Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument

Ansel Adams

1948
Gelatin silver print
18.5 x 15.25 inches
Gift of Elizabeth Stein

A black-and-white photograph of an aerial view of sand dunes. A large dune in the foreground occupies the lower two-thirds of the composition. The right side of the dune is illuminated to reveal a smooth surface, creating a sharply defined white ridge in stark contrast to the left side of the dune in shadow with a rippled texture. A thin white line of light runs diagonally down a ridge on the left side of the dune. A peaked sand dune in full shadow sits above and behind the dune in the foreground, extending across the full width of the frame. In the upper right of the image rests a third dune peak in mid-gray tones. A white sky tightly frames the top of the image.