TOM FERDERBAR   YOSEMITE 1958

In 1958, Tom Ferderbar left his home in Wisconsin and drove across the country to Yosemite to study with Ansel Adams.

50 years later, his work is on exhibit.  20 Black and White photographs depicting Yosemite before the crowds, the smog, and global warming.

In September, the museum will return with Tom to invterview him on film about his work and Yosemite. Also joining the conversation will be curator of Parks and a naturalist to discuss the ecology of the park today and the art of photography.

Tom's credo was and is deceptively simple: the photographs should be sharp from the nearest point ot the farthest, reflecting as much detail as possible within a context which must also encompass the emotional articulation of values, composition, and form. 

To that end, in 1958, he carried a large format Ansco view camera, 8" x 10" sheet film, multiple Dagor lenses and a steel tripod up the side of mountains, onto granite outcroppings and along narrow winding mountain paths in search of the definitive image.

And there he would wait...and wait, until nature conspired to provide the perfect cloud formations and lighting conditions. Through his lens, at those most precise moments in time, Ferderbar intrepreted the lexicon of the Yosemite valley.