Clear Creek, near Idaho Springs 1968 - 1972

Robert Adams made this gelatin silver print, “Clear Creek, near Idaho Springs” sometime in the 20th century. It's a scene of a river running between a hill covered with pine trees, yet it’s interrupted by a Howard Johnson's sign. I imagine Adams setting up his camera, framing this shot. What was he thinking as he decided to capture both nature and commerce? The river seems so timeless, yet the sign roots it in a specific era. There’s a tension here between the natural landscape and the intrusions of man-made structures. I think this piece relates to Adams' wider practice, where he often explored the impact of development on the American West. Like other photographers such as the New Topographics, he captures the way that humans interact with, and sometimes disrupt the environment. It's a conversation about how we see and shape the world around us, one image at a time. Adams is inviting us to consider our place within this landscape, urging us to think about what we value and what we might be losing.