Ansel Adams
On the Heights, Yosemite Valley, from the portfolio Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras1926-1927/printed 1927
gelatin silver print
9 7/8 x 11 7/8 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase. Used with permission of the Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. All rights reserved.
This long view of Yosemite Park is framed by a single rugged cedar tree. The lone figure balanced on the precipice is Virginia Best, soon to be the photographer’s wife. Her pose may be symbolic of her impending “leap” into marriage. Best provides scale and drama to what might have been just a pretty mountain view.
