Ansel Easton Adams (1902–1984) saw light as his brush and nature as his canvas. Born in San Francisco and trained as a pianist, Adams became one of the most celebrated photographers and conservationists of the 20th century.

Best known for his majestic black-and-white photographs of American wilderness, especially California's Yosemite, he believed in the sacred beauty of the natural world. "There are always two people in every picture," he said. "The photographer and the viewer."

Adams published his first portfolio in 1927 and developed the Zone System, allowing extraordinary control of contrast and light. "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept," he explained, championing both technical excellence and emotional clarity.

His work with the Sierra Club and the U.S. government helped protect wild places for generations to come. He said, "I knew my destiny when I first experienced Yosemite," and lived that destiny with spirit and purpose.

Influenced by Thoreau and Emerson, Adams used his lens to share quiet wonder and fierce advocacy. Curator John Szarkowski called him one of the last Romantic artists who saw wilderness as a metaphor for freedom and heroism.

With more than 40,000 negatives and a legacy that shaped how we see the land, Adams once said, "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."