Editing Ansel Adams (section)

==Photographic career==
===1920s===
====Pictorialism====
[[File:Lodgepole Pines photo by Ansel Adams.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Lodgepole Pines, Lyell Fork of the Merced River]], Yosemite National Park'' (1921)<ref>{{cite web | title = Lodgepole Pines, Lyell Fork of the Merced River, Yosemite National Park | url = https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262583 | website = The Met | publisher = The Metropolitan Museum of Art | access-date = March 5, 2019 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044636/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262583 | url-status = live }}</ref>]]

Adams's first photographs were published in 1921, and Best's Studio began selling his Yosemite prints the next year. His early photos already showed careful composition and sensitivity to tonal balance. In letters and cards to family, he wrote of having dared to climb to the best viewpoints and to brave the worst elements.{{Sfn |Alinder|Stillman|Adams|Stegner|1988|p=3}}

During the mid-1920s, the fashion in photography was [[pictorialism]], which strove to imitate paintings with soft focus, diffused light, and other techniques.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p=32}} Adams experimented with such techniques, as well as the [[Oil print process#Bromoil process|bromoil process]], which involved brushing an oily ink onto the paper.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p=33}} An example is ''[[Lodgepole Pines, Lyell Fork of the Merced River]], Yosemite National Park'' (originally named ''Tamarack Pine''), taken in 1921. Adams used a soft-focus lens, "capturing a glowing luminosity that captured the mood of a magical summer afternoon".{{sfn|Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 4}}

For a short time Adams used hand-coloring, but declared in 1923 that he would do this no longer.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| pp=34–35}} By 1925 he had rejected pictorialism altogether for a more realistic approach that relied on sharp focus, heightened contrast, precise exposure, and darkroom craftsmanship.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| pp = 38–42}}
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====''Monolith''====
[[File:Ansel-adams-monolith-the-face-of-half-dome - edit1.jpg|thumb|''[[Monolith, the Face of Half Dome]], Yosemite National Park, California'' (1927)<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262595 | title = Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California | website = The Metropolitan Museum of Art | access-date = March 5, 2019 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306062114/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262595 | url-status = live }}</ref>]]

In 1927, Adams began working with [[Albert M. Bender]], a San Francisco insurance magnate and arts patron. Bender helped Adams produce his first portfolio in his new style, ''[[Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras]]'', which included his famous image ''[[Monolith, the Face of Half Dome]]'', which was taken with his Korona [[view camera]], using glass plates and a dark red filter (to heighten the tonal contrasts). On that excursion, he had only one plate left, and he "visualized" the effect of the blackened sky before risking the last image. He later said, "I had been able to realize a desired image: not the way the subject appeared in reality but how it ''felt'' to me and how it must appear in the finished print."{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985|p=76}} One biographer calls ''Monolith'' Adams's most significant photograph because the "extreme manipulation of tonal values" was a departure from all previous photography. Adams's concept of visualization, which he first defined in print in 1934, became a core principle in his photography.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|p=53}}

Adams's first portfolio was a success, earning nearly $3,900 with the sponsorship and promotion of Bender. Soon he received commercial assignments to photograph the wealthy patrons who bought his portfolio.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996|p=62}} He also began to understand how important it was that his carefully crafted photos were reproduced to best effect. At Bender's invitation, he joined the [[Roxburghe Club]], an association devoted to fine printing and high standards in book arts. He learned much about printing techniques, inks, design, and layout, which he later applied to other projects.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996|p=68}}

Adams married Virginia Best in 1928, after a pause from 1925 to 1926 during which he had brief relationships with various women. The newlyweds moved in with his parents to save expenses.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|pp=48, 56}} The following year, they had a home built next door and connected it to the older house by a hallway.<ref name="Bevk 2013">{{cite news | last1 = Bevk | first1 = Alex | title = Ansel Adams' Childhood Home Hidden in Sea Cliff | url = https://sf.curbed.com/2013/9/23/10195118/ansel-adams-childhood-home-hidden-in-sea-cliff | access-date = March 3, 2019 | work = Curbed San Francisco | date = September 9, 2013}}</ref>

