EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF NATURE THROUGH THE LENS OF AMERICA’S MOST REVERED PHOTOGRAPHER, ANSEL ADAMS, AT SEATTLE’S MUSEUM OF HISTORY & INDUSTRY (MOHAI) MAY 28-SEPTEMBER 5

Member pre-sale tickets available May 2

SEATTLE, WA – Experience the beautiful and powerful photography of Ansel Adams, widely considered one of America’s most revered landscape photographers, and one of its most respected environmentalists in Ansel Adams: Masterworks on view at Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) from May 28 through September 5, 2022.

This special traveling exhibit features 48 photographs by Adams—a selection of images he considered the best work of his career. The featured photographs reveal the importance Adams placed on the awe-inspiring power and beauty of the natural world, and his deeply held conviction that place matters. Visitors explore prints that capture elegant details of nature, architectural studies, portraits, and breathtaking landscapes.

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Adams influenced the course of 20th century photography through the example of his lavish and technically precise images, as well as by his devotion to advancing photography as an art form with his innovative approach to the medium. 

Included in this exhibit are many of his most iconic images of majestic American landscapes, such as El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park; the Golden Gate in San Francisco; Monument Valley in Arizona; the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; and the delicate wildflowers of Mount Rainer. It is through Adams’ photographs that many Americans have come to know these places and appreciate the majesty and significance of the often-endangered American landscape.

Ansel Adams: Masterworks is organized by the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA. Exhibition tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.

Sharing the same gallery space, MOHAI is also proud to present Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here exhibit which features approximately 15 photographs from the collections of MOHAI and the Black Heritage Society of Washington State (BHS). 

“This is a unique exhibit experience that explores the relationship between humans and place illustrated in a selection of MOHAI and BHS photographs curated by three members of the Puget Sound community--activists, poets, community organizers, and youth-- who bring dramatic new perspectives to an understanding of our region,” said Leonard Garfield, MOHAI’s Executive Director.

Community curators Jourdan Imani Keith, Rachel Heaton, and Ella Guo bring their insights to historic photographs to disrupt conventional narratives of “untouched nature,” exploring cultural representation, and magnifying the ever-changing relationship between the people of the Puget Sound and the region’s landscape.

Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here was organized by MOHAI, in collaboration with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State (BHS).

Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here Community Curators

JOURDAN IMANI KEITH (she/her/sir) is Seattle’s 2019– 2022 Civic Poet. Featured on NPR, her Orion Magazine essays, “Desegregating Wilderness,” and “At Risk” were selected for the Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology. The founder of Urban Wilderness Project, Keith leads its “R U An Endangered Species”™ campaign. She is a recipient of the 2018 Americans for the Arts award, and her TEDx Talk, “Your Body of Water” became the theme for King County’s 2016-2018 Poetry on Buses program.

RACHEL HEATON (she/her) is a Muckleshoot Tribal member and descendant of the Duwamish People, a community organizer, a mother, a nature lover, and an activist. Heaton speaks on the violations of Native and Indigenous peoples’ rights, finds ways to educate and bring awareness to those outside of her community, and creates visibility of Native peoples in outdoor spaces. Heaton is co-founder of Mazaska Talks an Indigenous-led organization that brings attention to the destruction of Mother Earth caused by funding and investments to the fossil fuel industry.

ELLA GUO (they/them) is a Beacon Hill resident and a 16-year-old senior at Nova High School in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood—graduating in Spring 2022. Guo takes a social justice focus at school, working with communities and advocating for the integration of an authentic student voice within school policy. They are a photographer themselves, and occasionally serve as Youth Photographer for Young-Women Empowered, a Seattle-area non-profit dedicated to “empowering diverse young women to be creative leaders and courageous changemakers.”

Visitors of all ages are invited to engage with the two exhibits through self-directed, hands-on activities and reflect on their own view of humans’ relationship with the natural world.

Generous support for Ansel Adams: Masterworks and Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here in Seattle is made possible by Laird Norton Wealth Management, REI Co-op, Mike Repass, the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, Maureen Frisch, and the MOHAI Exhibits Fund. 

Location, Hours, and Admission
MOHAI is located at 860 Terry Ave. in Seattle. Exhibit gallery hours Exhibit gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission to permanent exhibits is free on first Thursdays from 5-8 p.m.  As part of the Museums For All program, low-income families can visit MOHAI for a minimal fee of $2 per person with the presentation of an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. For more information, call (206) 324-1126.  Admission to Ansel Adams: Masterworks and Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here is included with regular MOHAI admission of $22 for adults; $18 for senior citizens ages 65 and over; $17 for students and military; free for youth (ages 14 and under, accompanied by a chaperone, maximum five youth admitted per chaperone), and MOHAI members.

ABOUT MOHAI
MOHAI is dedicated to enriching lives through preserving, sharing, and teaching the diverse history of Seattle, the Puget Sound region, and the nation. As the largest private heritage organization in the State of Washington, the museum engages communities through interactive exhibits, online resources, and award-winning public and youth education programs. For more information about MOHAI, please visit mohai.org, or call (206) 324-1126. Facebook: facebook.com/seattlehistory Twitter: @MOHAI.

ABOUT LANDAU TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

Over the past 50 years Landau Traveling Exhibitions has presented more than 900 exhibitions at museums throughout the United States, Canada and the world. The Landau family has been been active in the international art world for since the early 1950's. The highly-acclaimed Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles during the 50’s & 60’s introduced, represented and exhibited the best of the 20th century’s American, European, and international modern master and contemporary artists. 

In 1967 Mitzi Landau began circulating the GASTON LACHAISE: SCULPTURE & DRAWINGS exhibition for the Lachaise Foundation and Landau Traveling Exhibitions was launched.  The Lachaise exhibition has been presented at more than 130 museums.

Jeffrey Landau joined the business in 1989 as Managing Director of operations and is in charge of the new arts communications division, Art Resource Technologies, taking Landau into the 21st Century. 

We continue to represent museum exhibitions, universities, arts organizations, corporations, estates, foundations, private collections, 20th Century masterworks and contemporary artists.