Ansel Adams first came to Yosemite in 1916. He had started out hiking the valley trails and engaging in typical tourist activities. But before long he had graduated to more rigorous adventures, backpacking into the rugged High Sierra with likeminded companions, putting the creature comforts of the hospitable Curry Village behind. In the summer of 1921, Ansel ventured into the Lyell Fork Canyon of the Merced River, an arduous trip even by today’s standards. Once camp was established, ascending the nearby peaks was of high priority to the young kid, but so was the importance of making photographs of his lofty adventure. Of the images he completed, Lodgepole Pines, Lyell Fork of the Merced River, is the most revered. In a striking contrast to his later work following the f/64 era, it was made with a Portland soft-focus lens creating a diffuse look, giving the final print a romantic ‘illusion [of] shimmering light.’ (LAA pg. 26) While Ansel would eventually put aside soft-focuses lenses, Andrea Stillman writes that his long-term ‘affection for the photograph [. . .] was undimmed.’ (LAA pg. 26) The first prints from the negative were likely completed in 1921 or 1922, while the last were completed for his final project, The Museum Set, in the early 1980’s suggesting this negative may have been regularly printed longer than any other among Adams’ archive.
The Ansel Adams Gallery is pleased to offer a rare vintage photograph of “A Grove of Tamarack Pine,” one of very few soft focus images known to have been made in Ansel Adams’ photographic career.
“Vintage” is a term in photography that has both a very specific meaning, and unfortunately a slightly ambiguous definition when putting it into practice. A “vintage” print is a print that is made around the time the negative was made, which is pretty clear
