Every now and then the Corcoran or another art gallery in Washington, D.C. will host the photographs of Ansel Adams, and it’s always a rousing success. Now, a collection of the esteemed photographer’s work has opened for permanent display at The Wilderness Society’s headquarters, located downtown near the Farragut North/West Metro stops.
Ansel Adams, one of our country’s foremost environmental activists, had a long history of involvement with The Wilderness Society and other conservation groups like the Sierra Club. He spent much of his time using his influence to protect the special places that he had photographed, writing thousands of letters, lobbying decision-makers, and fighting relentlessly against developing the places he loved.
All this and more about his life can be learned by visiting the collection, which is comprised of 75 of Adams’ finest prints arranged in lovely wooden frames. An explanatory plaque notes that Adams gave these prints to The Wilderness Society as a gift, in honor of the collaboration that the organization and the photographer developed over the years.
The Ansel Adams Collection is small, so you won’t need more than an hour to see it, but take the time to digest his work. It is open weekdays from 10am-5pm, and there talk of keeping it open on weekends, but no decision as to when that will occur. So, at this point you’ll just have take your lunch hour to browse a collection of beautiful black and white photographs of the natural world!
To visit: The Wilderness Society is located on the first floor of an office building at 1615 M St. NW, phone: 202-833-2300.
Disclosure: The author of this post is an employee of The Wilderness Society.
Will we have time to go? Or will it be gone/way too crowded then?