Pine Valley, Oregon 2003

This is ‘Pine Valley, Oregon,’ a photograph by Robert Adams. What strikes me is how the granular texture transforms the trees into almost abstract shapes. The whole image reads like a wall of foliage, flattening the space so that you don't know what's near or far. The layers of dark and light create a push and pull, a visual buzz that keeps the eye moving. It reminds me of a Seurat painting, where the world is built from tiny dots of color. Look at the way the light catches the leaves, turning them into shimmering, almost ethereal forms. And yet, there’s also a sense of melancholy here, a feeling of nature being contained or observed, like looking at something through a screen. The contrast reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photographs of industrial structures, where beauty is found in the mundane. It’s as if Adams is saying, even in the ordinary, there is something extraordinary to behold.