Robert Adams is an American photographer best known for his images of the American West. Offering solemn meditations on the landscapes of California, Colorado, and Oregon, Adams’s black-and-white photos document the changes wrought by humans upon nature.
His goal:
“to face facts but to find a basis for hope. To try for alchemy.”
In these images, Adams `displays the melancholy and sombre vibe of the outskirts of Colorado at that time. In most of these images he has a main focal point, for example: the silhouette of a woman in the window, or the abandoned looking barn.
The top middle image shows the deserted country side with a few isolated houses, due to the post war America struggles. Vast distances, road networks and mobility was also a big post was America struggle; this is what Robert Adams bases his work off a lot of the time.
This image splits the Colorado environment into two. On the bottom Adams captures the harsh edges of mobile homes blasted with sunlight; whereas, on the top of the image he presents an ominous mountain- skape with moody clouds.
The two parts juxtapose each other, representing how manhood has gradually taken over nature. The contrast between the angular shapes of the homes and the smooth mountain side creates an obvious conflict between humans and nature.
As a whole the piece works to recognize the American West as a landscape scattered with human development rather than an untouched natural environment.
“I think if you placed me almost anywhere and gave me a camera you could return the next day to find me photographing. It helps me, more than anything I know, to find home.”
ROBERT ADAMS