Blood to Rubies IMAGE SHOWCASE: Ansel Adams

My debut novel, Blood to Rubies, is unique in historical fiction in that it features 70 black-and-white images. Many are archival images

from famous frontier photographers of the 1800s.

Others are from some of the world's greatest contemporary photographers of the American West, landscapes, horses, and the Nez Perce.

During my many years of writing, researching and publishing my debut novel, BLOOD TO RUBIES, I met so many extraordinary people, among them Nez Perce elders and tribal members, photographers, authors, and historical scholars. I pored over hundreds of books with archival images of frontier photographers in the 1800s, some who became very famous, some who remain unknown today.

 

Perhaps the most famous photographer of the West is Ansel Adams. He lived from the turn-of-the-century (born in 1902) and lived into modern times (died in 1984) and, in a sense, bridged the "Old West" of 1800s and modern times. Today, descendants of Ansel Adams control the copyright of the bulk of Ansel Adams work. However, during the war years of 1941-1942, Adams was commissioned by the U.S. government to photograph national parks and their monuments. Today, most of these images are public domain.

Perhaps Adam's most famous photograph, shown above,  “The Tetons and the Snake River," was used in the opening pages of Blood to Rubies on a dramatic double page spread, pages xii-xiii.  The image is relevant to the book because the Snake River is in Nez Perce territory, now the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, only thirty miles from Yellowstone National Park. The image showcases the opening prose poem that sets the tone of beauty and magnificence, mystery and lost legacies that the American West embodies.

“The Tetons and the Snake River," by Ansel Adams, photographed in 1942, was obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the National Park Service. (79-AAG-1).

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ABOUT THE IMAGES IN BLOOD TO RUBIES

My debut novel is extremely unique in historical fiction since it features 70 black-and-white images. I searched high and low to find these images and worked with the world's most iconic libraries, including the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, National Archives, the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University, the National Park Service, the Nez Perce Historical Park Service, the Polish Digital Equestrian Library, special private collections, and many state historical societies. The images help tell the story of my main character, a fictional frontier photographer, Frederick Cortland. Many are 1800s archival images from real frontier photographers. But some are from the world's leading contemporary photographers of the American West, of horses, and of the Nez Perce.

 

To learn more about the photographers and their work featured in Blood to Rubies, go to my author site at DeborahHufford.com. Go to ,NEW NOVEL, in the menu, then press ,ABOUT THE IMAGES. There, you'll find brief biographies of these famous photographers, illustrators, and Nez Perce elders and links to their works

and professional pages. I am so incredibly honored to have worked with them!

THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING THIS JOURNEY WITH ME❣️

 

Originally posted January 5, 2024 on NotesfromtheFrontier.com and Facebook.

 

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