Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California
Ansel Adams
Description
Subject Matter:
This photograph depicts a winter dawn as it rakes across the Sierra Nevada mountains, casting stark, jagged shadows across its façade. The sunlit ridges and gorges gleam brightly in the early morning light, while the Alabama Hills below remain shrouded in darkness. Wisps of vaporous clouds shift across the mountain face and the sky above is shrouded in the pre-dawn murk. In the foreground, a patch of sunlight illuminates a line of leaf-barren trees, which silhouettes a lone horse as it grazes in the meadow. The tininess of the horse emphasizes the vast immensity of the mountains above. Framed between the shadowed foothills and the ashen sky, the mountains form a radiant block of light that stretches across the center of the image. This dramatic contrast between light and dark speaks to the liminal moment when the night is transitioning into day.
Physical Description:
This photograph is of a mountain range in the early morning light. The foothills and meadow below are cast in shadow, and in a patch of sunlight, a horse grazes by a copse of trees.
Usage Rights:
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.