===1930s===
====Pure photography====
[[File:Ansel Adams-Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite.jpg|thumb|An apple orchard at [[Yosemite National Park|Yosemite]]'s [[Half Dome]] (1931)]]
[[File:Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-E23 levels adj.jpg|thumb|alt=A black-and-white close-up photograph of palmate, conifer, and small fern-like leaves overlapping, all visibly damp. One slightly larger and brighter palmate leaf rests in the upper foreground, covering all but one third of the photograph.|Close-up of leaves ''In Glacier National Park'' (1942)<ref name="National Archives 2017">{{cite web | title = Records of the National Park Service | url = https://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams | website = Ansel Adams Photographs | publisher = National Archives | date = June 26, 2017 | access-date = February 28, 2019 | archive-date = November 13, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181113025711/https://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams | url-status = live }}</ref>]]

Between 1929 and 1942, Adams's work matured, and he became more established. The 1930s were a particularly experimental and productive time for him. He expanded the technical range of his works, emphasizing detailed close-ups as well as large forms, from mountains to factories.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/24185/ansel-adams-at-the-phoenix-art-museum/ | title = Ansel Adams at the Phoenix Art Museum | work = Art+Auction | year = 2006 | access-date = November 29, 2006 | archive-date = September 30, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230930083635/http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/24185/ansel-adams-at-the-phoenix-art-museum/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

Bender took Adams on visits to [[Taos, New Mexico]], where Adams met and made friends with the poet [[Robinson Jeffers]], artists [[John Marin]] and [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], and photographer [[Paul Strand]].<ref name="Russell 1984">{{Cite news | issn = 0362-4331 | last = Russell | first = John | title = Ansel Adams, Photographer, Is Dead | work = The New York Times | access-date = July 30, 2018 | date = April 24, 1984 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/24/obituaries/ansel-adams-photographer-is-dead.html | archive-date = November 27, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110227/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/24/obituaries/ansel-adams-photographer-is-dead.html | url-status = live }}</ref> His talkative, high-spirited nature combined with his excellent piano playing made him popular among his artist friends.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| pp = 73–74}} His first book, ''[[Taos Pueblo (book)|Taos Pueblo]]'', was published in 1930 with text by writer [[Mary Hunter Austin]].<ref name="Russell 1984" />

Strand proved especially influential. Adams was impressed by the simplicity and detail of Strand's negatives, which showed a style that ran counter to the soft-focus, impressionistic pictorialism still popular at the time.<ref name="Morgan 2018" /><ref>{{Cite book | title = Who's Who in the Twentieth Century | date = 2003 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-280091-6 | chapter = Adams, Ansel Easton | access-date = November 26, 2018 | chapter-url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800916.001.0001/acref-9780192800916-e-8 | doi = 10.1093/acref/9780192800916.001.0001 | url = https://archive.org/details/whoswhointwentie00brig }}</ref> Strand shared secrets of his technique with Adams and convinced him to pursue photography fully.{{sfn|Spaulding|1998|p=82}} One of Strand's suggestions that Adams adopted was to use glossy paper to intensify tonal values.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|p=68}}

Adams put on his first solo museum exhibition, ''Pictorial Photographs of the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Ansel Adams'', at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in 1931; it featured 60 prints taken in the High Sierra and the [[Canadian Rockies]]. He received a favorable review from the ''Washington Post'': "His photographs are like portraits of the giant peaks, which seem to be inhabited by mythical gods."{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 77}}

Despite his success, Adams felt that he was not yet up to the standards of Strand. He decided to broaden his subject matter to include still life and close-up photos and to achieve higher quality by "visualizing" each image before taking it. He emphasized the use of small apertures and long exposures in natural light, which created sharp details with a wide range of distances in focus, as demonstrated in ''Rose and Driftwood'' (1933),<ref>[https://www.artic.edu/artworks/82469/rose-and-driftwood-san-francisco-california Print of ''Rose and Driftwood, San Francisco, California''] in the collection of the [[Art Institute of Chicago]] (Ref. nr. 1954.1338).</ref> one of his finest still-life photographs.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|pp=67–69}}

In 1932, Adams had a group show at the [[M. H. de Young Museum]] with [[Imogen Cunningham]] and [[Edward Weston]], and they soon formed Group f/64 which espoused "pure or [[straight photography]]" over pictorialism ({{f/|64|link=yes}} being a very small [[aperture]] setting that gives great [[depth of field]]). The group's manifesto stated: "Pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form."{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 87}}

Imitating the example of photographer [[Alfred Stieglitz]], Adams opened his own art and photography gallery in San Francisco in 1933.{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 115}} He also began to publish essays in photography magazines and wrote his first instructional book, ''Making a Photograph'', in 1935.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 114}}

====Sierra Nevada====

[[File:"Coloseum Mountain, Kings River Canyon (Proposed as a national park)," California, 1936., ca. 1936 - NARA - 519933.tif|thumb|''[[Colosseum Mountain|Coloseum Mountain]], [[Kings Canyon National Park|Kings River Canyon]], California'' (1936)]]

During the summers, Adams often participated in Sierra Club High Trips outings, as a paid photographer for the group; and the rest of the year a core group of Club members socialized regularly in San Francisco and Berkeley. In 1933, his first child Michael was born, followed by Anne two years later.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 102}}

During the 1930s, Adams began to deploy his photographs in the cause of wilderness preservation. He was inspired partly by the increasing incursion into Yosemite Valley of commercial development, including a pool hall, bowling alley, golf course, shops, and automobile traffic. He created the limited-edition book ''Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail'' in 1938, as part of the Sierra Club's efforts to secure the designation of [[Kings Canyon National Park|Kings Canyon]] as a national park. This book and his testimony before Congress played a vital role in the success of that effort, and Congress designated Kings Canyon as a national park in 1940.<ref name="Sierra Club">{{cite web | title = Ansel Adams – History | url = http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/ansel-adams/ | publisher = Sierra Club | access-date = March 4, 2019 | archive-date = March 1, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190301140708/http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/ansel-adams/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 7}}

In 1935, Adams created many new photographs of the Sierra Nevada; and one of his most famous, ''[[Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park|Clearing Winter Storm]]'',<ref>[https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/a-grand-vision-the-david-h-arrington-collection-of-ansel-adams-masterworks/clearing-winter-storm-yosemite-national-park Print of ''Clearing Winter Storm''] on auction in December 2020 at Sotheby's, where another print dated 1938 was sold in 2005 (no page for this auction – see text). Before this print came to knowledge, the picture was thought to have been taken ca. 1942 –1944. An early [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/photographs-n08424/lot.142.html print from around 1938], which was sold in 2008, shows a still warmer tone than later prints.</ref> depicted the entire [[Yosemite Valley]], just as a winter storm abated, leaving a fresh coat of snow. He gathered his recent work and had a solo show at Stieglitz's "An American Place" gallery in New York in 1936. The exhibition proved successful with both the critics and the buying public, and earned Adams strong praise from the revered Stieglitz.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 120}} The following year, the negative for ''Clearing Winter Storm'' was almost destroyed when the darkroom in Yosemite caught fire. With the help of Edward Weston and [[Charis Wilson]] (Weston's future wife), Adams put out the fire, but thousands of negatives, including hundreds that had never been printed, were lost.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|pp=123–124}}<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Fraser | first1 = Christa | title = Fire on the Mountain{{snd}}Ansel Adams and Edward Weston in Yosemite in the late 1930s | url = http://adventuresportsjournal.com/fire-on-the-mountain-ansel-adams-and-edward-weston-in-yosemite-in-the-late-1930s/ | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = Adventure Sports Journal | date = October 21, 2009 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044409/http://adventuresportsjournal.com/fire-on-the-mountain-ansel-adams-and-edward-weston-in-yosemite-in-the-late-1930s/ | url-status = live }}</ref>{{NoteTag|In 2010, Rick Norsigian bought some glass negatives at a garage sale and claimed they were some of the lost negatives, estimating their value at $200 million.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Staff writer | title = Ansel Adams Pics Bought for $45 Worth $200M? | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ansel-adams-pics-bought-for-45-worth-200m/ | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = CBS News | date = July 27, 2010 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306042727/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ansel-adams-pics-bought-for-45-worth-200m/ | url-status = live }}</ref> The Ansel Adams Foundation contested this claim and sued. A settlement was reached in 2011 where Norsegian could sell prints without any reference to Adams.<ref>{{cite news | last = Harmanci | first = Reyhan | title = Ansel Adams Lawsuit: An Agreement Is Reached | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/arts/design/ansel-adams-lawsuit-an-agreement-is-reached.html | access-date = March 2, 2019 | work = The New York Times | date = March 15, 2011 | archive-date = March 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190306042748/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/arts/design/ansel-adams-lawsuit-an-agreement-is-reached.html | url-status = live }}</ref>}}

