Photo of the Day
The Tetons and the Snake River
Friday 23 October 2026
Ansel Adams's 1942 photograph of the Snake River winding below the Teton Range in Wyoming. He made it for the U.S. Department of the Interior, which is why this famous image is in the public domain.
Fun facts
- It's one of 115 images on the Voyager Golden Record, launched in 1977 and now in interstellar space. source ↗
- Adams made it for the Interior Department's Mural Project, a commission to photograph national parks for murals in its Washington headquarters. source ↗
- He helped create the Zone System, a way of planning exposure by dividing a scene's tones into zones from pure black to pure white. source ↗
- Visitors still take the shot from Snake River Overlook, though trees have since grown up and hide part of the river. source ↗
- Image
- Ansel Adams · National Archives
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons