Penitente Moranda, Coyote, New Mexico c. 1950 - 1981

Ansel Adams made this gelatin silver print of Penitente Morada in Coyote, New Mexico. Imagine him, under that New Mexico sky, setting up his camera, waiting for the light. What was he thinking as he framed this stark facade? I can imagine him being drawn to the cracks in the facade, like a roadmap of time. There's a door ajar, a suggestion of entry, but into what? Mystery, I think. The composition is so balanced, yet off-kilter enough to keep you wondering. He finds the sublime in the everyday. Adams, like many artists, was in conversation with the past. His work echoes painters like Georgia O'Keeffe. He saw the beauty in simplicity, and he shows us how the world can look when you strip it down to its essence.