2024 First-Class Forever Stamp,Photographs by Ansel Adams: The Golden Gate & Bridge from Baker Beach, San Fransisco

US #5854e
2024 The Golden Gate and Bridge from Baker Beach, San Francisco, California, 1953 – Ansel Adams

• Part of the set honoring influential 20th century American photographer Ansel Adams and marks the 40th anniversary of his death

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Ansel Adams
Value: 68¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: May 15, 2024
First Day City: Yosemite National Park, California
Quantity Issued: 20,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 16
Tagging: Phosphor, Block Tag

Why the stamp was issued: To commemorate Ansel Adams and the huge impact his photography had on the art world and environmentalism in the United States.

About the stamp design: Shows a black-and-white photograph taken by Adams in 1953. Pictures the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.

First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park, California.

History the stamps represent: Born and raised in San Francisco, Ansel Adams grew up on the heights overlooking the Golden Gate waterway. Spending much of his time there inspired a love of nature. And the Golden Gate served as photographic inspiration throughout his life.

Adams took one of his most famous photos of the waterway, Golden Gate before the Bridge, San Francisco, California in 1932, the year before construction began. He awoke one morning to see heavy storm clouds blowing out over the Golden Gate. He rushed to a nearby hilltop, set up his camera, and focused it on the scene of fast-moving clouds over the water. He was frustrated by the constantly changing scene before him but managed to capture a clear, sharp picture. One photographer later accused it of being “too pretty” to be the real Golden Gate. But Adams was pleased with his photo – he said it was a shot he had been after for 10 years.

Adams photographed the area again in 1953. That photo, The Golden Gate and Bridge from Baker Beach, San Francisco, California, is featured on this 2024 US stamp. In the 1960s, Adams glued images of apartment buildings to this photo and hung it in San Francisco shops to protest development across the bridge in the Marin Headlands. In 1972, the hills were protected as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.