Adams began his travels to the parks in October 1941 and a year later submitted the prints in this series to Interior. Impressed by Adams' work, Ickes later broadened the scope of the project to include mural-size photographs and recommended Adams for the photographer.

The picture, empty of any human presence, shows the wildness of the West magnified, like a Garden of Eden still preserved from the presence of men and their industry.In the mid-1930's, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes conceived the idea of commissioning painted murals for the department's headquarters building in Washington, DC. The depth of the landscape appears fully. From white to black, the photography makes visible all the textures thanks to many levels of gray. Ansel ADAMS uses here its system of exposure by zones, which allows him to obtain a great richness of tones.

Ansel ADAMS used the river to make our eyes circulate within the photo, a journey of the look leading us to the mountain located in the center.

The mountain: Grand Teton is located in the national park of the same name, more than 4000 meters high, it is the highest point of the massif. The composition of the image perfectly fulfills the role of underlining the greatness of nature. It offers a sinuous sense of reading, while the light offers another one, horizontal, that can go from the most illuminated part, right, to the darker part, left, and vice versa. The elevated viewpoint allows the look to get lost in the valley where the river lays. In addition to the natural power of the places, the concern about composition and the virtuosity of the shooting made it an iconic photograph. The record contains a hundred of pictures supposed to represent our planet, among them there is this photo by Ansel ADAMS.

They are just like bottles send into the cosmic ocean with the hope of a finding by extraterrestrial lifeform. It is two phonograph records that were boarded in both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The importance of this picture is such that it was included in Voyager Golden Record (1977). It inspired tons of photographers, professionals as amateurs. The view he offers of The Tetons and the Snake River is one of the most famous photography in the world. Gelatin silver print, 39 x 48.4 cm / 15,4 x 19,1 inchĪnsel ADAMS photographed thousands of landscape.

Ansel adams tetons