Moonrise

November 1, 1941 – Photographer Ansel Adams was driving along highway 84 near Hernandez, New Mexico. He was accompanied by his eight-year-old son, Michael, and a fellow photographer, Cedric Wright.

Adams was on assignment for the United States Department of the Interior, with the goal of capturing landscape photographs for murals in public buildings.

Suddenly, Adams saw the moon emerging from the darkening late-afternoon sky. The white crosses in the cemetery seemed to glow in the fading light.

“Get this! Get that, for God’s sake! We don’t have much time!”

The car pulled to the side of the road and Adams quickly set up his 8x10-inch large-format camera and tripod. He didn’t have time to get a reading with his light meter, so he winged it using his knowledge of the moon’s luminance.

There was only time for one exposure, and he nailed it.

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is not just Ansel Adams’ most famous image, it’s one of the most iconic photographs in the entire history of photography.

It has been described as the “Mona Lisa” of landscape photography. The combination of the luminous moon, the glowing crosses and the inky black sky is a perfect example of Adams’ mastery. The photograph appears in every major book or exhibition about 20th-century photography, and you’ll find it hanging in the Getty, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art.

Early vintage prints of Moonrise from the 1940s and 1950s have sold for over $600,000.