Clearcut, Clatsop County, Oregon c. 2000

Robert Adams made this photograph, Clearcut, Clatsop County, Oregon, using gelatin silver. Looking at this bleak scene, I think about what it is to frame a landscape, to decide where to point the camera. The composition is so measured and balanced, but it also depicts a brutal scene. It's almost classical but, then again, it isn't! I wonder about Adams, and his intention. Is he making a pretty picture of an ugly truth? It feels like he's not just showing us what’s there, but asking us to consider our place in it. Photographers like Adams and painters alike, are always in dialogue with each other, responding to the world around them. Photography can be honest, but it can also be deceptive. It offers a space of reflection, demanding we look closely at what we think we know.