The discovery is now making news around the world because Adams may have taken them.
"These, in fact, are the lost negatives of /*Ansel Adams*/," said Arnold Peters, Norsigian's attorney.
The nature photographer, best known for his pictures of the western states, saw more than 5,000 of his negatives burn in a studio fire in 1937.
But when Arsegian, a house painter, came across the negatives of the prints 10 years ago, he thought they looked very Adamesque.
What may the pictures be worth now?"
"It's conservative to say it could reach into the hundreds of millions with what can happen from these negatives," said David Streets, an art appraiser.
"When I heard that $200 million I got a little weak," said Norsigian with a laugh.
In fact, art historian Robert Moeller is so sure they are the work of Adams, he said it five times.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," Moeller said. "These are right. That's the man himself."
They point to fire damage on some of the negatives.
Handwriting experts say the script on the old negative envelopes is that of Virginia Adams, Ansel's wife. They even had a meteorologist compare the clouds, shadows and snowcaps in the photos to bona fide Adams' scenes.
"It's so gratifying to have a piece of history and to be able to share this with everyone," Norsigian said.
The head of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust is not convinced the photos are the real thing. He called it, "An unfortunate fraud."
