Images by America’s greatest wilderness photographer were on display at the Wildling Art Museum, Los Olivos, beginning September 28. “Ansel Adams: A Celebration of Wilderness” showcased more than 30 photographs from “The Museum Set”, a collection of 75 images chosen by Adams and printed under his supervision during the last years of his life. Born in 1902, the artist died in 1984.

“The Museum Set includes many of the artist’s most famous photographs made over his forty-five year career,”said Karen Sinsheimer, Curator of Photography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and guest curator for the exhibition. “As the name suggests, these sets were intended for museum collections worldwide and constituted the artist’s self-chosen, definitive portfolio—the group of images by which he wanted to be remembered.

Adams, who was trained as a concert pianist, before being captivated by photography on his first trip to Yosemite in 1916, often likened the photographic negative to the musical score, and the print to a particular musical performance. “That is why” he said “the pictures I make of the same subject over the years will be very different… Each performance [of a print] is a creation, the creation of something new.”

The prints from the “Museum Set,” are not only the artist’s favorite images, but what he believed was his most expressive printing of them. “The images being shown in this exhibition are in the personal collection of Adams’ daughter, Anne Adams Helms, who has graciously made them available to us”, said Penny Knowles, Executive Director of the Wildling Art Museum. “Needless to say, we are honored and excited about presenting them to Santa Barbara County.”

Adams was recognized during his lifetime both for his photography and for his tireless advocacy for preserving America’s wilderness. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Carter in 1980.