I think I have an original photo of Ansel Adams Moon and Half dome but I'm not positive.How can I tell for sure?
I think I have an original photo of Ansel Adams Moon and Half dome but I'm not positive.How can I tell for sure?
The Moon is that big white thing, and Half Dome looks like a huge rock, with a big section broken off on one side ;-)
I'd think that if it matches what he talks about in The Print and his usual mounting/matting/signing technique, that's a start.
I'd first examine the print to make sure it's a photographic print, as opposed to a lithographic print, and then make sure it corresponds to published versions, as Jason suggests. From there, I'd take it to an appraiser.
Take it to a gallery - if they laugh at you, it isn't. If they start sucking up, it is....
Cheers,
"The Moon is that big white thing, and Half Dome looks like a huge rock, with a big section broken off on one side"
... and if it's a color print, you've screwed the pooch!
Is it signed by Ansel Adams on the front of the mount? If not, it is likely one of the "Yosemite Special Edition Prints" made under AA's supervision and sold through the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley. These prints were marked in various ways over the years, typically by a rubber stamp on the back of the mount with AA's initials (early) or the initials of the darkroom assistant (later).
Moon and Half Dome IS part of the Yosemite Special Edition. You probably have one of those. Although the early ones, back from the days when he was living in the valley, may have been printed by him, that is one of Adams' later shots, after he was pretty famous. I doubt he ever printed it for the special edition.
So, then maybe you have a John Sexton print of an Ansel Adams negative! But why worry? If you have an image of enduring beauty, it should not be sold, but given a place of honor in your home.
Ansel Adams at times did print the "Yosemite Special Editions" personally.
If so his intials "AA" would be on the lower right under the image.
John V.
ScanHi-End Moderator
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