Trees, Slide Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming c. 1965 - 1981

Ansel Adams made this photograph of trees in Slide Lake, Grand Teton National Park, using his camera to capture a landscape of ghostly, submerged trees. I see these slender tree trunks rising from the water, and I imagine Adams wading in, setting up his equipment, waiting for the right light. Did he feel like he was entering some kind of sacred space? The soft greys and whites create a sense of stillness, like the world is holding its breath. That main tree in the foreground is so striking—it's almost symmetrical, reaching upwards like a candelabra. Adams was so attuned to the subtleties of light and shadow, transforming an everyday scene into something ethereal. His work makes me think about other landscape artists like Lawren Harris and his stark Canadian landscapes. There is a conversation happening here about how we perceive nature, and how artists throughout time are drawn to interpret it.