Half Dome - Yosemite [Original silver-print photograph]

Yosemite National Park: Ansel Adams, 1934 Original silver-print photograph. 7 7/8 x 6 inches. Original beige mount, 13¼ x10 1/8 inches. Very slight silvering to sky area. A fine example. One of the most important images of the photographer's career. This classic image, photographed in 1927, was normally titled, Monolith, the Face of Half Dome. Our image is a vintage print, produced c.1934. This copy of the image is titled, inscribed, and SIGNED on the mount by the photographer. Because of space limitations at the bottom border of the photograph, Adams has titled this copy, Half Dome - Yosemite. The image is presented to James Bryant Conant, President of Harvard University. The presentation inscription reads, 'Dr. and Mrs. Conant, with good wishes'. Dr. Conant "was a friend of Adams and they hiked Yosemite together several times in the 1920's." The image is SIGNED, 'Ansel Adams' (Adams eliminated his middle initial "E" in his signature, c.1934). Conant was President of Harvard University from 1933 to 1953. This is an incredibly important image. Ansel Adams was going to be a concert pianist. He was that good. However, It was this particular image that finally decided his career... as a photographer. "What he saw was the majesty of the sculptural shape of the Dome in the solemn effect of half sunlight and half shadow." The provenance of this image is impeccable..