Ansel Adams, (born Feb. 20, 1902, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—died April 22, 1984, Carmel, Calif.), U.S. photographer. Equally adept at piano playing and photography, Adams chose a career in photography after meeting and seeing photos by Paul Strand. He became one of the outstanding technicians in the history of photography and was known chiefly for his dramatic images of mountain landscapes. Making a Photograph (1935) was the first of his many books on photographic technique. He worked consistently to foster public awareness of photography as a fine art. In 1940 he helped organize the first public collection of photographs, at the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1946 he established, at the California School of Fine Arts, the first academic photography department.
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