Orchard, Portola Valley, California c. 1940 - 1980

This is Ansel Adams’ photographic print of an orchard in Portola Valley, California. The crisp blacks and grays really give off a tactile sense, don’t they? Adams was such a master of light and shadow. Look closely at how he coaxes out the textures in the landscape. I’m thinking about process here, how he built up those tones layer by layer in the darkroom. It makes me think about building layers in a painting. My paintings are made of very thin layers that add up, one on top of the other. I'm thinking of other photographers like Minor White and Frederick Sommer, who, like Adams, had such a reverence for the natural world, and transformed it into something so personal and poetic. Ultimately, art is always this conversation, a continual exchange. It’s more about the questions it raises than any easy answers it provides.