Why Moonrise over Hernandez?

[Stephen Willard]

To address this question, one might consider what is actually different about Moonrise over Hernandez unlike the alternative images I noted in my initial question. Moonrise over Hernandez has a human foot print of mankind. It is about a remote modest community of crosses, churches, and dwellings. Hernandez is about an isolated group of people coming together as a tribe to fend off the unforgiving forces of the natural world. Hernandez domesticates the land. It tames the forces of nature for those who fear the land. The mountains are diminished while the tribal dwellings and its crosses become prominent. It makes the viewer feel safe against the elements by the divine light that warms the crosses.

This past summer I spent close to three months in the backcountry with my llamas and cameras living in isolation. I wrote many papers exploring where my place is as an artist, what purpose do I serve as an artist, what is art, about the emotional and physical stress I endure to extract a photograph from the land, and what it means to produce sellable art. Moonrise over Hernandez lies at the heart of many questions I have.

It is my belief it has nothing to do with marketing, but rather everything to do with its content. There is something in Moonrise over Hernandez that makes it more appealing then his other work. I have my suspicions, but at this point I am not willing to state them for fear of influencing the ideas and thoughts that my be posted.

[Toyon]

Your error is in believing that your declarative statement (see below) amounts to anything more than opinion. That arrogation makes it almost impossible for you to gain a perspective on why others might see Moonrise as Adams' most moving work.

I could think of a countless photographs from his body of work that are far more powerful and vivid then Moonrise over Hernandez. There is El Capitain, Aspens, Clearing Winter Storm, Mount Williamson, Heaven’s Peak, Autumn Tree Against Cathedral Rocks, Mount Mckinley and Wonder Lake, Wanda Lake, Lake and Cliffs, or Overlooking the Snake River Toward the Tetons.

Moonrise's huge and enduring popularity is proof that there is something about it that evokes emotion in a great many viewers. I am only guessing here, but perhaps it is the relative scarcity of images that so coherently illuminate a night time scene, or it is the overwhelming sense of scale of the huge sky over the tiny community, or the tiny cross which has been insinuated as a powerful symbol in so many minds.

[John Voss]

...... The earlier print was priced $250.00 more than the more recent print BECAUSE it was earlier. Guess that was the way it was done back then..

The notion of "vintage" prints being more valuable than later renderings is still very much with us. The paradox (though not necessarily true for all photographs or photographers) is that later printings are often clearer renderings of an artist's expression than were their original versions. The mysteries of marketing and valuation remain obscure to me, at least.

[vinny]

all those crosses. people are suckers for crosses.

[Drew Wiley]

I've seen quite a few prints of Moonrise, both before and after the neg intensification. And for some reason, I too am one of those who is not really struck
with the image. I can logically understand why it's remarkable, but it just doesn't
hit me the way it's supposed to. But I was always more interested in the way Adams' handled light, and get a bit turned off when his images get too theatrical
(I'm sure someone will take offence to this - but we are all somewhat different in
our tastes). I seem to like it when his poetry is a litte more understated or perhaps
quiescent. The psychology of images is very interesting, with the way different
people do or don't respond to things.

[willwilson]

I first saw a large exhibit of AA's work at the Corcoran in DC. There where many breathtaking prints. There was also a 40x50 or so print of moonrise that I can say was nothing less than absolutely stunning. It's just one of those photographs that works on every level. We all know the type. People just react to it. It draws you in. It has that once in a lifetime vibe without even knowing the back story.

[Drew Wiley]

Just remembered something. One of the best AA retrospectives was here at the Oakland Museum shortly after his death. It obviously drew in a lot of folks who weren't photographers, and quite a few already heard that Moonrise was his most
famous shot. So I milled about close to that particular image for about half an hour;
didn't say anything, but just listened to other people's reactions. Surprisingly, most
folks had a scratch their head attitude. It was something they "had" to see but didn't
respond strongly too. Only a few people were awestruck or whatever. I just found the experience interesting. Different people have different buttons to push.

[Heroique]

[…] Hernandez domesticates the land. It tames the forces of nature for those who fear the land. The mountains are diminished while the tribal dwellings and its crosses become prominent. It makes the viewer feel safe against the elements by the divine light that warms the crosses. […]

I think I like the quick take above. It’s basically my reaction, too.

Yet, maybe what makes “Moonrise” so powerful & mysterious is its ability to provoke irreconcilable reactions. Not only among us, but in us.

If one looks at it again, one might feel differently about it:

“Hernandez dramatizes the land. It warns about the forces of nature for those who respect the land. The distant mountains feel bigger while the nearby dwellings and its crosses feel tiny. It makes the viewer fear the sublimity of the elements by the divine light that sweeps over the crosses.”

[Kirk Gittings]

Having lived relatively close to the site of this image most of my life and passing by the site regularly since I was in grade school, I have to say that the image astonishes me as much today as the first time I saw it (maybe in 1970?). The image is iconic of the Hispanic villages of Northern New Mexico landscape and the landscape they inhabit. That image has allot to do with why I became a photographer. In the 70's the site appeared much as it did when AA made the image and realizing the vision and expertise necessary to make that image possible from that site has always inspired me. For me it is a regular living example of the transcendent possibilities of b&w photography and will forever inspire me to not casually accept everyday light or lazy "performances" of my negatives in the darkroom.

[evan clarke]

I have endured many weeks of a particular nagging thought like one of those melodies that runs repeatedly in your mind over and over again and you are unable escape from its repetitions. It was not until I was leafing through my new book Ansel Adams at 100 did I decided to to shed this thought and ponder its answer. It really is not a thought, but rather a question of why. Why Moonrise over Hernandez? In particular, why was Moonrise over Hernandez Adam's most sold print?

I could think of a countless photographs from his body of work that are far more powerful and vivid then Moonrise over Hernandez. There is El Capitain, Aspens, Clearing Winter Storm, Mount Williamson, Heaven’s Peak, Autumn Tree Against Cathedral Rocks, Mount Mckinley and Wonder Lake, Wanda Lake, Lake and Cliffs, or Overlooking the Snake River Toward the Tetons.

So I pose this question to the intelligence of this community of artist photographers in hopes of finding an answer that will put my nagging thought of why to rest.

Why do you think Moonrise over Hernandez was Adam's most sold print?

Because the most people like it..