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Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2022 5:23 pm
by limpingcrab
Hello to all the Sierra Nevada Encyclopedias out there,
I recently got a surprising email through my SEKIclimbing.com website from an art historian who's trying to find out where a little known Ansel Adams picture was taken (see below). I think it's from the upper reaches of Deadman Canyon, looking southwest towards Horn Peak, so Horn Col would be in the center and Lonely Lake would be on the other side of the ridge. I've included a few pictures I took out there but am wondering if anyone has a picture from an angle that would confirm this location, or any other way to confirm it for their records (I'm confident because I sat there for four hours waiting for friends to rock climb Horn Peak, but that's not irrefutable evidence).
Pic1 :Ansel Adams pic from this link
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-obje ... 96135.html
Pic 2: The north side of Horn Peak, small climber in the center.
Pic 3: The east face of Horn Peak
Pic 4: The cliff band on the right side of Ansel's picture, but from a different angle and with different lighting (his picture only includes the far left side).
Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 5.04.27 PM.jpg
Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 5.05.01 PM.jpg
Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 5.05.13 PM.jpg
Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 5.05.31 PM.jpg
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:28 pm
by wildhiker
Sure looks like Horn Peak to me, taken from the slope below Horn Col on the north side. Here's a photo I took looking west toward Horn Peak and Horn Col from the traverse over from the Elizabeth Pass trail on Sept 3, 2017:
P1140689.JPG
The peak and the cliff to the right look like the ones in the Adams photo.
-Phil
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2022 8:22 am
by limpingcrab
Cool, thanks. Ya, that one is better than mine and definitely looks like it's the right spot. If I send her anyone's pictures I'll ask first and give credit.
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 4:03 pm
by maiathebee
Was it an art historian or a physics and astronomy professor? I got a similar request from a professor emeritus from Texas State University. I suggested he post here to ask, and he said he "I just submitted a request to be added to the highsierratopix site" which... I'm not sure what that means. But here's the request I got, in case anyone has relevant photos:
This message is from a physics and astronomy professor who got his PhD from UC Berkeley a long time ago. In the past I have published articles about Ansel Adams and the precise tripod locations, dates, and times of his Yosemite moonrise photographs, with my students and I making several research trips to Yosemite. Recently I was asked by an art historian at Stanford if I can determine and date and time for the Ansel Adams photograph High Country Crags and Moon. There is a possibility that this Adams photograph shows the same rocks seen in your flickr photo Climbing to Horn Col, except that Adams was on the other side of Horn Col. While surfing the web I saw your set of flickr images from near Lonely Lake and Horn Col. Do you have (or might any of your friends have) photographs of Horn Col, Horn Peak, and the ridge north of Horn Col, as seen from the other side, that is, the side of Deadman Canyon? If I knew the precise tripod location for the view in High Country Crags and Moon, there is a decent chance of determining the date and time of that photograph.
To do the astronomical analysis, I need to get accurate GPS (longitude and latitude) of the precise Ansel Adams tripod location, to match what is seen in the photograph, High Country Crags and Moon.
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2022 2:17 pm
by Silky Smooth
off topic, but what route did they climb? was it the arete route that g rowell and team did? looks like nice rock
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 9:27 pm
by limpingcrab
Sorry, forgot to check back in on this the last week. The art historian had also enlisted the help of some astronomers that helped confirm date and location. Maybe that was one that was working with her.
As for the route, I'm not sure. I had just got out of a wheelchair so I was slowly moving all day while they would blast ahead, climb or ski as I passed, then catch back up later and repeat. Tortoise and the hare style.
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 1:31 pm
by Silky Smooth
all good, thats right almost forgot about your injury...your a strong man for toughing it out and just going out enjoying nature given your rehab and slow going. Hope all is well. I just picked up claude fiddler's new book inside high sierra, great essays and photos so far, havent finished it yet. check it out!
Re: Location of this little known Ansel Adams photograph?
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:09 pm
by LMBSGV
Here's the final chapter in this story, from the
New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/trav ... evada.html