Ansel Adams (1902–1984) - Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1960

Ansel Adams, Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1960.

Moon and Half Dome is one of Ansel Adams’s most celebrated images and an absolute icon of 20th-century photography. Taken in 1960, it depicts the majestic profile of Half Dome illuminated by sunlight, while the moon rises above Yosemite’s sky in a composition of sublime drama.

The photograph exemplifies Adams’s mastery of black-and-white: the extreme contrast between the sunlit rock and the deep shadow, together with the precise detail of the moon’s surface, turns the scene into a visual metaphor of permanence and transcendence. Here Adams applied his Zone System with absolute virtuosity, capturing the full tonal scale and transforming the landscape into a universal symbol of grandeur.

'Copyright Ansel Adams / Corbis / Cordon Press' at the bottom. Total dimensions: 30 x 23,5 cm on semi-gloss paper. Fine condition. Printed later, 2000s.

Ansel Adams is regarded as one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, comparable to Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Adams, Sebastião Salgado, Richard Misrach, and Michael Kenna, among others.

An essential piece for collectors of landscape photography and modern art, condensing both Adams’s artistic vision and the immortal grandeur of Yosemite.