(UNION, NJ) -- Works by the iconic 20th-century landscape photographer Ansel Adams will be on display at the Galleries at Kean University in an exhibition at Liberty Hall Academic Center.  The Early Works exhibition features 42 original vintage photographs by the master photographer of the American West, ranging from the 1920s to the 1950s. It is open to the public with a pay-what-you-wish (PWYW) admission now through June 17, 2022.

“Adams was an innovator. He never stopped evolving his artistic process,” said Kean University President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D. “It is essential our students have the experience of seeing original works of art and learning about the artists behind those creations. I encourage our students, faculty, staff and the community to view this celebrated exhibition.” 

Adams, an environmentalist and a giant in the field of landscape photography, was renowned for his use of light, both in the field and in the darkroom. He helped build public appreciation for the American wilderness through his captivating images of the more than 40 national parks he explored, including Yosemite, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park.

Photo Credit: El Capitan, 1923. Photo by Ansel Adams. @The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

Lynette Zimmerman, executive director of the Liberty Hall Academic Center and the Galleries at Kean, said Adams’ passion for the environment “will be perfectly at home” in the Liberty Hall Academic Center Gallery. “We are so excited to feature the original works of this amazing photographer,” she added.

This exhibition focuses on the masterful small-scale prints made by Ansel Adams from the 1920s into the 1950s. During this time period, there is an evolution in his printing style from the soft-focus, warm-toned, painterly Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras of the 1920s through the Group f/64 school of sharp-focused photography that he co-founded with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham in the 1930s. And later, after the war, Adams moved toward a cooler, higher-contrast printmaking style. Throughout, Adams is revealed as a poet of light, both in the field and in the darkroom.

Ansel Adams: Early Works is organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions, LLC. All photographs are from the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg.

Liberty Hall Academic Center Gallery is located at 1003 Morris Avenue in Union, New Jersey on the Union campus of Kean University. 

Founded in 1855, Kean University is one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region, with a richly diverse student, faculty and staff population. Kean continues to play a key role in the training of teachers and is a hub of educational, technological and cultural enrichment serving more than 16,000 students. The University’s six undergraduate colleges offer more than 50 undergraduate degrees over a full range of academic subjects. The Nathan Weiss Graduate College offers seven doctoral degree programs and more than 70 options for graduate study leading to master’s degrees, professional diplomas or certifications. With campuses in Union, Toms River, Jefferson and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China, Kean University furthers its mission by providing an affordable and accessible world-class education.

TOP PHOTO: Photo Credit: From Wawona Tunnel, Winter, Yosemite, 1935. Photo by Ansel Adams. @The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust)