For many people images of the major national parks in th US exist in the mind's eye as Ansel
Adams photographs. A dedicated environmentalist as well as renowned artist he was one of the
20th century's most ardent champions of the parks system. Through his photos essays and
letter-writing campaigns he helped create new parks and better protect existing ones. He
worked in more than 40 national parks over 50 years - including Shenandoah the Great Smoky
Mountains and Acadia in the East - and his work in the California High Sierra resulted in some
of the most indelible images of the natural world ever made with a camera. 50 of the images in
this volume have not been published in any authorized Ansel Adams book previously many more
are rarely seen. A substantial essay by photographic critic and historian Richard B. Woodward
lays out Adams' significant role tracing the history of American conservation. The selection of
photographs was made by Andrea G. Stillman Adams' assistant late in life and a foremost expert
on his work. A group of thumbnail images with brief narratives enlivened by quotations from
Adams appears at the back of the book.
