More About the Image:
Ansel Adams included this image in his Portfolio 2, ‘The National Parks and Monuments.’ Made during The Mural Project under the direction of The Department of Interior, the image is rich with texture. The fine white sands of the New Mexican desert comprise the world's largest gypsum dune field, reflecting a powdery expanse. Where other equipment would render the dunes as a flat surface, Ansel’s large format negative captures in great detail the atomized structure of this material giving the print a stereographic quality. Ansel has also picked a camera position to emphasize the flowering Soaptree Yucca growing on a slope above a brooding bramble, the elongated shadows of which pronounce the angle, exaggerating the three-dimensionality and portend the determination of the flora. With no distinct horizon visible, the viewer is left to imagine a sea of granular white beyond the frame that rolls to infinity.
So wrote Ansel Adams, whose photographs of the varied and rugged landscapes of the region have imprinted upon the imaginations of millions around the world. Beyond Yosemite and the High Sierra, the Southwest was one of Ansel’s best-loved regions of the country.In fact, it was a trip to Taos, New Mexico in the 1930s that led Ansel to cross paths with photographer Paul Strand, who helped inspire him to make photography his life’s work. The rest, as they say, is history.
