The San Francisco–born photographer Ansel Adams 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 as calendars and posters.
A sickly child with little attraction to sports or games, Adams early on developed an avid interest in the natural surroundings of his San Francisco home, on the heights facing Golden Gate Park. This passion found a productive outlet in photography, which he discovered at 14, when his father gave him his first camera during a family trip to Yosemite National Park. He spent much of the ensuing decades capturing Yosemite’s vast and varied wonders.
Adams’s photographs were first published in 1921. Even these early efforts demonstrate his eye for composition and his 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, which transform the landscape into a near abstraction.
Find a collection of Ansel Adams photography today on 1stDibs.
Rapids Below Vernal Fall, Yosemite, CA
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin contact print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount, with Portfolio One stamp and numbering in red crayon on the back of the mount. This print com...
Silver Gelatin
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...
Silver Gelatin
Gravestone Detail
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print is initialed "AA" in felt-tip ink either by the artist or an unknown hand on the front of the mount. This print comes from the collection of the artist's da...
Silver Gelatin
Moth and Stump, Interglacial Forest, Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount, with image number "6" in the lower left corner. Portfolio Two stamp with print #6 and set #A in red c...
Silver Gelatin
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.
Lyell Fork Meadows
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on the front of the print. Printed circa 1927.
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.
The Abode of Snow
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed with printed title on front of print. From 'Parmelian Prints of the High Sierra', limited edition of 100 copies. This is a parmelian print, warm in tone.
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...
Silver Gelatin
Cedar Fence, Pojoaque, New Mexico
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount. Post-BMFA 11 studio stamp with title in ink on the front of the mount. An inscription by Adams' assistant "Pr...
Silver Gelatin
$12,000Sale Price|20% Off
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 ...
Silver Gelatin
Silverton, Colorado
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed and numbered on the front of the mount by Ansel Adams. Stamped and titled on the back of the mount. From Portolio VI-4; 55/110. Printed in 1974.
Silver Gelatin
Roots, Foster Gardens, Honolulu
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed in pencil on front of mount with Portfolio One stamp and numbering in red crayon on back. Anne Helms’ (daughter of Ansel Adams) personal collection stamp on back of mount. Fro...
Silver Gelatin
Ansel Adams and the West
By Ansel Adams
Located in New York, NY
Ansel Adams and the West, 1979 Offset Lithograph Poster 23 × 36 inches Unframed This offset lithograph poster was created on the occasion of the Ansel Adams exhibition, Ansel Adams and the West, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from September 8 - October 28, 1979. The photograph featured in this poster is Old Faithful...
Lithograph, Offset
White Stumps, Sierra Nevada, CA
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed by the artist mount recto and with artist's stamp mount verso.
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Sunset Hills, CA, (Creek and rocks)
By Ansel Adams
Located in Westwood, NJ
Carmel credit stamps on verso titled in ink by Adams on stamp. signed in ink on mount. Gallery 270 represents distinguished photographers of the 20th Century and the emergent photog...
Silver Gelatin
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California
By Ansel Adams
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Ansel Adams Winter Sunrise, The Sierra Nevada, From Lone Pine, California, 1944 Signed on recto, Stamped, titled and dated on verso.
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Interior of Tumacoacori Mission, Arizona
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed and numbered on front of mount. Portfolio VII stamp with title, negative and print dates on back of mount. From the limited edition of 115 of which there were 100 for sale cop...
Silver Gelatin
Vietnam 5 - Black and White Photography - Plexiglas
By Alexandre Manuel
Located in New York City, NY
Edition of 5 Alexandre Manuel explores the natural tension between absence and presence, the man and his place in nature and between the evolution of the landscape and the permanenc...
Archival Pigment, Plexiglass
$1,298Sale Price|20% Off
H 59.06 in W 39.38 in D 1.58 in
Enroute - Large Mountain Skiing Black & White Art Photography
Located in Zürich, CH
Hailing from the picturesque city of Zaragoza, nestled near the Pyrenees, Carlos Blanchard's journey into the realm of photography was influenced by the rich tapestry of his upbringi...
Black and White
$4,500
H 16 in W 24 in
"Marilyn Monroe, 1962" Photography 16 x 24 in Edition 57/75 by Lawrence Schiller
By Lawrence Schiller
Located in Culver City, CA
"Marilyn Monroe, 1962" Photography 16 x 24 in Edition 57/75 by Lawrence Schiller Silver Gelatin print Edition 57/75 Signed and numbered by the artist Printed later On Wednesday, May 23, 1962, Marilyn Monroe stepped onto the set of Something’s Got to Give to film what would become one of the most iconic and talked-about moments of her career: the now-legendary nude swimming pool scene. This extraordinary day—captured in a series of rare photographs by renowned photographer Lawrence Schiller—has since become a cornerstone of Hollywood history. Key moments that make this session truly historic: A Bold Cinematic First: Monroe spent nearly four hours in the pool on the 20th Century Fox lot, filming a sequence in which her character, Ellen Arden, appears to swim nude...