====Desert Southwest====

[[File:Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox, 1937.jpg|thumb|''[[Georgia O'Keeffe]] and Orville Cox, [[Canyon de Chelly National Monument]], Arizona'' (1937)<ref>{{cite web | last1 = Adams | first1 = Ansel Easton | title = Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 1937, printed 1974 | url = https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262584 | publisher = The Metropolitan Museum of Ar | access-date = February 28, 2019 | archive-date = March 1, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074428/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/262584 | url-status = live }}</ref> |alt=A black and white photograph shows Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox wearing hats with the sky and clouds behind them.]]

In 1937, Adams, O'Keeffe, and friends organized a month-long camping trip in Arizona, with Orville Cox, the head wrangler at [[Ghost Ranch]], as their guide. Both artists created new work during this trip. Adams made a candid portrait of O'Keeffe with Cox on the rim of [[Canyon de Chelly]]. Adams once remarked, "Some of my best photographs have been made in and on the rim of [that] canyon."<ref name="Bohnacker 2013">{{cite magazine | last = Bohnacker | first = Siobhán | date = December 16, 2013 | title = Picture Desk: The Faraway | url = https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/picture-desk-the-faraway | magazine = The New Yorker | access-date = May 29, 2018 | archive-date = June 12, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612112948/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/picture-desk-the-faraway | url-status = live }}</ref> Their works set in the desert Southwest are often published and exhibited together.<ref name="Bohnacker 2013" />

During the rest of the 1930s, Adams took on many commercial assignments to supplement the income from the struggling Best's Studio. He depended on such assignments financially until the 1970s. Some of his clients included Kodak, ''Fortune'' magazine, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, AT&T, and the American Trust Company.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 158}} He photographed [[Timothy L. Pflueger]]'s new Patent Leather Bar for the [[St. Francis Hotel]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite news | last = Hamlin | first = Jesse | date = December 20, 2003 | title = Raise a toast to Ansel Adams. Sure, he was known for landscapes, but there was more to his portfolio, as these bar photos show | newspaper = San Francisco Chronicle | url = http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Raise-a-toast-to-Ansel-Adams-Sure-he-was-known-2545562.php | access-date = January 20, 2012 | archive-date = October 8, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121008151358/http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Raise-a-toast-to-Ansel-Adams-Sure-he-was-known-2545562.php | url-status = live }}</ref> The same year, he was named an editor of ''[[U.S. Camera & Travel]]'', the most popular photography magazine at that time.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 158}}
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===1940s===
[[File:Ansel Adams - Personnel File Photograph - NARA.jpg|thumb|Adams {{circa|1941}}<ref>{{cite archive | last = U.S. Civil Service Commission. | item = Adams, Ansel File for 23 Alphabetical Park Service | item-url = https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7582611 | item-id = 7582611 | date = November 3, 1941 | fonds =  | series = Official Personnel File of Ansel E. Adams, October 6, 1941 – October 12, 1943 | file =  | box =  | collection = Record Group 146: Records of the U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1871–2001 | collection-url = https://catalog.archives.gov/id/475 | repository =  | institution = National Archives at College Park | accession =}}</ref>|alt=]]

In 1940, Adams created ''A Pageant of Photography'', the largest and most important photography show in the West to date, attended by millions of visitors.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 159}} With his wife, Adams completed a children's book and the very successful ''Illustrated Guide to Yosemite Valley'' during 1940 and 1941. He also taught photography by giving workshops in Detroit. Adams also began his first serious stint of teaching, which included the training of military photographers, in 1941 at the Art Center School of Los Angeles, now known as the [[Art Center College of Design]].{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 312}}

