Ansel Adams (1902–1984) was a pioneering American landscape photographer and environmentalist, best known for his striking black-and-white images of the American West. He co-founded the influential Group f/64 to champion "pure" photography and, with Fred Archer, developed the Zone System, a revolutionary technique for controlling tonal range from exposure to final print. A lifelong conservation advocate, Adams received his first camera at age 14 during a visit to Yosemite, later working with the Sierra Club and the U.S. Department of the Interior to photograph national parks—efforts that earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. He also played a key role in securing photography's institutional legitimacy by advising the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art, co-founding the magazine Aperture, and helping establish the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. Born in San Francisco, he survived the 1906 earthquake (which broke his nose) and grew up exploring the city's wild coastline, fueling a deep connection to nature that shaped his life's work.