Adams lived and worked in Yosemite for many years, and in 1960
created a portfolio that epitomized what he felt about the valley. This
delicate image was one of his wife Virginia's favorites. Portfolio
Three, "Yosemite Valley",was produced in 1960 with the Sierra Club in an
edition of 208 with 16 prints in each.
This was Adams‘ first portfolio in 10 years, and
comprises many of his most well known photographs of Yosemite.
"YOSEMITE VALLEY, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter
of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space. I know
of no sculpture, painting, or music that exceeds the compelling spiritual
command of the soaring shape of granite cliff and dome, of patina of
light on rock and forest, and of the thunder and whispering of the
falling, flowing waters...
Who can define the moods of the wild places,
the meaning of nature in domains beyond those of material use? Here are
worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond
history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the
revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp
them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit.
Perhaps age must remember the clear perceptions of youth
and return to the sensing of freshness, of strength, and of wonder;
perhaps age needs to recall the beginnings of comprehension of mood and
meaning and to rekindle an appreciation of the marvelous, of being in
resonance with the world. If a man nurtures his sensitive awareness of
the natural world with experience and contemplation, his spirit will
remain young.
In these sixteen photographs are many deep echoes of
experience from more than forty years in Yosemite Valley. Each
represents, for me, a moment of wonder. The pictures are put together as
a continual pattern of personal mood and response; they do not attempt a
complete pictorial exposition of Yosemite...This collection is, in a
way, a personal autobiography in photographic images, the selection of
which is based on emotional impulse and personal experience rather than
on intellectual or historical judgment.
Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be
revealed in the expressive photograph. Both can stir enduring
affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his
search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and
wonder surrounding him - and help him comprehend man's continuing need
for that world."
