Ansel Adams: From the Mountains to the Sea

Ansel Adams (1902-84) is the most influential landscape photographer in American history. This temporary exhibition brought together his most powerful and striking pictures of water in all its forms, from awe-inspiring images of epic seascapes, dramatic rapids and geysers, to crashing waterfalls, placid ponds, raging rivers and beautiful ice-locked landscapes.

As Interpretation Manager, my role was to provide greater context and depth of engagement, particularly for a UK audiences less familiar with Ansel Adam’s work. Working with in-house designers we added a subtle contextual layer to the exhibition graphics that included maps and quotes from the artist himself and photographs of the artist as a young photographer with his first box camera, a teacher and finally as an old man lugging his tripod across a beach. We edited a number of film clips of Ansel talking about his works and created a reading room and participation space alongside, for visitors to upload their views and share their own Ansel-inspired creations.