The family farm, Öglunda, Sweden 1968

This photograph of a family farm in Öglunda, Sweden, was created by Robert Adams. Adams used photography, a medium closely associated with mass production, to capture the vernacular architecture of rural life. The photograph's impact relies on the stark contrast between the natural and the man-made: the rough texture of the trees framing the smooth, uniformly painted clapboard of the house. Note the regular, repetitive elements of the porch: the identical spindles, the mass-produced decorative brackets, and the simple, functional form. The house speaks to the efficient, standardized construction methods that transformed rural landscapes in the 20th century. Adams calls attention to the social and cultural implications of these transformations by using the craft of photography. In his darkroom, Adams would have been thinking through the labor-intensive and hand-crafted processes that went into the making of the photograph. He thus prompts us to consider the relationship between human labor and the built environment. Ultimately, Adams elevates the everyday, challenging our notions of art and craft.