The Autry Museum of the American West presents “Revolutionary Vision: Group f/64 and Richard Misrach Photographs From the Bank of America Collection” running Saturday, June 4 through Jan. 8.

Founded in 1932, Group f/64 promoted photography as an autonomous art form. Led by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, the informal association of Bay Area photographers expanded the medium with images featuring rich clarity and graphics and dramatic tonal depth.

Edward Weston’s “Guadalupe Marin de Rivera” (1924) will be on display in the new exhibit of icons of photography at The Autry. (photo ©1981 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents)

The career of Richard Misrach is another watershed moment in photography. Beginning in the 1970s, Misrach used color and large-scale formats to contrast the beauty of Western landscapes with evidence of its environmental decay.

“Revolutionary Vision” sets the two important developments side by side, offering viewers a new context for assessing their relative achievements. Nearly 90 images from the Bank of America Collection will be on display. The exhibition also features interactive photo booths encouraging visitors to experience the effect of different camera lens apertures.

“We are pleased to partner with Bank of America to exhibit so many masterworks of photography,” said Autry president and CEO W. Richard West, Jr. “Showcasing the innovations of two generations of California-based artists, this exhibition includes memorable portrayals of the diverse and dynamic landscapes of the American West.”

The exhibit includes works by Group f/64 members Adams and Weston, as well as Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke and Brett Weston. Named after the large-format camera aperture which captures a maximum depth of field, Group f/64 argued that it was the camera’s ability to produce sharp contrasts and to capture graphic forms that made it a uniquely modern medium. The members of Group f/64 also believed that the subject was less important than the method.

Misrach is one of America’s foremost contemporary photographers associated with Western landscapes. He began his career in the turbulent social and political environment of the 1960s, and his work continues to accentuate the many and often contradictory expectations and uses placed on landscape photography.

The Autry Museum of the American West is located at 4700 Western Heritage Way in Griffith Park. For information, call (323)667-2000, or visit www.theautry.org.