This print of "The Grand Tetons and Snake River," shot in 1942 and printed in 1975, is a rare and perfect example of Adams' visionary photographs of western landscapes. He was the recipient of three Guggenheim grants to photograph national parks from 1944 to 1958. Seen in a more traditional art history context, Adams is the last and defining figure in the romantic tradition of 19th Century American landscape painting and photography.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) technical mastery was the stuff of legend. More than any creative photographer, before or since, he reveled in the theory and practice of the medium. Weston and Strand frequently consulted him for technical advice. Adams developed the famous and highly complex "zone system" of controlling and relating exposure and development, enabling photographers to creatively visualize an image and produce a photograph that matched and expressed that visualization. Founding the f/64 group with Edward Weston in 1932, he developed zone exposure to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film. He served on the Sierra Club Board (1934-71).