More About the Image:
This mountain at the head of the eponymous Clark Range, was a favorite of Ansel’s – calling it ‘one of the great Yosemite mountains ’ – and one that he had climbed many times in his youth. (OH pg.236) This image was made in 1927, the same day he would make his famous ‘Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.’ On that day, Ansel had delicately carried twelve glass plates for his Korona View Camera up to the Diving Board. About midway to their ultimate destination, he put his Dallmeyer Adon telephoto lens and Wratten No. 29 filter on his camera and utilizing three of the plates (two were later deemed unusable due to wind and corresponding movement of the camera) he photographed Mt. Clark. The final image (especially when printed on the Kodak Vitava Athena Grade T Parchment of the day) has the feeling of a Japanese ukiyo-e print, complete with an asymmetrical design and truncated pine tree boarding the image that sets the foreground against the subject in the background. The image was later included in Ansel’s portfolio, ‘Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras’ [sic], an early fine art undertaking with the financial backing of his patron, Albert Bender. The portfolio was ultimately comprised of work that ‘featured wilderness in which he had hiked, camped, and climbed,’ a truly personal endeavor. (MaP pg.44) Dr. Rebecca Senf states the portfolio can be divided into four categories, including ‘distant views’ in which Mount Galen Clark falls. (MaP pg.44) This type of composition ‘evokes the commanding viewpoint achieved [on] the hike,’ a privileged view few outside of Ansel would have witnessed at the time. (MaP pg.46) The result is a sharing of experiences and a democratization of Place that would inform Ansel’s photographic and environmental philosophies later in life.
