The Interior of the Spit 2015

This photograph of a forest, ‘The Interior of the Spit’, was made by Robert Adams. What grabs me here is the light. It’s not overly dramatic, but it’s there, dappling through the trees, creating these lovely, soft shadows. It's about a particular moment, a record of a specific place, but it feels more about light and shadow than it does about trees. The tones are gorgeous. It’s all monochrome, of course, but within that, you have these subtle shifts, from the almost-white sky to the deep, dark trunks of the trees. The texture is fascinating too; it makes you want to reach out and touch the rough bark. The whole image has this beautiful, quiet, contemplative feel to it. It's almost like a drawing with light. I’m reminded of some of the early modernist photographers, like Alfred Stieglitz, who were also trying to capture something beyond the surface of things. Photography, like painting, is a way of seeing and feeling the world. And this image invites us to do just that.