Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon 2004

Robert Adams made this photograph, titled ‘Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon,’ as an image of silvery light and dark flora against a ground of bright pale sky. You can almost feel the act of looking up, maybe squinting against the sun. I can imagine Adams in the darkroom, coaxing these tonal variations in the photographic paper. It’s a delicate balance: the dark leaves against the sky, where a small movement of the wrist, a few seconds more or less in the developing solution, can shift the balance. Look at that one leaf in the lower part of the image, almost completely bleached out by the light. What was he thinking when he chose to keep that? It’s like he is acknowledging a certain loss of control, letting the light do its thing. Painters and photographers, we’re all wrestling with this push-pull of intention and chance. It is so important to embrace uncertainty, and to allow for multiple readings. It's not about fixed meanings, but about opening up possibilities.