Ansel Adams was a landscape photographer and conservationist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He aided in founding Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating "pure" photography. This was a technique that favored sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph. This lead to the development of the Zone System; an established method of reaching perfect tonality in a photograph with a highly technical grasp on exposure, negative development, and printing.

 

His lifelong passion for conservation is a key element in his works, and his advocacy in the field of environmentalism lead to his acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. Adams went on to help establish the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and aided in the establishment of photography as the art form we understand today.