Silver Gelatin
Che Guevara
Located in Cologne, DE
Osvaldo Salas, widely recognized as one of the world’s great press photographers, was born in Havana, Cuba in 1914. At the age of fourteen, he left Havan...
Silver Gelatin
$250
H 6.32 in W 4.63 in D 0.01 in
The Seine River at The Paris Decorative Art Exhibition 1925, B and W Photography
Located in Atlanta, GA
A unique original silver gelatin black and white photography. The International Decorative Arts Exhibition in Paris, in October 1925. By the river Seine, access to the Department Sto...
Silver Gelatin
$5,876
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Lorraine - Willy Ronis, 20th Century, French Humanist Photography
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$3,750
H 30 in W 60 in D 0.1 in
'Awakening' Master Edition Photographic Triptych. Yosemite Mountains Trees Light
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Awakening' Archival photographic triptych. Unique Master Edition of 1. Unframed. _________________ Morning light illuminates the layered landscape of Yosemite National Park, Half D...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
Paris 1952 , a picturesque moment
By Erich Andres
Located in Cologne, DE
This black-and-white photograph, taken in 1952 in Paris along the Seine River, captures a tranquil and picturesque moment. In the foreground, a man wearing a light-colored straw hat ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,108
H 40 in W 40 in D 0.1 in
'Synthesis' Limited edition 40 x 40" Photograph. Ocean, sea, Surf, Beach
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Synthesis' Limited Edition Black and White Archival Photograph. Unframed _________________ The wild Atlantic explodes in a raw release of energy, blurring the boundary between ocea...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper
Che Guevara
Located in Cologne, DE
Osvaldo Salas, widely recognized as one of the world’s great press photographers, was born in Havana, Cuba in 1914. At the age of fourteen, he left Havan...
Silver Gelatin
Che Guevara
Located in Cologne, DE
Osvaldo Salas, widely recognized as one of the world’s great press photographers, was born in Havana, Cuba in 1914. At the age of fourteen, he left Havan...
Silver Gelatin
Marilyn Monroe, 4 Days in New York, 1955
By Edward Feingersh
Located in Cologne, DE
Ed Feingersh photographed Marilyn Monroe for Redbook magazine in March 1955 for a story which would follow Monroe through her daily routine, the photography to be candid and shot wit...
Silver Gelatin
Vine and Rock, Island of Hawaii
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the mount beneath the image. Printed in 1948 in an edition of 75 numbered copies. This print is from presentation set #33. Po...
Silver Gelatin
Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print is signed in pencil mount recto, with the artist's studio stamp (BMFA 11) and title in ink mount verso. Printed 1973-77.
Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 9.5 in W 7.25 in
Forest, Early Morning, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount, with image number "2" in the lower left corner. Portfolio Two stamp with print #2 and set #A in red c...
Silver Gelatin
El Capitan, Yosemite Valley
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...
Silver Gelatin
Roaring River Falls, Kings' River Canyon
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...
Silver Gelatin
East Vidette, Southern Sierra
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print on Kodak Vitava Athena paper is signed in pencil beneath the image with typeset title centered in the lower margin. This print was made in 1927 for the Parm...
Silver Gelatin
Banner Peak, Thousand Island Lake, Central Sierra
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...
Silver Gelatin
Fern Spring, Dusk, Yosemite
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This beautiful silver gelatin print with outstanding provenance is signed in pencil on the front of the mount beneath the image. The artist's studio stamp (BMFA 11), title and date i...
Silver Gelatin
Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print of one of Ansel Adams' most iconic images was printed by an assistant under Adams' supervision in the 1960s. It is signed in full by the artist in ink mount...
Silver Gelatin
Half Dome, Merced River, Winter
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This gorgeous silver gelatin photograph, handcrafted by one of Ansel Adams's assistants under his supervision in the 1960s, is signed by Ansel Adams in ink beneath the image. The art...
Silver Gelatin
Water & Foam
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed in pencil lower right. From Portfolio III. Studio stamp on mount verso; published by The Sierra Club San Francisco 1959. Printed 1959.
Silver Gelatin
Grass & Pool
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed in pencil lower right. From Portfolio III. Studio stamp on mount verso; published by The Sierra Club San Francisco 1959. Printed 1959.
Silver Gelatin