Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico
Support: 15 3/16 × 19 1/4 in. (38.6 × 48.9 cm)
Mat: 24 1/8 × 30 1/8 in. (61.3 × 76.5 cm)
eMuseum Notes
See "Ansel Adams, Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs," Little, Brown & Co., 1983, pp.40-43.
Late on the afternoon of October 31, 1941, as Ansel Adams returned from photographing in northern New Mexico, he noticed the moon rising above the mountains, illuminating the village of Hernandez along with its church and cemetery. He and his companions stopped the car and Adams quickly set up his 8 x 10 view camera to make a picture. His light meter was missing, so he guessed at the proper exposure and had time to make only one exposure before the scene changed. The image became one of the artist’s most famous and beloved pictures and he printed it hundreds of times, interpreting the scene a little differently with each print. It continues to be an enduring symbol of the beauty and mystery of New Mexico. A scientist at the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, determined that it was taken on Oct. 31 at 4:05 p.m., based on the moon's position in the sky.
- churches
- cemeteries
- crosses (motifs)
- villages
- mountains
- clouds
- snow
- darkrooms
- Romantic