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.
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
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
Hoover Dam, Power Generator, Nevada
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This incredibly rare, early silver gelatin print mounted to "shirt" board was likely printed in the 1940s. The Virginia Adams Collection stamp with her inventory number in pencil on ...
Silver Gelatin
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
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.
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
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
Magnetic Core Assembly, IBM Plant, Poughkeepsie, New York
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed in ink on mount recto. Hasselblad Photograph series stamp and numbered 25 on mount. Very rare example. Printed circa negative date.
Silver Gelatin
Roots, Foster Gardens, Honolulu
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
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
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
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
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
H 11.63 in W 8 in D 0.01 in
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel - Black and White Portrait, Celebrity, Woman
By Lucienne Bloch
Located in Denton, TX
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel by Lucienne Bloch is a black and white portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo sitting in a chair under her self portrait hanging on the wall. Im...
Silver Gelatin
H 14 in W 11 in D 0.01 in
Boy Jumping into Hudson River, NYC - Children playing, New York Scene, Summer
By Ruth Orkin
Located in Denton, TX
Boy Jumping into Hudson River, NYC by Ruth Orkin is a black and white gelatin silver print of a child jumping off a building into the water below. Gelatin Silver Print 14 x 11 in. B...
Silver Gelatin
H 21 in W 21 in D 1 in
American Flag (Sepia Toned Still Life of Vintage Flag Leaning Against Wall)
By David Halliday
Located in Hudson, NY
American Flag (Sepia Toned Still Life of Vintage Flag Leaning Against Wall) by David Halliday Sepia toned silver gelatin print, edition 11 of 25 Custom bl...
Silver Gelatin
H 11 in W 14 in
President JFK in the Oval Office
By Jacques Lowe
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Jacques Lowe, (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) German-born American photogr...
Silver Gelatin
H 11 in W 14 in
"First day in Office" President John F. Kennedy, The Oval Office, Washington D.C
By Jacques Lowe
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Jacques Lowe, (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) German-born American photogr...
Silver Gelatin
H 24 in W 20 in
Staircase and Classical Sculpture, Rome, Gelatin Silver Print, Signed, 24x20
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
A gelatin silver estate print, 24" x 20" from the Freed archive, Rome, Italy, 2000 by Leonard Freed is a black and white contemporary photograph focused on the unexpected - a poetic and beautiful sighting - a classical sculpture in the stairwell of a modest Roman dwelling. The 24 x 20in photograph is stamped and signed on verso (back of photo) by Brigitte Freed, wife of the photographer. The photographer made numerous trips to Italy, especially to Rome and Naples, capturing everyday life, love, sadness, joy of family gatherings, food and leisure. Freed's photographs ultimately reflect the “Italian spirit,” the art of enjoying the moment, the culture, lifestyle, and beauty of a Latin country. In the US, Leonard Freed documented Little Italy in...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 12 in W 9.5 in
Man with Tattooed Forehead
By Robert Doisneau
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print, vintage Studio stamp in red ink, verso 12 x 9.5 inches, sheet Robert Doisneau (1912-1994), along with Henri Cartier-Bresson, was a pioneer of photojournalism, ...
Silver Gelatin
H 5.83 in W 3.82 in D 0.01 in
Montmartre in Paris, 1955 Black and White Original Photography Postcard
By Albert Monier
Located in Atlanta, GA
An original silver gelatin black and white photography postcard by Albert Monier. Artistic view of the Montmartre district in Paris, 1955. In the background is the dome of the Sacré-...
Postcard, Silver Gelatin
H 16 in W 12 in
New York City, Vintage Photograph, Business, Gelatin Silver, Signed, 1981, 16x12
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
New York, New York, 1981 is by American photographer Leonard Freed. A 16" x 12" signed verso (on back), gelatin silver, also stamped vintage on verso, the subject is New York City of the 1980s. The photograph captures men in suits...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 6.89 in W 4.93 in D 0.02 in
Paris 1952, Place de la Concorde
By Erich Andres
Located in Cologne, DE
This photograph, taken in 1952, depicts the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. The scene captures a busy urban atmosphere with classic cars typical of the mid-20th century lining...
Silver Gelatin
H 7.17 in W 4.65 in D 0.02 in
Naples 1954, Street music
By Erich Andres
Located in Cologne, DE
This photograph, taken in Naples in 1954, depicts a group of street musicians performing in what appears to be an urban setting. The scene is lively and intimate, featuring a woman i...
Silver Gelatin
H 20 in W 16 in
Alice Cooper Family Silver Gelatin Print, O'Neill Estate Signature Stamped ED.50
By Terry O'Neill
Located in New York, NY
Alice Cooper, Los Angeles, 1974, Printed Later Silver gelatin print estate stamped and numbered edition of 50 with certificate of authenticity Terry O'Neill, Alice Cooper with his...
Silver Gelatin
H 6.5 in W 5 in
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
H 19.5 in W 14.5 in
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
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
H 7.5 in W 5.44 in
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
H 7.94 in W 6 in
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
H 5.69 in W 7.75 in
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
H 5.94 in W 7.94 in
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
H 12.25 in W 9 in
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
H 9.375 in W 7.25 in
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
H 7.25 in W 9.13 in
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
H 7.19 in W 9.19 in
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
H 7.19 in W 9.19 in
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