====Mural Project====
In 1941, Adams contracted with the [[National Park Service]] to make photographs of National Parks, Indian reservations, and other locations managed by the department, for use as mural-sized prints to decorate the department's new building.<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 15, 2016|title=Ansel Adams Photographs|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams|access-date=June 15, 2020|website=National Archives|language=en|archive-date=November 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113025711/https://www.archives.gov/research/ansel-adams|url-status=live}}</ref> The contract was for 180 days. Adams set off on a road trip with his friend Cedric and his son Michael, intending to combine work on the "Mural Project" with commissions for the U.S. Potash Company and Standard Oil, with some days reserved for personal work.{{sfn|Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 13}}
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<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-T02.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-J02.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-E09.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AAB-02.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-P05.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-M17.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-H03.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-G03.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-Q04.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-N04.jpg
Photograph of Old Faithful Geyser Erupting in Yellowstone National Park - NARA - 519994.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-W15.jpg
Ansel Adams - National Archives 79-AA-Q01 restored.jpg
</gallery>

====''Moonrise''====
[[File:Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.jpg|thumb|''[[Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico]]'' (1941)]]
While in New Mexico for the project, Adams photographed a scene of the Moon rising above a modest village with snow-covered mountains in the background, under a dominating black sky. The photograph is one of his most famous and is named ''[[Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico]]''. Adams's description in his later books of how it was made probably enhanced the photograph's fame: the light on the crosses in the foreground was rapidly fading, and he could not find his exposure meter; however, he remembered the [[luminance]] of the Moon and used it to calculate the proper exposure.<ref>{{cite book | last = Adams | first = Ansel | title = The Negative | publisher = Little Brown | location = Boston | year = 1981 | isbn = 978-0-8212-1131-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/negative00adam/page/127 127]}}</ref>{{sfn|Adams|Alinder|1985|pp=40–43, 273–275}}{{NoteTag|Adams's first account in ''U.S. Camera 1943 annual'' was less dramatic, saying simply that the photograph was made after sunset, with exposure determined using his Weston Master meter,<ref>{{cite book | first = T.J. | last = Maloney | title = U.S. Camera 1943 ''annual'' | year = 1942 | publisher = Duell, Sloan & Pearce | location = New York | pages = 88–89}}</ref> though {{Harvnb|Alinder|1996|p=192}}, states that the image caption for ''Moonrise'' in ''U.S. Camera 1943'' was inaccurate, citing several discrepancies among technical details.}} In the resulting negative the foreground was underexposed, the highlights in the clouds were quite dense, and the negative proved difficult to print.{{sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985|p = 42}} The initial publication of ''Moonrise'' was in ''U.S. Camera 1943'' annual, after being selected by the "photo judge" for ''U.S. Camera'', [[Edward Steichen]].{{sfn|Alinder|1996|p = 192}} This gave ''Moonrise'' an audience before its first formal exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1944.<ref>See master checklist (Pdf) for {{cite web|publisher=The Museum of Modern Art |date=2024 |title=''Art in Progress: 15th Anniversary Exhibitions: Photography,'' May 24–Sep 17, 1944 |access-date=2024-09-20 |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/3386?}}</ref>{{sfn|Alinder|1996|p=193}}

Over nearly 40 years, Adams re-interpreted the image, his most popular by far,{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 275}} using the latest darkroom equipment at his disposal, making over 1,369 unique prints, mostly in 16" by 20" format.<ref>{{cite web | author = Andrew Smith Gallery | publisher = Andrew Smith Gallery | url = http://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/exhibitions/anseladams/arrington/ | title = 5 prints of "Moonrise", 1941–1975 | access-date = November 9, 2010 | archive-date = July 7, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707143556/http://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/exhibitions/anseladams/arrington/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Many of the prints were made during the 1970s, with their sale finally giving Adams financial independence from commercial projects. The total value of these original prints exceeds $25,000,000;{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| pp = 189–199}} the highest price paid for a single print of ''Moonrise'' reached $609,600 at a 2006 Sotheby's auction in New York.<ref>{{cite news | title = Art Market Watch – artnet Magazine | url = http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/artmarketwatch/artmarketwatch10-27-06.asp | access-date = March 4, 2019 | work = artnet.com | date = October 27, 2006 | archive-date = July 30, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180730140403/http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/artmarketwatch/artmarketwatch10-27-06.asp | url-status = live }}</ref>

The Mural Project ended on June 30, 1942; and because of the World War, the murals were never created. Adams sent a total of 225 small prints to the DOI, but held on to the 229 negatives. These include many famous images such as ''[[The Tetons and the Snake River]]''. Although they were legally the property of the U.S. Government, he knew that the National Archives did not take proper care of photographic material, and used various subterfuges to evade queries.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 13}}

