Robert Adams was best know for his photographs both natural and commercialized landscapes of the American West. Adams grew up in Colorado, earning a PhD in English at the University of California. He then began to start teaching at a college where he started photographing various landscapes of nature and architecture, using a 35mm reflex camera.

Adams criticises the degradation of natural landscapes, making clear that his work is primarily focused on light. He communicated this through his series of nocturnal landscapes called, Summer Nights Walking. During this series, between 1976-1982, he capturing photos during summer evenings where he could achieve a nocturnal effect. In this project he photographed sidewalks, trees, and fields that were lit up by the moonlight or streetlamps. This created a ‘new vision of landscapes.’

“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