Yosemite Through Ansel’s Eyes: The History of Yosemite Special Edition Photographs

Morning, Merced River, Signed Special Edition Photograph by Ansel Adams

Early Morning, Merced River by Ansel Adams

“If you were to give me the pleasure of showing you Yosemite for the first time,” Ansel Adams once wrote, “I know just how I would want to do it. I would take you by night from the San Joaquin Valley up through the forested mountains at the Valley’s rim, so that when sunrise came you would be standing on Glacier Point. Up before dawn, you would lean against the railing, trying to see down into the shadows for the first sight of something whose descriptions you never quite believed.”

The joy of sharing that truly awesome moment—when the Valley is revealed for the first time—is the purpose behind the Yosemite Special Edition Photographs.

In the 1950s, Ansel carefully selected eight photographs of Yosemite Valley from amongst his favorite works. These special photographs were intended to do more than hang on the wall of a gallery or museum—they were meant to bring Yosemite home, to create a lasting reminder of the “extraordinary experience” of Yosemite Valley that anyone might own and enjoy. Intended as high-quality, affordable souvenirs for park-goers, the Special Edition Photographs could only be purchased at Best’s Studio within Yosemite itself—the business we know today as The Ansel Adams Gallery. Since then, the Gallery has remained the only authorized vendor of these special images, upholding Ansel’s dream of providing an accessible, yet exquisite reminder of the wonder of Yosemite for the worldwide public. We also offer a collection of some of the original Special Edition Photographs created under Ansel’s supervision and signed by him.

Winter Forest Detail

Signed Special Edition Photograph
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As the series developed over time, so did the way each piece was signed and/or stamped. For the first Yosemite Special Edition Photographs, Ansel executed a large part of the initial printing process himself–setting up each print in the enlargers, working through the issues of developer and paper contrasts, dodging and burning. (1) Ansel signed these early prints with a full signature. However, when Ted Orland took over from Liliane DeCock in 1972 as his photographic assistant and started to do the set-up and batch printing for the series, Ansel began initialing each print, intending to indicate that he had not printed them himself. Only a few years later in June of 1975 when Alan Ross began printing the Yosemite Special Edition Photographs, Ansel and his team developed a new stamp that would be placed on the back of each print. This stamp indicated that each print was made under Ansel’s supervision, with Alan’s initials next to it as the printer. Today each Yosemite Special Edition Photograph carries an updated version of the stamp on the back.

Lake Tenaya, Special Edition Photograph by Ansel Adams

Lake Tenaya – Signed Special Edition Photograph
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Over the years, Ansel’s selection of Special Edition Photographs expanded from just eight to thirty available images whose printing Ansel personally saw until his passing in 1984. Today, Ansel’s vision endures, thanks to the diligent work of photographer Alan Ross. For half a century, Alan, Ansel’s former photographic assistant, has printed the Special Editions in perfect fidelity to Ansel’s exacting specifications. Alan produces each Special Edition print by hand, using the silver-gelatin process that Ansel mastered and creating each image with the level of care and precision he learned at Ansel’s elbow.

Although Ansel’s archives are now part of the permanent collection of the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona Tucson, special provision was made for the “Special Edition Photograph negatives to be held back from the archive so that the tradition of offering high-quality original art at affordable prices would continue as a personal legacy in support of the arts and the environment.” (2)

Moon and Half Dome – Signed Special Edition Photograph
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Each Yosemite Special Edition Photograph carries with it a piece of the experience Ansel cherished most: that sublime feeling when high mountain light meets the shadows of granite and forest, illuminating something that has to be truly seen to be believed. Whether you’ve walked among the sequoias or only dreamed of seeing Glacier Point at sunrise, the Special Edition Photographs allow you to bring the magic of the High Sierra wherever you are.

These images aren’t just photographs—they are an invitation to walk through Yosemite by Ansel’s side, seeing the landscape just as he would have wanted you to see it.