The ownership of one image in particular has attracted interest: ''Moonrise''. Although Adams kept meticulous records of his travel and expenses,<ref>{{cite book | first1 = Peter | last1 = Wright | last2 = Armor | first2 = John | title = The Mural Project | publisher = Reverie Press | location = Santa Barbara | year = 1988 | isbn = 978-1-55824-162-6 | page = vi | url = https://archive.org/details/muralproject0000adam }}</ref> he was less disciplined about recording the dates of his images, and he neglected to note the date of ''Moonrise''. But the position of the Moon allowed the image to be eventually dated from astronomical calculations, and in 1991 Dennis di&nbsp;Cicco of ''[[Sky & Telescope]]'' determined that ''Moonrise'' was made on November 1, 1941.{{NoteTag|David Elmore of the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, had determined that ''Moonrise'' was taken on October 31, 1941, at 4:03&nbsp;pm.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Callahan | first = Sean | year = 1981 | issue = January 1981 | title = Short Takes: Countdown to Moonrise | journal = American Photographer | pages = 30–31}}</ref> Di&nbsp;Cicco noticed that the Moon's position at the time Elmore made his determination did not match the Moon's position in the image, and after an independent analysis, determined the time to be 4:49:20&nbsp;pm on November 1, 1941. He reviewed his results with Elmore, who agreed with di&nbsp;Cicco's conclusions.<ref>{{cite journal | last = di Cicco | first = Dennis | year = 1991 | title = Dating Ansel Adams' Moonrise | journal = Sky & Telescope | volume = 82 | issue = November 1991 | bibcode = 1991S&T....82..529D | pages = 529–533}}</ref>}} Since this was a day for which he had not billed the department, the image belonged to Adams.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 201}}

====World War II====
[[File:Ansel Adams - Farm workers and Mt. Williamson.jpg|thumb|''Farm, farm workers, [[Mount Williamson|Mt. Williamson]] in background, Manzanar Relocation Center, California'' (1943)<ref>{{cite web | last = Adams | first = Ansel | title = Farm, farm workers, Mt. Williamson in background, Manzanar Relocation Center, California | url = http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/manz/item/2002695990/ | website = Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar | publisher = Library of Congress | access-date = February 28, 2019 | year = 1943 | archive-date = September 11, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180911192333/http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/manz/item/2002695990/ | url-status = live }}</ref>|alt=A black-and-white photograph shows farm workers with Mt. Williamson in background.]]
[[File:Baton-practice-Manzanar-Adams.jpeg|thumb|''Baton practice, Florence Kuwata, [[Manzanar War Relocation Center|Manzanar Relocation Center]]'' (1943)<ref>{{cite archive | last = U.S. Civil Service Commission. | item = Baton practice, Florence Kuwata, Manzanar Relocation Center | item-url = http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001704608/ | item-id = LC-A35-5-M-34 | year = 1943 | fonds =  | file =  | box =  | collection = Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar | collection-url = http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/manz/ | repository =  | institution = Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division | accession =}}</ref>|alt=A black-and-white photography shows a smiling woman from below twirling batons with the sun behind her.]]

When Edward Steichen formed his [[Naval Aviation Photographic Unit]] in early 1942, he wanted Adams to be a member, to build and direct a state-of-the-art darkroom and laboratory in Washington, D.C.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 172}} Around February 1942, Steichen asked Adams to join him in the navy.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 172}} Adams agreed, but with two conditions: He wanted to be commissioned as an officer, and he would not be available until July 1.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 173}} Steichen, who wanted the team assembled as quickly as possible, passed on Adams and had his other photographers ready by early April.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 173}}

Adams was distressed by the [[Japanese American internment]] that occurred after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] attack. He requested permission to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the [[Owens Valley]], at the base of [[Mount Williamson]]. The resulting photo-essay first appeared in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit, and later was published as ''[[Born Free and Equal]]: The Story of Loyal Japanese-Americans''. Upon its release, "[the book] was met with some distressing resistance and was rejected by many as disloyal."{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 263}} This work was a significant departure, stylistically and philosophically, from the work for which Adams is generally known.{{Sfn | O'Toole|2010|p = 24}} He also contributed to the war effort by doing many photographic assignments for the military, including making prints of secret Japanese installations in the Aleutians.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996|p = 175}}

In 1943, Adams had a camera platform mounted on his station wagon, to afford him a better vantage point over the immediate foreground and a better angle for expansive backgrounds. Most of his landscapes from that time forward were made from the roof of his car rather than from summits reached by rugged hiking, as in his earlier days.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 239}}

Adams was the recipient of three [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]s during his career, the first being awarded in 1946 to photograph every national park.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 217}} At that time, there were 28 national parks, and Adams photographed 27 of them, missing only [[Everglades National Park]] in Florida. This series of photographs produced memorable images of [[Old Faithful]] Geyser, [[Grand Teton]], and [[Mount McKinley]].

