Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

While the great western nature photographer Ansel Adams is best known in this context (images of religious architecture) for depictions of southwestern missions from the 1920s and 1930s, he continued to pursue the dramatic potential of religious architecture in California and Utah. Although he never belonged to a particular denomination, Adams was raised with a strong Emersonian belief in a direct relationship with God through nature. Unlike earlier documentary views, Adams emphasized the Manti Temple's intrinsic spiritual and emotional impact. By eliminating all human or contextual references and focusing on a single tower from a lowered viewpoint, he creats a monumental white obelisk towering over the hillside. The hint of a foreground gate evokes the entrance into a holy place. The temple becomes a symbol of God's greatnes on earth. Adam's photograph captures the very essence of Mormonism's new Zion emerging out of the harsh Utah landscape.