“Art is in the eye of the beholder.” Yet, although still photographic images predated moving cinematic images, it took longer for photography to attain widespread artistic and creative appreciation. “Art for the sake of art” assumes that art has no practical purpose. Indeed, some have claimed that “everything useful is ugly.” Perhaps that’s why commercial photography initially overshadowed artistic or creative photography. Famed photographer Ansel Adams succeeded in both worlds: the commercial and artistic. What explains his success? How did he ever take up photography in the first place? How did Adams’ personal development coincide with the evolution of photography as an art form? How and why did Adams embrace environmentalism? And, how did his landscape photography advance the environmental movement in the United States? Answering these questions goes to the very essence of the creative arts and how art conveys meaning to those who behold it.