Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon 2004

Robert Adams made this photograph of Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon. It's a study in grey tones, with a kind of clarity that only black and white photography can give you. Looking at these leaves, each with its own story etched into its surface, makes me think about time, about growth, and about what it means to be marked by the world. I think he, like me, is trying to create work that feels real, not in a photorealistic sense, but real in an emotional sense. What was Adams thinking when he framed this shot? The way Adams has captured the leaves against that almost bleached-out sky, with these tiny holes and tears, each one is a testament to nature’s constant conversation. I think of the way Cy Twombly made marks on a canvas like they were some kind of ancient script. Adams does something similar here, but with light and shadow. It’s a reminder that artists are always building on what came before, finding new ways to say something old.