Front view
Inv. No.S-0031
ArtistAnsel Adamsborn 1902 in San Francisco, Calif., USAdied 1984 in Monterey, Calif., USA
Title

"Lake Tenaya"

Photographs of Yosemite, Special Edition of Fine Prints
Yearc. 1946 / 1958
Medium

gelatin silver print mounted on cardboard

Dimensions18 x 23 cm
Edition352/S.E.Y. No. 8
Signature

sigend "Ansel Adams" on front, named (wrong with Lake Lenaya) and portfolio stamp on verso

Comment

Ansel Adams made this image around 1940. He took the photo around the corner from Olmstead Point on the Tioga Road. Later, Adams joined Sierra Club President David Brower and others in a long campaign to oppose rerouting the Tioga Road near Tenaya Lake. Despite protests, the Park Service built the new road – it would be visible in this photograph if taken today – inspiring Adams to pen the elegy "Tenaya Tragedy!!!" published in 1958. When driving east on the Tioga Road, this vista provides a breathtaking first glimpse of Tenaya Lake framed by the soaring peaks of Mt. Hoffman, Medlicott Dome, Tenaya Peak, Tuolomne Peak, and Mt. Conness in the background. Stumps dot the surface of Tenaya Lake, some of them quite a distance from the shoreline. Close examination reveals that these stumps are actually mature trees rooted the lake floor 50 feet below. At some point in recent history, the lakebed was dry long enough to allow trees to take root and grow for approximately 80 years. Given that the lake is a natural lake, the drought that allowed this must have been severe.
(The Ansel Adams Gallery)

S-0031, "Lake Tenaya"
Ansel Adams, "Lake Tenaya", c. 1946
S-0031, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0031, Back view
Ansel Adams, "Lake Tenaya", c. 1946
S-0031, Back view
S-0032, Ansel Adams, "Jeffrey Pine, Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, California", 1940
Ansel Adams, "Jeffrey Pine, Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, California", 1940
more infoS-0032, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0033, Ansel Adams, "Dogwood Blossoms, Yosemite National Park, California", 1938
Ansel Adams, "Dogwood Blossoms, Yosemite National Park, California", 1938
more infoS-0033, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0034, Ansel Adams, "Oak Tree, Snowstorm"
Yosemite National Park, California, 1948
Ansel Adams, "Oak Tree, Snowstorm" Yosemite National Park, California, 1948
more infoS-0034, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0195, Ansel Adams, "Winter Forest Detail", 1949
Ansel Adams, "Winter Forest Detail", 1949
more infoS-0195, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0213, Ansel Adams, "Half Dome, Merced River, Winter", 1938
Ansel Adams, "Half Dome, Merced River, Winter", 1938
more infoS-0213, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0224, Ansel Adams, "El Capitan, Winter", before 1950
Ansel Adams, "El Capitan, Winter", before 1950
more infoS-0224, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0225, Ansel Adams, "Oak Tree, Snowstorm"
Yosemite National Park, California, 1948
Ansel Adams, "Oak Tree, Snowstorm" Yosemite National Park, California, 1948
more infoS-0225, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-0762, Ansel Adams, "Moonrise from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California", 1959
Ansel Adams, "Moonrise from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California", 1959
more infoS-0762, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-1993, Ansel Adams, "Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, Winter", around 1959
Ansel Adams, "Yosemite Valley from Inspiration Point, Winter", around 1959
more infoS-1993, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-2623, Ansel Adams, "Monolith, The Face of Half Dome", 1927
Ansel Adams, "Monolith, The Face of Half Dome", 1927
more infoS-2623, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-2625, Ansel Adams, "Moon and Half Dome", 1960
Ansel Adams, "Moon and Half Dome", 1960
more infoS-2625, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust
S-2790, Ansel Adams, "Dogwood Blossoms, Yosemite National Park, California", 1938
Ansel Adams, "Dogwood Blossoms, Yosemite National Park, California", 1938
more infoS-2790, Front view
© The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust