Ansel Adams Trust Condemns AI-Colourized Moonrise Print at Aipad Fair

At the Aipad Photography Show in New York in April 2025, Danziger Gallery displayed an AI-colourized version of Ansel Adams's Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941), offered in three editions priced at $6,000, $8,000, and $10,000. The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, which manages the artist's legacy, was not consulted and issued a statement condemning the work as an exploitation of Adams's name and reputation. The trust demanded its removal, but Danziger kept it on display and allegedly used the controversy to promote a commercial venture colourizing works from other artists' estates with AI. Danziger defended the piece, claiming the image is in the public domain and that he hired a copyright lawyer to ensure legality. He described using an AI prompt as a starting point, then refining the image with Photoshop. The incident sparked widespread backlash from photographers and industry figures, including former White House photographer Pete Souza and David Kennerly, a friend of Adams and trust member, who called the colourization 'weird and disrespectful'—citing Danziger's own 2012 blog post against colourization. Aipad stated it is taking the matter seriously and has formed an ethics committee to address AI use. Artists Giuseppe Lo Schiavo and Petra Cortright offered mixed reactions, while photographer Jim Krantz, who studied with Adams, called the AI work 'a sham.' The controversy highlights tensions between copyright, moral rights, and AI-generated art.