Education was a central component of Ansel Adams’s photographic practice. He established the fine art photography program at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1946, the first of its kind in the country. Six years prior, in 1940, he started teaching photography workshops. These group educational experiences, often held in Yosemite National Park, became yearly events by 1955.
Oregon photographer Marian Wood Kolisch first attended a workshop with Adams in Yosemite in 1974. She created these photographs in the 1980s. Her images suggest that the artist himself was a popular subject for attendees, even though his workshops focused on the landscape. Today Kolisch is recognized for her exceptional photographic portraits of West Coast artists, many of which are part of the Museum’s permanent collection and can be viewed in our online collections.
—Julia Dolan, The Minor White Curator of Photography
Marian Wood Kolisch (American, 1920–2008), Ansel Adams, both 1983. Gelatin silver prints, Bequest of Marian Wood Kolisch, 2009.30.62; Gift of the artist, 85.77
