscape Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Mudhills, Arizona, 1947
By Ansel Adams
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Ansel Adams Mudhills, Arizona, 1947, Portfolio V Gelatin silver print, plate 2 from the portfolio "Portfolio V" Signed and marked 22/100 1970 Black and white photograph. Photograph size 15 x 19.5 inches. Dry mounted to board and matted 23 x 29 inches Titled on Back of photograph Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. Adams rose to prominence as a photographer of the American West, particularly Yosemite National Park, using his work to promote conservation of wilderness areas. ... He died in Monterey, California, on April 1945 Ansel Adams founds the first fine art photography department at the San Francisco Art Institute. Faculty include Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White...
Category

1970s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

East Vidette
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed (AE Adams), titled, printed on the front of print. Rare vintage parmelian print from 1927.
Category

1920s Landscape Photography

The Abode of Snow
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed with printed title on the front of the print. Very early parmelian print by Ansel Adams.
Category

1920s Landscape Photography

Buddhist Grave Markers and Rainbow, Maui, Hawaii
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount with BMFA 11 stamp, title and date in ink on the back of the mount. An inventory number in pencil on the back ...
Category

1950s Modern Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Shop All