Below Mount Garfield, Mesa County, Colorado 1979

Robert Adams made this photograph, 'Below Mount Garfield, Mesa County, Colorado,' with a camera, somewhere in the American West. Look at all those subtle grays and the way the light seems to flatten everything. Adams is interested in what happens when humans mess with the landscape. The texture of the land is so important here. See the tire tracks cutting across the dirt? They’re like brushstrokes, right? It's hard not to think of the Abstract Expressionists, only instead of paint, it's earth. Adams is doing something really interesting, almost like he’s saying, "Here’s the beautiful, ruined landscape, and we’re all part of it." It reminds me of the Bechers and their typologies of industrial structures. Adams, like them, is asking us to really see what’s in front of us, without flinching. Art isn't always about answers; sometimes, it's about learning to look in new ways.