Thirty years since the passing of Ansel Adams, acclaimed National Geographic photographer Peter Essick pays tribute to the master of landscape photography and the craggy California Sierra Nevada wilderness area named in his honor. Inspired by the stunning scenery that Adams captured several decades ago in the High Sierras, Essick revisited the area to photograph the same sights that Adams loved so dearly. The result is a collection of breathtaking images published in the book The Ansel Adams Wilderness, an homage to the renowned photographer and his love of nature.
Using the Zone System approach that Adams formulated, Essick emulates the same monochromatic aesthetic full of clarity and depth that distinguished the master photographer’s images. Putting his own unique spin on Adams’ iconic black-and-white imagery, Essick’s shots of rugged cliffs, grandiose mountains, serene waters, and shadowy trees are magnificent displays of the beauty and power of the wilderness.
Essick reveals his motivation behind the project in the introduction to his book: “Like Adams, I am a native Californian familiar with the High Sierra, and some of my first successful photos were of this wilderness area (located between Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Lakes, and renamed for Adams following his death in 1984). For 25 years I have traveled throughout the world as a photographer for National Geographic magazine, but the High Sierra always has had a special place in my heart.”
For a closer look at more stunning, monochromatic landscapes, you can purchase The Ansel Adams Wilderness from the National Geographic Store, Amazon, or other retailers.
Peter Essick Website
The Ansel Adams Wilderness on Amazon
via [PetaPixel], [Boston.com]