Relight
Ansel Adams
El Capitan
- Image
- 6½ × 4½in
- Sheet
- 7⅛ × 5in
- Material
- Gelatin silver print
- Verso
- Stamped: “From Virginia and Ansel Adams, operating Best’s Studio, Inc., Yosemite National Park, California.” Titled “El Capitan” in pencil in an unknown hand on the reverse of the sheet.
These images may contain artifacts from the scanning process. The framed view is generated from a photograph of the matted print.
This ultra-glossy — possibly ferrotyped — silver gelatinThe clear binder that suspends the light-sensitive silver, forming the print's image layer. print is in overall good condition. Every defect noted below is visible only in raking lightLight cast from a low, glancing angle across the surface, used to reveal texture and shallow defects invisible head-on..
Surface
- Linear impressions running from the upper-right toward the lower-left through the center and bottom of the image; they do not break the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph..
- A spot of retouchingSmall additions of media applied by hand to fill losses or even out tone in the image. in the bottom center of the image.
- A handling creaseA line where the paper has been folded or bent, which may or may not break the image layer. in the center-right of the image that breaks the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph..
- A small impressionA shallow indentation pressed into the surface, often from handling or contact, without removing material. in the upper-right quadrant.
- Minute handling creases and impressions throughout the image and margins, not breaking the emulsionThe light-sensitive image layer of the print — the gelatin coating that holds the silver and carries the photograph., visible only on close inspection.
- Faint silveringA faint metallic sheen, usually in the dark areas, where silver in the emulsion has migrated to the surface over time. in the lower-right quadrant, visible only on close inspection.
- Minute matteA non-reflective, low-gloss surface finish. deposits on the left third of the image, visible only on close inspection.
Condition is reported as an opinion, not a statement of fact, and may not note every defect. It describes the artwork as observed at the time of imaging.
Provenance is compiled from documents and owner accounts and may be incomplete.