Ansel Adams at 100 - wildlife photographer - Brief Article

Sierra, July, 2001 by J.L.H.

While best known for his dramatic photographs of the Sierra Nevada, Ansel Adams was also a Iongtime activist and member of the Sierra Club Board of Directors from 1934 to 1971 .The energetic Adams played a pivotal role in the Club's publication department, delighted High Trip participants with his campfire theatrics, and was a passionate defender of wilderness.

The Sierra Club is planning a variety of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Adams's birth on February 20, 1902. Highlights include a new Sierra Club Web gallery of his photographs (www.sierraclub.org/ansel_adams) and a documentary film on his life that will air nationally on PBS in early 2002. Sierra Club Productions is coproducing the film with its writer and director, Ric Burns, in association with the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. This August, a retrospective exhibition of Adams's work opens at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which will cohost related events with the Club. The exhibit, Ansel Adams at 100, will later travel to Chicago, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, and New York. Sierra will join the celebration with articles on Adams's legacy in our January/February 2002 issue. --J.L.H.