Yosemite Valley

1920–1923

Caretaker of the LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite

From 1920 to 1923 Adams is the summer caretaker of the LeConte Memorial Lodge, the Sierra Club's visitor facility in Yosemite Valley.

1920s

Cedric Wright, friend and mentor

In his twenties Adams has many musical friends, among them the violinist and amateur photographer Cedric Wright, who becomes his best friend and philosophical mentor; their shared philosophy comes from Edward Carpenter's “Towards Democracy,” which endorses the pursuit of beauty in life and art. For years Adams carries a pocket edition of the book with him.

1921–1922

First publications and first print sales

Adams's first photographs are published in 1921, and the next year Best's Studio begins selling his Yosemite prints. His early photos already show careful composition and a sensitivity to tonal balance.

by 1925

Rejecting pictorialism for good

In the mid-1920s, when pictorialism with its soft focus and diffused light is the fashion, Adams experiments with its techniques and with the bromoil process, and gives up hand-coloring in 1923. By 1925 he has rejected pictorialism altogether in favor of a more realistic approach: sharp focus, heightened contrast, precise exposure and darkroom craftsmanship.