In 1945, Adams was asked to form the first fine art photography department at the [[San Francisco Art Institute|California School of Fine Arts]]. Adams invited [[Dorothea Lange]], Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston to be guest lecturers, and [[Minor White]] to be the principal instructor.<ref>{{cite web | last = Mix | first = Robert | url = http://www.verlang.com/sfbay0004ref_timeline_05.html | title = SF Bay Area Timeline: Modernism (1930–1960) | publisher = Vernacular Language North | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120524094806/http://www.verlang.com/sfbay0004ref_timeline_05.html | archive-date = May 24, 2012 | access-date = November 7, 2008 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = SFAI History | url = https://www.sfai.edu/about-sfai/sfai-history | publisher = San Francisco Art Institute | access-date = March 5, 2019 | archive-date = March 5, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190305213609/https://sfai.edu/about-sfai/sfai-history | url-status = live }}</ref> The photography department produced numerous notable photographers, including [[Philip Hyde (photographer)|Philip Hyde]], [[Benjamen Chinn]], and [[William Heick|Bill Heick]].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Comer | first1 = Stephanie | last2 = Klochko | first2 = Deborah | last3 = Gunderson | first3 = Jeff | title = The moment of seeing : Minor White at the California School of Fine Arts | date = 2006 | publisher = Chronicle Books | isbn = 978-0-8118-5468-9 | page = 202}}</ref>

===1950s===
In 1952 Adams was one of the founders of the magazine ''Aperture'', which was intended as a serious journal of photography, displaying its best practitioners and newest innovations. He was also a contributor to ''[[Arizona Highways]]'', a photo-rich travel magazine. His article on ''[[Mission San Xavier del Bac]]'', with text by longtime friend [[Nancy Newhall]], was enlarged into a book published in 1954. This was the first of many collaborations with her.{{Sfn |Alinder|1996|loc=Chapter 13}}

In June 1955, Adams began his annual workshops at Yosemite. They continued to 1981, attracting thousands of students.{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 316}} He continued with commercial assignments for another twenty years, and became a consultant, with a monthly retainer, for [[Polaroid Corporation]], which was founded by good friend [[Edwin Land]].{{Sfn |Alinder|1996| p = 260}} He made thousands of photographs with Polaroid products, ''El Capitan, Winter, Sunrise'' (1968) being the one he considered most memorable. During the final twenty years of his life, the 6x6&nbsp;cm medium format [[Hasselblad]] was his camera of choice, with ''Moon and Half Dome'' (1960) being his favorite photograph made with that brand of camera.{{Sfn |Adams|Alinder|1985| p = 375}}

From 1957 until 1962, [[Geraldine Sharpe|Geraldine "Gerry" Sharpe]] served as his photography assistant, and they often took photos of the same locations.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Heller |first1=Jules |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ReZkAgAAQBAJ |title=North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary |last2=Heller |first2=Nancy G. |date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-63889-4 |pages=1670 |language=en |access-date=December 18, 2022 |archive-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413061135/https://books.google.com/books?id=ReZkAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Adams published his fourth portfolio, ''What Majestic Word'', in 1963, and dedicated it to the memory of his Sierra Club friend [[Russell Varian]],{{sfn|Hammond|Adams|2002|p=108}} who was a co-inventor of the [[klystron]] and who had died in 1959. The title was taken from the poem "Sand Dunes", by [[John Varian]], Russell's father,{{sfn|Hammond|Adams|2002|p=15}} and the fifteen photographs were accompanied by the writings of both John and Russell Varian. Russell's widow, Dorothy, wrote the preface, and explained that the photographs were selected to serve as interpretations of the character of Russell Varian.{{sfn|Hammond|Adams|2002|p=108}}