Dune, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico c. 1942 - 1981

This is a photograph of a dune in the White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, by Ansel Adams. The black and white tonality gives it this timeless feel, like a landscape both familiar and otherworldly. Look at the shadows, stretching like fingers across the rippled sand. You can almost feel the sun beating down, baking the earth. And the stark contrast, the way the light and dark play off each other, it’s almost painterly, right? Adams isn't just recording a scene; he’s composing with light, shaping the landscape into something that feels both real and dreamlike. The lone plant in the foreground, it’s so delicate, so tenacious. Like a tiny dancer caught in a vast, empty space. You know, it reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, her quiet, meditative grids. Both Adams and Martin had a way of finding the sublime in the seemingly simple, of making the invisible visible. It's a reminder that art is a process of finding our own vision in the world.