Ansel Adams (1902–1984) - Surf Sequence #1, 1940

Ansel Adams, Surf Sequence #1, 1940.

Ansel Adams shot the five images of his Surf Sequence in 1940 during a drive along the Pacific Coast in California, returning from a visit to his friend Edward Weston in Carmel. Stopping along the highway overlooking the ocean, the photographer was taken by the lacy patterns that the waves created, and he made several exposures on the spot. The resulting photographs beautifully captured both a sense of movement and the passage of time, as the sun gradually moved across the sky and the shadows lengthened while he worked. These nearly abstract ocean views suggest the idea of themes and variations that Adams, trained as a concert pianist, appreciated in classical music. Early examples of his serial imagery, they have proved to be some of his most influential work.

'Ansel Adams copyright Latinstock / Corbis' in lower right corner.. Digital print on 10" x 7.5" glossy photo paper from the Corbis images archive (now Getty Images since 2016). Fine condition. Printed Lated, 2000's.

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating "pure" photography which favored sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph. He and Fred Archer developed a system of image-making called the Zone System, a method of achieving a desired final print through a technical understanding of how the tonal range of an image is the result of choices made in exposure, negative development, and printing.

One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century along with other photographers of his time such as: Man Ray, Edward Weston, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Walter Evans, Philippe Halsman, Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Robert Doisneau, Josef Sudek, Robert Mapplethorpe, Steve McCurry, among many others.