Weld County, Colorado c. 1984

Robert Adams took this photograph, Weld County, Colorado, using gelatin silver print. Looking at this image, I feel a little bad for the artist, out there in that flat, empty landscape. What was he thinking? There's this lone tree to the left, which is lovely, but it really emphasizes the bleakness of the landscape, maybe that's the point? Adams is an artist drawn to the unglamorous sides of life. The muted tones and vastness remind me a little of the Bechers, who photographed industrial structures with similar detachment. But there's also a tenderness here, a focus on the small details of the landscape. The tire tracks offer a kind of compositional line. Photography is a conversation with painting: Adams's choices of composition and tonal range invite you to reflect on this conversation, how art can invite us to find beauty in the mundane, and meaning in the overlooked.