SEATTLE — When Ansel Adams looked at America, he saw a story waiting to be told.
"He captured it in a way that helped us, as Americans, understand the beauty and the power of this country," said Leonard Garfield, executive director of the Museum of History and Industry.
"Ansel Adams: Masterworks" features 48 original prints of his best-known pieces.
"He spent hours in his studio developing the actual prints, and those are the prints that are on the wall," Garfield said. "They're so fragile, in fact, that we keep the light very, very low."
Often regarded as the greatest photographer of the 20th Century, Adams captured the majesty and minutiae of our natural spaces.
"He allows us to see both the big picture and to appreciate the small details," Garfield said.
A companion exhibition explores the great outdoors of our region through fascinating photos. Using historic images from the collections of MOHAI and the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, and selected by community curators, "Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here" spotlights our diverse population in communion with nature.
"I can stand and look at any one of these images for 10, 15 minutes or more for each, or until they put me out of the building," joked Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, president of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State.
Two exhibits. One gallery. Countless stories of America.
"Find your place in it," Johnson-Toliver said.
"Ansel Adams: Masterworks" and "Perspectives on Place: Photographs from Here" will be on display at MOHAI until September 5.
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